Hen jumping on another hen

[mottocytie]

hello, I hope everyone’s doing great, so this past sunny weekend I had to do a small coop change, we moved the coop from the previous spot to a new spot in our backyard and everything was going fine until I saw one of my hens jumping on one of my other hens, she grabs her from the neck feathers and just tries to jump on top of her and she just screams. I’m not sure what’s causing this, they still have plenty of space to wander around so I don’t know what to do with this behaviour. She’s done it like a good 6-7 times yesterday. Also we don’t have a rooster in our flock just 7 hens. Now I see the hen who is being attacked running away from her.

 

[aart]

How old, in weeks or months, are these birds?
Females will do that for dominance.
The move to new quarters might have triggered a pecking order debate.

 

[fluffycrow]

Pictures would also help

 

[mottocytie]

How old, in weeks or months, are these birds?
Females will do that for dominance.
The move to new quarters might have triggered a pecking order debate.

They are about to be a year old next month

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think Aart got it. With the move you shook up the pecking order. With no rooster the dominant hen will mount another to show dominance.

 

[fluffycrow]

In that case, you're probably not looking at a sneaky male. Hens mounting hens it is! Not that uncommon

 

[mottocytie]

I think Aart got it. With the move you shook up the pecking order. With no rooster the dominant hen will mount another to show dominance.

Yes I was thinking it was due to the moving of the coop.. because I have never seen this happen like they have pecked at each other but not getting on top of each other. It’s only one hen that does this and she does it to two of the others. She grabs them from their neck feathers and tries to jump on their backs. Hopefully this behaviour doesn’t last long because I don’t like hearing the screams of the poor hens being attacked.

 

[mottocytie]

How old, in weeks or months, are these birds?
Females will do that for dominance.
The move to new quarters might have triggered a pecking order debate.

Yes I was thinking it was due to the moving of the coop.. because I have never seen this happen like they have pecked at each other but not getting on top of each other. It’s only one hen that does this and she does it to two of the others. She grabs them from their neck feathers and tries to jump on their backs. Hopefully this behaviour doesn’t last long because I don’t like hearing the screams of the poor hens being attacked.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hopefully this behaviour doesn’t last long because I don’t like hearing the screams of the poor hens being attacked.

Since it's not new quarters/digs/coop and only at a different location, I *might* consider a brief (penalty box style) time out for the aggressor. That is to say.. set up with all her needs met inside a wire dog kennel among the flock still for a fair portion of the day, but probably not full on "broody breaking" style. Sometimes our attempts to intervene actually prolong what would have otherwise settled down anyways given enough time.

I always solve for peace, including allowing some time for things to work themselves out especially for sudden developments, and making sure it's not something caused by me, ie environmental causes. (like this might be)

The time I'm willing to tolerate anything depends very heavily on what's going on within my personal life and varies according to the situation. But culling is also always an option (for me). Sometimes removing one aggressor creates another.. so it's never a decision taken lightly.

Sometimes the "runner" (victim) is inviting the attack.. that's how nature appears to work sometimes. Nature is beautiful but brutal. Of course nature doesn't see victims in the human sense of the word and that is NOT what I'm implying here, please. But the statement is still *possibly* or at least partly valid otherwise.. it takes two. The short time out, I'm mentioning *may* curb her behavior some, or boost their confidence some, or neither since your mileage may vary.

Hope it resolves quickly and with minimal intervention!

 

[Ridgerunner]

To me a dominant hen mounting another in the absence of a rooster is not dangerous abhorrent behavior. It is not something I see that often but I have seen it. It is simply her showing her dominance. It's a way to enforce her authority as the dominant hen. As long as no one is being injured I see no reason to challenge that hen for flock dominance. I would not want her to think of me as a rival. As long as no one is being injured I let them be chickens. I don't see anything to punish with a time out or anything else.