A woman realized her two hens were in a lesbian relationship. This is how she figured it out.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 30, 2021. It has since been updated.

In a hilarious and entertaining thread posted to Twitter, user Amanda Brunton (who goes by the handle Amandycat on the social media platform) revealed how she discovered that two of her hens were in a loving lesbian relationship. The romance bloomed when Brunton, who adopted a stray hen that she named Domino, brought in another hen named Michelle to be her "quarantine buddy." New hens have to be quarantined preferably with a quarantine buddy, she explained, in order to detect if they carry any infectious diseases. Even after being cooped up with other hens, the pair would sleep "snuggled up together." Brunton has finally figured out why this is.

At first, she shared Domino's adoption story. "Just over a year ago, our neighbors asked me if I was missing a chicken because one had been spotted on the meadow outside our house (I was not missing a hen)," she posted. "About six weeks later, someone caught the hen and brought her to me, assuming she was mine (she was not)... She was very thin and weak so I brought her indoors and set about finding her owner. She clearly loved being around people and we assumed she was a pet. We advertised everywhere but no one claimed her. She lived in our bathroom for six weeks while we tried to find her owner." Later on, Domino moved out of the bathroom and into a coop with her new quarantine buddy, Michelle.

Michelle is a Bantam Brahma, who is "huge" once they stop growing. Brunton stated, "They are gentle giants though, and we figured that a big bird would defend Domino since she's a dinky little Bantam about half the size of my existing flock birds." A few weeks after spending time together in quarantine, Domino and Michelle were introduced to Brunton's "other girls." She moved the quarantine coop close to the other birds so they could see each other, but not touch before actually letting all the hens spend time together. It was at this time that Domino decided to "assert dominance"—she immediately picked a fight with another hen.

"They went straight for each others' faces, bit off a chunk of each others' combs, and there was BLOOD EVERYWHERE," Brunton explained. "This is also the point at which I started to wonder what the f*ck I had brought upon myself." Nonetheless, she soon got Domino to calm down by supervising short visits with the other hens and gradually increasing the amount of time she spent with them. She stated, "[Domino is] half the size of my other birds but was not satisfied until she was officially head of the pecking order." Meanwhile, Michelle, who was supposed to "protect" Domino, spent most of her time "being frightened by wild sparrows [and] her own shadow, and being picked on by all the other birds."

Brunton said, "Domino now HUSTLES RIGHT IN THERE if the other birds are giving her big dumb friend any trouble. They go to sleep at night separate [from] the other chickens, all snuggled up together, usually with one tucked under the other's wing." She had another clue that alerted her about their blossoming romance: "The other thing I have noticed is that if I bring in any treats and Michelle is too timid to get a look in, Domino goes and grabs some, runs over to Michelle and FEEDS IT TO HER. They then both cluck around together happily with their little romantic dinner away from the others." When she happened to mention all this to her breeder, she was informed that this behavior was common among roosters; they would do the same for their favorite hens. Brunton affirmed, "So basically, I've had adorable little chicken-y lesbians in my back garden the whole time and I DIDN'T REALIZE."

Although Brunton has felt like the "worst chicken parent" for not realizing this sooner, the internet has quite enjoyed the story of discovering the "chicken-y lesbian" relationship. Hundreds of Twitter users have commented on how adorable the whole relationship is. Since then, Brunton has stated, "They are the absolute cutest and I'm delighted by how many people they have cheered up during this weird, stressful time."