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GrannyTrish

Squatting hen - Winnie

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Frequently when I'm pottering about outside, Winnie will squat beside me with her wings slightly raised and it looks like she's ready for a cockerel to do his thing. She lets me pick her up for a cuddle when she does this. Is she telling me something I should be aware of or is she just being submissive to me as she see's me at the top of the pecking order?

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Nothing to worry about, it's called crouching.

They crouch to let cockerels mount them and often those lower in the packing order will crouch to dominant hens - it's a good indicator to see who's laying too :) 

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Thanks for all the replies! She laid an egg today after being broody so I'm guessing that's what it was all about, but time will tell. If she doesn't do it again I'm going to miss her cuddles! :lol:

She really does seem to want to be a proper mother hen, poor thing. *wonders if you get clockwork chicks!*

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Yup. Perfectly normal, she just thinks you want to get frisky with her! lol

Mine do it all the time. I've no idea whether it's true or not, but I was told that if you stroke their backs when they do it, it encourages them to lay because they think they're going to be hatching chicks. I can only assume hens aren't that smart when it comes to the birds and the bees. lol

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11 hours ago, AndyRoo said:

Yup. Perfectly normal, she just thinks you want to get frisky with her! lol

Mine do it all the time. I've no idea whether it's true or not, but I was told that if you stroke their backs when they do it, it encourages them to lay because they think they're going to be hatching chicks. I can only assume hens aren't that smart when it comes to the birds and the bees. lol

:lol: I always give her a cuddle when she does it and that's as frisky as I'm going to get with her! :lol:

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Here is a video of pullers and it hens squatting. This lady Sonya  Schaffer fphas a great YouTube channel. I have watched a few of her posts. She seems very in tune with her flock, very intelligent, kind and carding. I particularly liked her ways of explaining the sexing of young birds. 

Enjoy:

 

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Thanks, Stepnout. Winnie started the squatting long after she started laying - she's two years old. I don't have to touch her, just walk past her and she squats!  The other two are laying but don't squat and they're just over one year old. The weird and wonderful way of hens!

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