"Alpha Hen" does a 'rooster' dance?

[LuvMahChikies]

Just curious if anyone else has an Alpha Hen that does a 'rooster dance' at the next highest ranking hen in the flock? We have one rooster and six hens. 'Aunt Bea' is definitely dominant...and she lets everyone know it. Today I saw her doing the dance and flaring out her hackles a bit, as if to intimidate. (My daughter says that instead of 'Aunt Bea' she should be called 'Queen Bee'...lol!)

 

[Ridgerunner]

How old is that rooster? Is he really just an immature cockerel that has not yet taken over the job of flock master? In a flock that does not have a dominant mature rooster it’s fairly normal for one hen to take on the position of flock master.

The mating act with chickens is not always about sex. It’s often about dominance. The one on bottom is accepting the dominance of the one on top, either willingly or by force. By going through the mating ritual, a chicken is demonstrating their dominance.

I had a flock that consisted of some older hens, some pullets, and a cockerel. One hen was clearly dominant. She would occasionally but not often mate with another hen or usually a pullet that was old enough to lay. If she saw the cockerel trying to mate another hen or pullet, even if that other one was willing, she would knock him off to show that she was dominant and the only one allowed to go through that ritual.

Eventually he did mature enough to take over the flock master duties. That top hen resisted and there was a bit of fighting and chasing, but eventually she accepted his dominance and they became best buddies.

Bottom line. While a hen mating another is not typical, it’s not that unusual if no dominant male is around.

 

[LuvMahChikies]

She doesn't actually mate with the other hen, just stomps her feet all around her and raises her hackles. The roo has been mating them all for the past several months (he is close to a year old) and as far as I can tell, he does all of his roosterly duties (finding the hens food in the yard, warning them of predators he sees, mating with them, keeping the girls all together, etc)

I do know one time a deer was in our back yard and Aunt Bea, along with the rooster, were sounding the alarm. I guess she is all about gender equality?

 

[ChickenHermit]

Woo for egalitarian chickens!

 

[OneWingWonder]

My hen, Ezel does this as well. I'm not sure if chickens can be homosexual but several bird species are(penguins are famous for their same sex couples that mate for life). Ezel doesn't crow and doesn't mount, she just dances for Clementine and none of the other hens. There are two Roos in my flock, each with their own favored hens, but both exclude Ezel and Victor excludes Clementine while Zeus tolerates her presence(poor Clem's at the bottom of the totem pole). Me and Müttie theorize that Ezel just may be gay, like a penguin.