Curious Grooming Behavior

[Handygirl]

I have two Americaunas and have noticed that the beta of my pair seems to be grooming the "beard" of the alpha under her beak. It doesn't look bad or like the feathers are being pecked out, and the alpha just stands there and lets her (and she's normally very bossy and domineering, so I'm sure she'd let the beta know if she was annoyed). I didn't think chickens groomed each other, and I've never seen the alpha return the favor.

Just wondering if this is normal? Indicative of something? Curious!

 

[jenni2142]

I have seen these "chicken kisses" between the my sebright hen and roo. To me it looks like affection as I don't see it in all of them, just my ones that are paired up. I will have to watch my groups more closely to see if they do it too.