Are my younger hens being over-mated?

[rod5591]

The last few days I've really noticed one particular Black Australorp hen is showing a lot of over mating signs. A few of her sisters show signs as well, but she is the worse. See attached photo. On the other hand, my older hens (3 years old) show very little signs of overmating. (See photo)

I have 3 roosters-one is 2 years old and two are one year old. I have 25 hens--10 are one year old, 7 are two years old and 8 are 3 years old. So there are plenty of hens for the roosters to pick from--but maybe they like the younger, lower ranked hens? I am not sure.

It looks like it must be uncomfortable for the Black Australorp hen. Is there anything I need to do to manage this situation, without spending money? (We are on a budget.)

 

[Isadora]

You could separate the boys or get rid of one.
Since you have hens of varying ages it's likely the older hens are less receptive to the boys so the boys are over mating the young ones.