What in the world is going on?

[sepaditty1]

Ok. I have these chickens. Mixed flock. One member of this flock is actually a cat. I've tried explaining that he's not a chicken. He doesn't get it. He hangs out with my girls and has since he was a kitten and most of them were chicks.

I thought that he was the only one who struggled with his identity crisis. But yesterday, guess what I saw??

My Easter Egger, Maggie, who I was 99.9% sure is a hen was "mounting" the cat.

WHAT???

It leads to many questions. Is Maggie a boy? Is Gulliver such an integrated part of the flock that Maggie doesn't know he isn't a chicken? Has anyone ever seen a hen mount another? Has anyone ever seen a hen or a rooster mount another species?

What do you guys think?

 

[azygous]

No, I've never heard of what you describe, though it sounds pretty darned funny.

Did you see her on the cat, flapping her wings with her tail tucked under? Or was she just perched on top of the cat?

 

[betsycam]

I've seen roosters mount ducks when they lived together. Not long ago I saw my chicken standing still while one of my ducks seemed to be giving her a neck rub, so to speak - nibbling at the back of her neck, and she appeared to be liking it!

I had a cat that was raised at my sheep barn from young and she loved those sheep! She would come out from under the barn and roll around in the dirt flirtatiously next to the sheep while they were chewing their cud. When I would let the sheep out to graze, she would cry and follow them around!

 

[sepaditty1]

Yes, her tail is tucked. Wings were flapping. And it's getting to be a regular occurance.

 

[azygous]

You do appear to have one (or maybe two) for the record books! Yes, hens do mount other hens for a number of reasons. Chickens, unlike humans, actually have male and female hormones that are actively functional. Due to stress factors, a hen or rooster can switch genders. It happens infrequently, and is rarely a complete transformation.

I have never heard of a chicken choosing an animal of another species to focus their sexual attentions on, except for the occasional rooster who becomes infatuated with its human's running shoes.

I think we can conclude that these two unlikely companions, being raised together, have transcended the boundaries of species differences.

You really, really need to get a video of this somehow! We need to see this!

 

[sepaditty1]

Yes. I will try.