a wee bit anthropomorphic?

[wyld thang]

anybody ever notice this? i maybe heard a hen croak, or certainly be bossy/top dog, but transgendered?
http://barnyardsandbackyards.org/201...nsgender-hens/

[mistletoad]

We had a hen that crowed and mounted the other girls. She stopped when we got a rooster and eventually gave in to his advances. It's just what chickens do.

[wyld thang]

my girl poodle humps my girl heeler, it's just what dogs do too

[watcher]

For dogs mounting is a dominance not sexual issue. A dog, male or female, will mount or try to mount other dogs to show it is "top dog". I've never seen a female dog try to mount a bitch in heat.

[tallpines]

Just today I saw our 31 pound female dog attempt to mount the 175 pound male St. Bernard.

He never noticed!

She keeps trying to be the dominent one ---- but with little success

[fordy]

Originally Posted by wyld thang

my girl poodle humps my girl heeler, it's just what dogs do too

.............I just have too ask.....Does your poodle like to...Dance ? , fordy

[MariaAZ]

After reading the post, the author Jordanne Dervaes appears to have used the term "transgendered" to describe usually male type behaviors such as crowing and mounting when performed by a hen. Jordanne goes on to say that this may be a dominance thing. Given the overall light-hearted tone of the story, I personally think she could be forgiven the anthropomorphistic bent of the story's title.

However, considering that this website seems geared towards not only rural chicken wranglers but city ones too, a crowing hen can be a GREAT consternation, especially to the latter. Given that the author has quite a bit of experience with city-bound livestock, I can imagine she might be addressing at least in part urban/suburban concerns. Cities can be pretty strict about their "no rooster" edicts, not to mention the great number of folks who keep chickens despite zoning regulations to the contrary. In both these cases, a crowing hen can easily bring down the ire of non-chicken loving neighbors and possibly unwanted attention from zoning regulatory agencies.

[uncle Will in In.]

That's one of the perks of living in the boonies. The dominant nosey old hen living down the road can't tell whats humping what at your house!

[watcher]

Originally Posted by tallpines

Just today I saw our 31 pound female dog attempt to mount the 175 pound male St. Bernard.

He never noticed!

She keeps trying to be the dominent one ---- but with little success

If he didn't 'correct' (i.e. turn around and act like he was going to bite her in half) she is the dominant dog. A dominant dog will not let a subordinate dog do that w/o putting them in their place.

[wyld thang]

Originally Posted by MariaAZ

After reading the post, the author Jordanne Dervaes appears to have used the term "transgendered" to describe usually male type behaviors such as crowing and mounting when performed by a hen. Jordanne goes on to say that this may be a dominance thing. Given the overall light-hearted tone of the story, I personally think she could be forgiven the anthropomorphistic bent of the story's title.

However, considering that this website seems geared towards not only rural chicken wranglers but city ones too, a crowing hen can be a GREAT consternation, especially to the latter. Given that the author has quite a bit of experience with city-bound livestock, I can imagine she might be addressing at least in part urban/suburban concerns. Cities can be pretty strict about their "no rooster" edicts, not to mention the great number of folks who keep chickens despite zoning regulations to the contrary. In both these cases, a crowing hen can easily bring down the ire of non-chicken loving neighbors and possibly unwanted attention from zoning regulatory agencies.

thanks for catching what I was hinting at

however, though "transgendered" may be tongue and cheek, a big chunk of the audience this is aimed at (urban) would NOT understand there is a difference in the definition between domination and transgendered regarding animal behavior, and deeper understanding of animal nature gets lost in the "cool I have a butchy chicken"(that's why I said anthropomorphism).

I'm totally serious in this(not trying to be a homophobe). Up here in Oregon there is a lot of interest and participation on urban homesteading, and the use of a word like transgendered, even in light heartedness, perpetuates ignorance of animal behavior, which always results in a "lesser experience"(to put it lightheartedly).

