Female or male fantail (3)
I believe the answer is:
hen
'female' is the definition.
(female chicken)
'male fantail' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'male' could be 'he' (he refers to a man) and 'he' is found within the answer.
A single letter 'n' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
'or' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hen that I've seen before include "Female lobster, fowl" , "Coop resident" , "Farm bird" , "Laying bird" , "Domestic fowl" .)