Why do hens, try to mate with other hens

[2txmedics]

I have 12 hens, and there are two that try to hump or mate with my hens, why is this? and is this natural?

 

[Year of the Rooster]

It is a dominance thing. Since there are no roosters (i'm assuming there aren't) then the most dominant ones usually take on the roll of the rooster. They may even stop laying and crow.

 

[saddina]

Yes it's natrual, your hens are showing thier boss by demanding submissive behavior. It's part of pecking order, or as my son wisely put it "they're chickens, they have different rules".

 

[Judy]

Bet the two playing the rooster role are arguing over who will be lead hen.

 

[2txmedics]

How funny, on the one wanting to take control of the coop, but I do have roosters!!!! I have 3 roosters loose with them in the hen/coop house....and 2 bantams in a large wired dog kennel in the yard area of there home....but ok, I just thought my hens were odds....

thanks all!!!!

 

[Year of the Rooster]

It does make a difference whether or not the roosters are WITH them rather than NEXT to them.

 

[roguedesigns]

So, with my flock, the hen that appears to be trying to mate with the others (trying to hop/flap onto her back, grabbing at the feathers on the back of her neck - I mean, I assume she's trying to mate with her!) is my bantam silkie, who is actually at the bottom of the pecking order most of the time, and I've only seen her do it to me EE, who is top bird.
It just started in the last couple of days - has she finally just had enough being picked on and decided to turn the tables, or is there some other chicken tomfoolery afoot here that I'm just too green to recognize?

 

[cluckclucker]

ok my hen has been mateing with other hens her name is strawberry shes about 3 years old and still lays shes a mix but i now shes mixed with a rhode island red and maybe a ameracana because she lays blueish brown eggs and all my roosters were killed by the naghbores dog but my main thing is im still getting fertile eggs and its been about 4 or 5 months after the roosters were killed.............

ive been reserching evreyday but nothing.

 

[Momma Kat]

Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle..... 1-in-10,000 chance of occurring

You have yourself a lovely flock of girls- they get along harmoniously, you collect their delicious fresh produce each and every morning- everything is going swimmingly. Until...’Caaa - Cawww’.

What on earth- was that a crow you just heard?! But it can’t be- they’re girls!

Next morning- same thing. Something is definitely not right…

On your morning egg collection you notice your lovely Rhode Island Red displaying some very uncharacteristic behaviour. She seems to be attempting to, ahem, mount the other birds, and is acting quite aggressively- help!

While a chicken displaying male-like behaviour may seem like a cause for concern, it is actually quite a common occurrence to see a hen take on these masculine traits. In a flock without a rooster, the hen at the top of the pecking order may try to take on the role of the rooster- and so will display the traits mentioned above such as crowing, and attempting to mount the other hens.

Sometimes the chicken will grow out of their rooster ways- especially if they are coming into lay. However if they do continue to display these behaviours, it can result in some innocent injured chickens, and some very unhappy neighbours- a 5am wake up call from a chicken crow is no one's idea of an idyllic Sunday morning!

To help your chicken ease out of her masculine ways, it is best to isolate her for a few days until you notice a change in behaviour- she should start to return back to her happy hen self! Once you re-introduce her to the flock, she will have lost her place in the pecking order, and so will no longer feel the need to reign dominant, and peace will be restored in your backyard flock once again!

Should your chicken continue with this act, despite isolation, you may also start to notice egg production slowing or stopping completely, and your girl beginning to grow male plumage- wattles and a more established comb. If this is the case, you’re in for a treat- your ‘hen’ has just gone through a ‘sex reversal’ and turned into a rooster!

As unfathomable as it may seem- it’s touted as having a 1-in-10,000 chance of occurring, a hen to rooster transformation is most definitely possible. It is due to a genetic condition, where the chickens only functioning ovary is damaged, and so the non-functioning ovary can start to develop, and will become what is known as an avo-testis, where male hormones are secreted.

The hen does not completely transform into a roo, however- it will just become phenotypically male. So while the hen will develop the physical characteristics of a rooster, and stop laying eggs, she will remain genetically female- so she won’t be fathering baby chicks anytime soon!

So if your little Henrietta seems to be acting very ‘rooster-like’, keep a close eye on her- you never know, she just might be a Henry soon enough!

https://www.backyardchickencoops.co.../gender-bender-when-your-hen-thinks-shes-a-he

 

[mastercaster]

There are times that your hen's uterus get destroyed. When it gets destroyed, your hen can produce that will make them act like a rooster. Also, the cause why your hens try to mate with your other hens is because there are no roosters in their flock, which is why the dominant hen will try to act like rooster.