Rat Mother

“Few have seen them and recognized them for what they are. Perhaps they are the key to the destruction of the Skaven, for without females, how would they propagate? Nevertheless, Skaven females do exist, cloistered away and used as necessary by those males who have earned the right to breed. Broods of ratlings are born within the Skaven nurseries, and their mothers are rarely without child for more than a month.”

—Steffan Paulus Adelhof, Scholar of Wolfenburg

These bloated, grotesque baby factories are the only female Skaven known to exist. Each weights at least 700 pounds and measures 10 feet long from snout to tail. Their flabby soft bodies bristle with dozens of protrusions, all of which leak the foul-smelling milk on which their litters are weaned. Often blind and crippled, these creatures cannot care for themselves and must rely on castrated slaves for survival. They spend most of their time in a euphoric haze brought on by constant application of hallucinogens and other drugs.

When adequately fed and attended, the Rat Mother births a litter of 1-10 squalling Ratlings each week, these creatures reaching maturity in 2-3 weeks.

On Female Skaven
It has been a common misconception that Skaven are all of the male gender. The specifics of where they come from are widely debated amongst those scholars who show an interest in the species, and include many ludicrous theories as to the origin of the Ratmen. One such postulation is that the Skaven are born directly from Chaos, while another claims they are merely ordinary rats that are mutated by constant exposure to Warpstone. The truth of the matter is that there are, indeed, female Skaven, locked away in the depths of the Under-Empire.

Female Skaven serve no other purpose than to propagate their vile species, and they are only slightly conscious of the events that transpire around them. Constant application of Warpstone derived narcotics beginning at a young age keeps them blissfully ignorant of the events that transpire in the Under-Empire. So cloistered away from the rest of their race are they that they do not learn their race’s chittering speech, nor are they proficient in even the simplest social skills…or so the Skaven believe.

Source

 * Warhammer Fantasy RPG 2nd ED -- Children of the Horned Rat (pg. 114).