I have 5 hens, no roo. They just started laying last week and I think 2 haven't started yet. They are the sweetest girls. I've been able to hold them, pet them. The same week I started getting eggs, they started something new. When I go in the pen and approach a hen, she squats in front of me as if to accept a roo's advances. They've done this at one time or another all just since egg laying started. I will go ahead and pick up the squatting sweetheart and talk to her for a couple of minutes then I put her down where she squatted. I don't know why I decided to handle the squaring this way, I just thought that maybe they recognize me as head of the pack so I need to acknowledge them when they do this. I interact with them all the time. They aren't free ranging (another story). They don't act stressed, well, this heat wave in south Texas is stressing them this week but they seem unstressed by their coop and pen. (Pen soon to be enlarged). So, does this mean I'm I head chicken or is this a sign they need a rooster?
