Hen acting like a male after rooster death?

[SeaSea47]

I lost both of my roosters in what we believe was a raccoon attack a couple of weeks ago. My hens, who are all about a year old, have never not had a rooster around. Today, I noticed one of my Cochin hens making the sound the boys make when they call the girls for food and she kept pecking at the ground like they do. Is this normal for her to take on male behaviors or do some hens do this? I’ve never seen a hen do it in seven plus years of having chickens, so it shocked me. Another far less dominant one finally came over and tried to eat what she was pecking at, and she pecked her hard on top of the head.

 

[1muttsfan]

Sorry about your loss! When hens loose their rooster, sometimes one will take over the role of flock leader, including some rooster-like behaviors - sometimes even crowing. If you get another rooster she should go back to her normal hen behavior. If not, she will be fine being a little tomboyish.

 

[SeaSea47]

Sorry about your loss! When hens loose their rooster, sometimes one will take over the role of flock leader, including some rooster-like behaviors - sometimes even crowing. If you get another rooster she should go back to her normal hen behavior. If not, she will be fine being a little tomboyish.

Thank you. She’ll have to be the tomboy for now because I’m taking a rooster break myself! I just heard her making that noise and thought I was going nuts!

 

[Faiyumi]

I enjoy chicken's behavioral health topics. Adding a rooster back isn't necessarily going to stop them from being alphas either. I have an Andalusian hen who crows and even mounts other hens. She only gives it a break when she goes broody. I just wanted to add that Alpha hens also show up when there are roosters in their flocks. They can even outcompete roosters for lead roles in the pecking order, steal all their hens away and in general be great leaders of their flock. My hen is one of the best roosters I've ever had lol. Another interesting topic along these lines is roosters who go broody. Chickens have such interesting social structure and emotional intelligence.

However in this case, since she's not specifically crowing. I feel like she may just be maternal? The calling/tucking noise you hear by roosters can also be done by really excited mother's finding food for their chicks. She may be excited to be the one calling out for the food now.

 

[SeaSea47]

I enjoy chicken's behavioral health topics. Adding a rooster back isn't necessarily going to stop them from being alphas either. I have an Andalusian hen who crows and even mounts other hens. She only gives it a break when she goes broody. I just wanted to add that Alpha hens also show up when there are roosters in their flocks. They can even outcompete roosters for lead roles in the pecking order, steal all their hens away and in general be great leaders of their flock. My hen is one of the best roosters I've ever had lol. Another interesting topic along these lines is roosters who go broody. Chickens have such interesting social structure and emotional intelligence.

However in this case, since she's not specifically crowing. I feel like she may just be maternal? The calling/tucking noise you hear by roosters can also be done by really excited mother's finding food for their chicks. She may be excited to be the one calling out for the food now.

I wouldn't say she's maternal - she's actually kind of a jerk. I have a few little Australorps who are very submissive, and they come when she calls for food, and she attacks them either by pecking them hard on the back of the head or by jumping on their backs like she's mounting them but it's more like a body slam. She got into a fight with one of my Jersey Giants last week for no particular reason and hurt the JG's leg. She'll go up to my little Polish girl and just stare her down until she moves and goes after her sometimes too. My Cochins are all weirdos, but she's the weirdest of them all.

I noticed her being a bit of a jerk when my roosters were still around, but it seems like since we lost both boys in the last few weeks, she's picked it up a notch.

I've been trying to determine who the head hen is. I have a buff Orpington who no one ever pecks at or tries to pick a fight with. She is very alert and always on the lookout for predators, and some of my less dominant girls will go to her when the Cochin starts her bullying. One will even get on the roost with her and hide under her wing when the Cochin goes after her. This BO feels like the maternal one. The BO was also the only one who my dominant rooster wouldn't harass if she did things he didn't like, and I never saw him mount her. So, I'm not sure if it's the weirdo Cochin or the BO.

 

[Faiyumi]

She seems like she's definitely a dominant hen in general, but she's overcompensating for not being where she wants in the order. Maternal doesn't necessarily mean she has to treat others kindly. I have some very mean maternal hens lol. They make great mom's to their babies but treat everyone else younger like trash.


She sounds to me like she's trying to either get a spot in the pecking order or trying to keep her spot (especially with the roosters passing). The hurting of the leg is not good and a sign of over aggressiveness in general. In all seriousness, that's a fight that has gone to far. Which could lend more into the rooster hen aspect. My Andalusian roohen was a monster hen for awhile, her name was Flapjack before, but now she's called Jail Bird because of all the separation I had to do. You may need to eventually break up the pecking order if this keeps up for awhile or gets worse. Jail Bird has turned her life around she is very happy now and hurts no one. You can fix this with time and patience. Either way you'll need to keep a close eye on her. She could kill another hen at this rate.

The Orpington may well be the leader though. My Australorp, Kira, is definitely the leader in her flock. Pretty much the same attitude as your Orpington. She was my first chicken. When my precious Faiyumi, Jadzia, was still around, they had a wonderful dynamic. Jadzia would run to Kira, Kira would then give Jadzia an order (it was very clear she was eyeing the chicken she wanted pecked). Jadzia would then run off and enforce the pecking order on that chicken. Kira herself never pecked anyone and never got pecked.

So my guess is your Orpington is top hen too. They all sound adorable and like a fun dynamic. I love mixed breed flocks and exciting interactions they have with each other.

 

[kcult]

 

[SeaSea47]

She seems like she's definitely a dominant hen in general, but she's overcompensating for not being where she wants in the order. Maternal doesn't necessarily mean she has to treat others kindly. I have some very mean maternal hens lol. They make great mom's to their babies but treat everyone else younger like trash.


She sounds to me like she's trying to either get a spot in the pecking order or trying to keep her spot (especially with the roosters passing). The hurting of the leg is not good and a sign of over aggressiveness in general. In all seriousness, that's a fight that has gone to far. Which could lend more into the rooster hen aspect. My Andalusian roohen was a monster hen for awhile, her name was Flapjack before, but now she's called Jail Bird because of all the separation I had to do. You may need to eventually break up the pecking order if this keeps up for awhile or gets worse. Jail Bird has turned her life around she is very happy now and hurts no one. You can fix this with time and patience. Either way you'll need to keep a close eye on her. She could kill another hen at this rate.

The Orpington may well be the leader though. My Australorp, Kira, is definitely the leader in her flock. Pretty much the same attitude as your Orpington. She was my first chicken. When my precious Faiyumi, Jadzia, was still around, they had a wonderful dynamic. Jadzia would run to Kira, Kira would then give Jadzia an order (it was very clear she was eyeing the chicken she wanted pecked). Jadzia would then run off and enforce the pecking order on that chicken. Kira herself never pecked anyone and never got pecked.

So my guess is your Orpington is top hen too. They all sound adorable and like a fun dynamic. I love mixed breed flocks and exciting interactions they have with each other.

I sat outside with them for a few hours yesterday evening, and she seems to have calmed down a bit, but we've got temps in the mid-90s the next couple of weeks, so that may be calming them all down for a while. I just got finished setting up a fan on the wall of their run.

That's funny about your girl giving pecking instructions! I haven't noticed anything like that, but it is really interesting and pretty entertaining to watch all of their behaviors. Most of mine are pretty docile, but my Cochins are just weird.