Henaroos

[cate1124]

I have read that hens occasionally may molt into rooster plumage and behave entirely like a rooster for a season or so -- at least through the Super Bowl -- and then revert to hen plumage when they feel they aren't being given enough latitude to express their feelings. (OK, I made up that last part.) I have a 5-year-old black Australorp hen -- sweet-natured, very pretty, or maybe handsome -- who, since she was two, has been crowing in the choked manner of a cockerel and pushing the boundaries of her relationship with her Welsummer buddy, who has tried in vain to keep things in the Friend Zone (periodically, the Australorp mounts the Welsummer). This is all obviously hormonal, as my hen also becomes more of a roo at the same time she is beginning to lay eggs, and in the winter, when she's not laying, she quits blurring the boundaries of her other-hen friendships. I find this all very interesting and not too troubling, apart from making sure the Welsummer doesn't get a bare spot on her back, because you know how boys, or sometimes boys, are. I'm just thankful we've not had to have a discussion about preferred pronouns. Anyone else had a trans hen in their flock? I am an androgynous woman, so maybe this is a question of nurture trumping nature.

 

[aart]

With chickens it's all about hormones, and that one ovary a hen has...
....has nothing to do with the humans around them.
Also androgynous, but not anthropomorphic.
Mounting has more to do with dominance than sex,
you may need to separate them if the Aussie gets too aggressive.
You only have the two birds?

 

[cate1124]

I've got five older hens, about to be joined by six chicks. I understand what you're saying, but this is not an aggressive hen, and these two do have a particular bond that is otherwise friendly; they inevitably roost together, often apart from the others. So there's no need for me to intervene; I just watch the Welly's back toward summer's end to make sure she's not gotten sore in the eventual bare spot. (Also, mounting in humans is hormonal -- as is so much else in us -- and often includes an element of dominance, yes? It's not anthropomorphic to observe humans and other animals have much in common on an embodied level.)

I just find it interesting, as I'd not, before this hen, observed this kind of behavior -- and I was kidding about the nurture thing and at several other points, if the reference to a trans hens didn't make that clear.

 

[aart]

Well, we're all animals.
Many make the comparisons seriously, your facetiousness was lost on me.

 

[cate1124]

What , the reference to the Super Bowl and emotional latitude didn't do it?

While my tone is light, the behaviors I've described are real. It's just less a problem than a matter of interest. My hen is crowing. Crowing! I would be curious to know if other people have had hens crow, with or without the mounting behavior.

 

[aart]

What , the reference to the Super Bowl and emotional latitude didn't do it?

I suspected, can be hard to be sure.
I do love the sense of humor, but it could be easily misconstrued.