My hens are raping each other - Questions on isolation??

misslys15

In the Brooder
5 Years
May 9, 2014
39
3
24
I have a flock of nine: 1 Golden Laced Wyandotte, 1 Barred Plymouth Rock, 1 Rhode Island Red, 3 Tetra Tints, and 3 Golden Comets. Two of the Tetra Tints have been raping my other girls. The Wyanotte, Plymouth Rock, and Rhode Island Red are a year older than the others and were established as a flock of 3 first, so they can stick up for themselves, but the Golden Comets are the smallest out of all of them and they take the brunt of the beatings. I know roosters tend to rape, but all my chickens are female. I'm assuming that since I have no males, the hen(s) are taking up the aggressive role that a rooster would normally have.

I want to isolate one of the Tetra Tints. There is one other that rapes on occasion, but this one is the clear ring leader, and I think the other one will stop altogether if she doesn't see this one doing it. I've never had to isolate any of my girls before, so I had a couple questions. I was planning on setting up a dog crate in their coop (which is an 8x12 ft tool shed converted into a coop) so they could all still see each other and so she could still be protected without having to set up a whole new area for her. I read that in bully situations, you should isolate the bully so the others in the flock can see her rather than hiding her from the rest of the flock. However mad I am at her for hurting the others, I don't want her to get lonely either. :(

How big or small of a dog crate should I use? I'd rather not shell out $100 for a huge dog crate, but I want her to be comfortable enough for the week or so that she's in isolation.
 
Can you post a picture of the two hens in question? What you are describing does not sound like dominant behavior - indeed it sounds like crazy young cockerel behavior.
 
They are definitely female; they both lay eggs. Though when they were young, we were afraid the ringleader was sexed wrong because she was bigger, louder (not quiet crowing sounds, but louder and a slightly different sound than the others), and more adventurous and aggressive than the others. We actually ended up calling her Rooster because of it.



The white one is the one that does it on occasion next to one of the Golden Comets. Rooster is nearly identical. All three Tetra Tints are pretty much identical apart from the third one (who doesn't rape) having a bigger comb.
 
First off, chickens are not capable of "rape." That infers that they have some sort of morality and can understand right from wrong. Having said that, some dominant hens will mount lower ranking hens. It is pecking order/dominance related. As long as there isn't any blood being drawn, do not interfere. Removing and isolating the dominant bird will just make the flock dynamic more unstable. In fact, it can make the behavior even worse. You just need to let them sort things out. It might look and sound horrific, but as long as there isn't any actual injury, leave them to it. It's just chickens being chickens.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom