Hen mating another hen?!

[sgobe]

I have one hen doing what looks like the naughty with another hen. She violent about it however. This just started as i started introducing new 8.5wk old to the small flock i have. They have a pretty cool run with stumps a jungle gym i give grass clippings treats etc daily. I also have mirror and parrot toys available to them. Whats the deal here? Anything else I can,add for stimulation?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I have one hen doing what looks like the naughty with another hen. She violent about it however. This just started as i started introducing new 8.5wk old to the small flock i have. They have a pretty cool run with stumps a jungle gym i give grass clippings treats etc daily. I also have mirror and parrot toys available to them. Whats the deal here? Anything else I can,add for stimulation?

How much space, total, is available to the birds and how many birds of each age group do you have? What approach are you using in the integration of your birds? How old are the two birds in question? Dominance mounting/aggression is not unusual and not related to sexual behavior - the introduction of the new birds throws the existing pecking order into flux and in the resorting of things there can arise aggression between birds that was not seen before and increase aggression that was already present.

 

[junebuggena]

How old are they? Are you sure you don't have a cockerel or two?

 

[sgobe]

The run is 512sqft and that isn't including the height we've added building the jungle gym.
The new chicks have cockerel, they are 8.5wks old. The hens that started the aggression just turned 1 yr old this month.
I started adding the new chicks by taking one section of the run and fenced it off. They came out only during the evening now I've been letting them out all,day. But still separate from the big girls.

 

[junebuggena]

Maybe she's just trying to re enforce that she's the boss. Mounting isn't always for reproductive purposes. It can be a dominance display as well.

 

[sgobe]

She being a real jerk tho. The other hen is literally going bald in places. I spend a lot of time with them and this is really new. Within the last few days

 

[junebuggena]

How much space do they have? And what breeds are they? How many older birds do you have, and how younger birds do you have? Is the coop inside the run, taking away square footage?

 

[sgobe]

The nine, 8.5wk old orpingtons have a 4x4 section of the 512sqft run. The adult birds are the ones I'm having issues with. The adult hens are silver laced Wyandottes and we only have 5 of them. The run is attached to the coop however i did not add the sqft of that to the run. The coop is about 90sqft and the the additional 512sqft run. I believe that is more then required spacing?

 

[junebuggena]

Could she be going bald from a seasonal molt. Have you noticed a lot of feathers in the coop?