That said, sure here at home we joke about out butchy poodle(she's a big orange standard poodle, and real old so she's wobbly and no doesn't dance anymore, ha). BUt if someone comments on it who doesn't understand, we point out its a dominance thing--she's not "raping" the heeler(yes, I've heard that, and that *is* offensive to me and I set them straight), and the two dogs both know their order and are happy and confident with it.

So, did anyone catch the story on ABC WOrld News last night about backyard chickens? there was a KILLER chicken coop, some guy in MO. Talk about Palace d' Poulet!! I thought VERY cool chickens have hit national news.

PS, the article WAS an educational piece, and when one is educating you first understand the reader/student/market. THis article works as a "pop" piece, but falls down a bit in the real science. Yeah that ticks me off, ha.

[mistletoad]

Seems to me it was a proper use of the term transgendered - a hen was exhibiting behaviours that are outside of the norm for her gender. Anthropomorphism would have been calling the hen confused and implying it wished it were a cockerel.

[wyld thang]

Originally Posted by mistletoad

Seems to me it was a proper use of the term transgendered - a hen was exhibiting behaviours that are outside of the norm for her gender. Anthropomorphism would have been calling the hen confused and implying it wished it were a cockerel.

that definition of transgendered is pretty broad.

chickens are flock/herd/pack animals(which all have a pecking order). what is the purpose of a rooster's crow? establishing territory, announcing status and alerting for danger(prolly most important). In the absence of a rooster the dominant female will take over the leadership role--the hens will then listen for the croaky crow. it's about leadership of the flock and communication, not sexuality.

so now I've got Blue Oyster Cult's Dominance/Submission song in my head...

[mistletoad]

But the original article did not say it was about sexuality and as you say the definition of transgendered is pretty broad. You seem to want to narrow the definition to include sexual proclivities and then accuse the writer of anthropomorphism because they do not stick to your narrow interpretation.

[highlands]

We had a female dog that was very masculine. She lifted her leg to pee, humped anything in sight and was very alpha with everyone but me. Pigs, cows and sheep, male or female, hump anything, male or female, of any species, given the hormones and chance. Gorny Huys and Gorny Hirls.

On the other hand, when the hormones are right... they are very clear. Today there was a sow out in the south pasture who was being chased around by the low rank boar. She kept telling him no most emphatically. Finally she ran into the top rank boar. She stopped. He snorted at her, breathed in her face a few times and she went into a trance. All of a sudden she was ready. But he said, no, she's not quite there and he walked away. The other boar came over and then she accepted him. The big boar knows that she's too early though.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa

[ajaxlucy]

Originally Posted by mistletoad

Seems to me it was a proper use of the term transgendered - a hen was exhibiting behaviours that are outside of the norm for her gender. Anthropomorphism would have been calling the hen confused and implying it wished it were a cockerel.

Funny!

[wyld thang]

Originally Posted by mistletoad

But the original article did not say it was about sexuality and as you say the definition of transgendered is pretty broad. You seem to want to narrow the definition to include sexual proclivities and then accuse the writer of anthropomorphism because they do not stick to your narrow interpretation.

I did read up on transgendered, and while I was confusing it a little with with transsexual, the the anthropomorphizing(as transgendered, as in "out of the norm for gender roles") of what is happening when a female chicken gets cocky, is still going on. Obviously it's in the chicken's wiring to have a female step in in the absence of a male, ie' it's "normal" part of chicken behavior--not out of the norm for gender roles(which is what I meant with using "sexual", NOT as in proclivities, sorry to be confusing) as we observe them and hang on chickens. ie, "transgendered"--"out of the norm". No it's not "out of the norm".

But then I knew in the beginning bagging on the use of transgendered would get flak, ha. WHatever.

[MariaAZ]

I think most readers probably catch on that the title was a shot at humor though, after they get into the body of the piece. In "big city" parlance (at least in THIS big city), transgendered usually indicates the adoption of the entire lifestyle of the opposite sex, and not just a few activities.

Of course, if people don't read the article and just read the title, the humor may have been totally lost