My Chickens think I'M the rooster!

[speyerk]

OK, this may sound weird, but I think my chickens think I am their mate.

Ever since they have started laying eggs (mature females) they have started doing this weird thing where they hunch down and hold their wings out slightly and freeze in that position whenever I reach down to pet them. I had been chalking it up to them being scared of me but not enough to run away ( they have always been skittish and not into being handled), but I realized that they were waiting to be mounted or something, so I started giving their tail feathers a shake, and they get all puffed up and they seem to get a kick out of it. Is this normal chicken behavior when they have never been around any roo' s their whole life? Do chickens crave male companionship? I thought that having each other would be good enough for them....

I'm not a prude, but a tail feather shake is as far as I am willing to go. I can post a video if people want to see what i am talking about...

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

They are squatting for you. This is normal.

I just pet them on the neck and back, and say, "Good Girdy!" Then they shake their feathers.

You will even see other hens mounting if there is no rooster and this is a dominance thing. Nothing to worry about. It appears to be part of their social structure.

 

[speyerk]

Thanks! I feel better knowing that... I'll still give their tailfeathers a shake, its kinda funny.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

My hens just started to do this to! it was kinda funny, though. I was chasing a hen around, trying to catch her, when all of a sudden she stopped and did this. I stopped quickly and landed on my face!

I've never done the tail shake though.....

 

[Leghornmum]

Hee hee hee! yeah, my chickens do the same thing. I usually just stop and pet them a while...