I have a lesbian Hen.

[DianaMallory]

My flock will soon turn a year old. We ended up with one Rooster who turned mean and was put down. I didn't want any roosters anyway. But since the rooster has been gone I noticed a big change in the flock. My girls are nicer than they use to be. They don't peck at the Dogs anymore.
A couple weeks ago I thought I seen one of my hens mount another one, I brushed it off to just the pecking order changing. Then a few days later my Gerty who is a Delaware mounted Sweetie who is a Golden Buff right in front of me. And when she was done doing what a rooster would have done she, turned and looked at me like she was saying this is mine. I have caught her a couple times since. Always when I don't have my camera in my hands.
Last week Gerty was going to bed, I always do a head count before locking them down and sometimes pet them, Well Gerty thought she was going to include me in the pecking order, I gave a good bop on the back of the head and then held her in a squatting position. I think she learned who is the big boss.
I just don't understand why she keeps mounting the other hens and I mean it is just like a rooster would perform.
Has anyone ever seen this before? I have always had all hens. So they never knew what it was like to have a rooster around but this flock does. Here is a pic of Gerty after she had already done the act, It is kind of funny looks like she is looking for something she doesn't have.
I am about to paint a big Rainbow on my coop. And before anyone takes offense to that comment I support Gay rights. I am straight but I believe in Civil Rights for all!

 

[junebuggena]

It is actually pretty common for a dominant hen in a flock without a rooster, to mount the other hens.

 

[DianaMallory]

Thanks I had never seen this in the past with my other flocks. But like I said before this is the first flock I had a rooster. The only thing Gerty doesn't do is crow afterward.

 

[azygous]

As a previous poster commented, it's common.

Whether or not people want to understand it or believe it, sexuality in the animal kingdom (including the upright mammal homo-sapien) is a very fluid and variable thing. It's especially so in chickens which happen to have both male and female cells in their bodies.

People tend to confuse these scientific facts with moral issues. They are not the same thing.

 

[DianaMallory]

As a previous poster commented, it's common.

Whether or not people want to understand it or believe it, sexuality in the animal kingdom (including the upright mammal homo-sapien) is a very fluid and variable thing. It's especially so in chickens which happen to have both male and female cells in their bodies.

People tend to confuse these scientific facts with moral issues. They are not the same thing.

Thank you very much!

 

[aart]

......and dominance mounting is not not always about 'sex'.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

As a previous poster commented, it's common.

Whether or not people want to understand it or believe it, sexuality in the animal kingdom (including the upright mammal homo-sapien) is a very fluid and variable thing. It's especially so in chickens which happen to have both male and female cells in their bodies.

People tend to confuse these scientific facts with moral issues. They are not the same thing.

......and dominance mounting is not not always about 'sex'.

X 2 to both

 

[SandyNormAmy]

This is actually a comforting thread.
I have 2 RIR/Leghorn cross hens (Brownie and Blacktail) that are a little over a year old.
One (Blacktail) got broody about a month ago, so I got her some fertilized eggs.
About 2 months ago, we started hearing what sounded like an attempt at a hen, crowing, at dawn each day - I thought at first that it was just an 'I laid an egg' announcement, but then realized that Blacktail normally lays in the afternoon, and Brownie lays mid-morning. I checked the nest shortly after a 'crowing' and there was no egg yet.
Brownie has become more aggressive - pecking (gently, but still pecking) at my feet, legs and, occasionally, hands when I'm weeding.
And when the chicks hatched from Blacktail's eggs, she killed them all - it took her 5 days, but they're all gone I was told by somebody who has raised chickens for years that attacking the chicks is roo behaviour, hens usually like being 'auntie'.
I didn't know to set up a nursery. I will next time.
I have never seen any blatant sexual behaviour (though Blacktail has damaged feathers on her right thigh ... I wonder ...) and Brownie has laid an egg every day - she climbed into the nest with Blacktail while she was sitting the eggs, laid her egg and left. Every single day.
The girls have always shared a nest and normally cuddle together on top of the nesting box, but since Blacktail went broody, Brownie sleeps on top of the nesting box and Blacktail sleeps in the nest - has since she got broody.


I am relieved that this is relatively normal behaviour and I'll stop worrying about her and her new-found aggressiveness. And make a rainbow-chicken flag for the coop

 

[junebuggena]

It's actually kind of normal for a dominant hen to be aggressive towards new chicks. It's very unusual for a rooster to be aggressive towards chicks. Most roosters are only interested in mature hens, and ignore immature or younger birds.
Broody hens do change the flock dynamic, though. And that is likely what is behind the recent behavior.

 

[SandyNormAmy]

Thank you. I have learned so much from the people on this site!