# DO CHICKENS FALL IN LOVE



## HSJ07 (Aug 25, 2020)

I have something that I am curious about. I have had a rooster who wants every hen I have and this to me is normal behavior. About 3 months ago I got a little Rhode Island Red hen who is so beautiful, very red in color. My little Frizzle Cochin Rooster after about two days abandoned all the other hens, He only is interested in his red beauty. They are always together. They slip off, just the two of them to be together. When she lays, he is in the nest with her. He is too small to get on the roost so he sleeps up on a bale of hay. She makes sure she sleeps right over him. He had never tried to roost but has tried his best since she came but can't. New chickens usually have to work their way through the pecking order. He protected her from the beginning, jumping any hen that messed with her. She has become quiet the arrogant little thing to the other hens. It is like he PUT her at the top of the pecking order in just a few days, Our Golden Comet is top of the pecking order for hens but Maxine the RIR is exempt from the pecking order. Has anyone ever had a scenario like this. I haven't.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I know I haven't. That thing about the roost though is sad. Is there anyway you can make him a ladder or ramp so he can join her?

I did the ramp for a really small Guinea Keet that couldn't fly to join the others for roosting. He got the idea really quickly and was able to join the flock at night. Now they all use it for one reason or another.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

HSJ07 said:


> I have something that I am curious about. I have had a rooster who wants every hen I have and this to me is normal behavior. About 3 months ago I got a little Rhode Island Red hen who is so beautiful, very red in color. My little Frizzle Cochin Rooster after about two days abandoned all the other hens, He only is interested in his red beauty. They are always together. They slip off, just the two of them to be together. When she lays, he is in the nest with her. He is too small to get on the roost so he sleeps up on a bale of hay. She makes sure she sleeps right over him. He had never tried to roost but has tried his best since she came but can't. New chickens usually have to work their way through the pecking order. He protected her from the beginning, jumping any hen that messed with her. She has become quiet the arrogant little thing to the other hens. It is like he PUT her at the top of the pecking order in just a few days, Our Golden Comet is top of the pecking order for hens but Maxine the RIR is exempt from the pecking order. Has anyone ever had a scenario like this. I haven't.


Yes, he has bonded with her. It's something in the love chemistry, it can be a tiny rooster and giant hen, or another combination, it can be a human they bond with.


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## HSJ07 (Aug 25, 2020)

robin416 said:


> I know I haven't. That thing about the roost though is sad. Is there anyway you can make him a ladder or ramp so he can join her?
> 
> I did the ramp for a really small Guinea Keet that couldn't fly to join the others for roosting. He got the idea really quickly and was able to join the flock at night. Now they all use it for one reason or another.


I had one built especially for him but he is afraid.


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## SilkieGirl (Apr 29, 2021)

Poultry Judge said:


> Yes, he has bonded with her


Yes, they have just bonded. Chickens are not capable of love like people are.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

They certainly are capable of devotion.


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## Love My Chickies (Jun 25, 2021)

HSJ07 said:


> I have something that I am curious about. I have had a rooster who wants every hen I have and this to me is normal behavior. About 3 months ago I got a little Rhode Island Red hen who is so beautiful, very red in color. My little Frizzle Cochin Rooster after about two days abandoned all the other hens, He only is interested in his red beauty. They are always together. They slip off, just the two of them to be together. When she lays, he is in the nest with her. He is too small to get on the roost so he sleeps up on a bale of hay. She makes sure she sleeps right over him. He had never tried to roost but has tried his best since she came but can't. New chickens usually have to work their way through the pecking order. He protected her from the beginning, jumping any hen that messed with her. She has become quiet the arrogant little thing to the other hens. It is like he PUT her at the top of the pecking order in just a few days, Our Golden Comet is top of the pecking order for hens but Maxine the RIR is exempt from the pecking order. Has anyone ever had a scenario like this. I haven't.


That is sooooo sweet!


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Love My Chickies said:


> That is sooooo sweet!


I don't know why this has got me pondering and revisiting this topic today, maybe it's because Fossil Ledges is an animal sanctuary, (and perhaps an asylum for us humans here), but I believe over the years, I have seen a few birds which were extraordinary in their personalities and capable of both devotion and love. I don't say that lightly, as a retired state government doctoral psychologist I am supposedly a trained observer and indeed questioning of much human behavior and subterfuge. However regarding the birds, careful observation sometimes demonstrates otherwise, and some bird behavior simply cannot be explained away in a rational fashion. Yes, most chickens are simply chickens, leading their chicken lives but occasionally there is a bird that transcends that and communicates on a different level. Just my two cents opinion but I know there are folks on this forum who have observed similar phenomenon.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Except for @HSJ07 having the devotion so blatant between his two birds, for most it takes years to come across those that are obvious. It also takes some maturity for the humans to recognize some of those behaviors. 

I've noticed body language with Maisey that I didn't pick up with my others. It might be her and that it didn't exist in the others or I got older and more alert.


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## strifelife (Jan 13, 2022)

New chickens typically need to deal with the dominance hierarchy. He shielded her from the start, bouncing any hen that screwed with her. She has become peaceful the haughty seemingly insignificant detail to different hens. It resembles he PUT her at the highest point of the hierarchy in only a couple of days, Our Golden Comet is top of the food chain for hens yet Maxine the RIR is absolved from the dominance hierarchy. Has anybody at any point had a situation like this. I haven't.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm not sure I understand what you mean with Maxine being absolved. Maybe a bit of clarification would help. 

And welcome to the forum.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Welcome to the forum!


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Yep, I've seen love birds before. Here's a pic I took at night of a RIR hen cuddled up with a Delaware rooster.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

dawg53 said:


> Yep, I've seen love birds before. Here's a pic I took at night of a RIR hen cuddled up with a Delaware rooster.
> 
> View attachment 43593


They really are close. Considering it's probably not cold where you are it wasn't to stay warm.


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## SilkieGirl (Apr 29, 2021)

I'm thinkin' 'bout how chickens fall in love in mysterious ways.


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