Is this a familiar hen behavior to anyone?

[Lobzi]

While out cleaning the coop I noted a squabble between two hens over a nest box of eggs. One actually mounted the other just as a rooster would. I have never seen that before. Does anyone know if this behavior is in attempt to dominate? I have noted roo mounting roo. I figured in this case it was a dominance thing going on. Still very odd in the case of the hens.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When I had a flock without a dominant rooster, the dominant hen would occasionally mount another hen, going so far as to touch vents. She’d knock a young cockerel off another hen if he tried to mount in front of her until he eventually matured enough to dominate her.

It’s purely a dominance thing and totally normal.

 

[Lobzi]

Thank you for your reply. She is an odd hen in that she wants to sit on eggs but has no interest in the babies or hatching eggs. Her most recent hatch I actually hatched myself and am now taking care of. I could not get her interested in the chick what so ever. Perhaps she tips the scale a little more toward demonstating masculine traits. I had not paid that much attention to her in the past.



Baby above and mama below. Mama is Ollie, the odd hen.

 

[chfite]

Dominance is part of the animal world. The rooster would naturally dominate the hens. Even with that, the hens have a pecking order in which one dominates all the others.

I have one hen who is apparently at the top of the pecking order. At times, she will spurn the rooster and buck him off. She will take treats away from the other hens.

To me, mounting would be a form of dominance among hens.

Chris