Hen mounting other hens?

[Traffie Chickens]

My 2 year old alpha hen has recently been mounting my younger hens! Is this normal? Or should I be concerned? Thanks!

 

[Tookie]

Yes, that can be normal. Especially if you don't have a rooster. She's just trying to show dominance.

 

[Traffie Chickens]

Yes, that can be normal. Especially if you don't have a rooster. She's just trying to show dominance.

Ok, good to know! And we don’t have a rooster with her yet, but we do have a young cockerel. That makes sense!

 

[Tellyegger]

One in 10!

 

[SusiesPeeps]

My 2 year old alpha hen has recently been mounting my younger hens! Is this normal? Or should I be concerned? Thanks!

I'm having the same problem of a hen mounting another hen. My Cinnamon Queen sex-linked 1-year-old is mounting my Welsummer - also 1 year-old. It seems to happen around food, and mostly when I give them some additional layer food that's not in their regular feeder. The WS is at the bottom of the pecking order. If she even attempts to get to the food plate, the CQ mounts her and starts pecking her neck ferociously. It's causing agitation in the flock, with some of the older hens (5 years old) beaming the WS on the head with their beaks as well. Whenever the CQ attacks WS, I pick CQ up and place her in the run away from the others. I've been doing this regularly but, clearly, it's not causing any change in the situation. The WS is extremely skittish. I've never encountered this problem before in the flock. I'm wondering if I should just stop giving them the additional whole-grain layer food for awhile. The layer food that's in their feeders is pellet and it seems to do the trick. The whole-grain food is obviously a different texture. There's plenty of room for these 6 hens to roam around and everyone is laying pretty regularly. I'd appreciate any insights into how to stop this behavior.

 

[Tookie]

I'm having the same problem of a hen mounting another hen. My Cinnamon Queen sex-linked 1-year-old is mounting my Welsummer - also 1 year-old. It seems to happen around food, and mostly when I give them some additional layer food that's not in their regular feeder. The WS is at the bottom of the pecking order. If she even attempts to get to the food plate, the CQ mounts her and starts pecking her neck ferociously. It's causing agitation in the flock, with some of the older hens (5 years old) beaming the WS on the head with their beaks as well. Whenever the CQ attacks WS, I pick CQ up and place her in the run away from the others. I've been doing this regularly but, clearly, it's not causing any change in the situation. The WS is extremely skittish. I've never encountered this problem before in the flock. I'm wondering if I should just stop giving them the additional whole-grain layer food for awhile. The layer food that's in their feeders is pellet and it seems to do the trick. The whole-grain food is obviously a different texture. There's plenty of room for these 6 hens to roam around and everyone is laying pretty regularly. I'd appreciate any insights into how to stop this behavior.

I would try having a few different water and food stations and see if that helps.

 

[SusiesPeeps]

I would try having a few different water and food stations and see if that helps.

Thanks for responding! We have only 6 hens. They have 2 large feeders in their runs for regular pellet food. I put out 2 plates with whole-grain layer food when they're out and about - I guess I could try 3 and see if that makes a difference. I appreciate your suggestion!

 

[TOMTE]

Thanks for responding! We have only 6 hens. They have 2 large feeders in their runs for regular pellet food. I put out 2 plates with whole-grain layer food when they're out and about - I guess I could try 3 and see if that makes a difference. I appreciate your suggestion!

How big is the run? Do you have much clutter inside to break line of sight between bullies and victims?

 

[Mother of Chaos]

How big is the run? Do you have much clutter inside to break line of sight between bullies and victims?

Also, maybe specifically break up the line of sight between different feeding areas

 

[SusiesPeeps]

Also, maybe specifically break up the line of sight between different feeding areas

That's an interesting idea - about the line of sight. There's 14' x 8' of run space - where the feeders are. The coop is "raised," so the small run is underneath it and the larger run is attached with an entry door from the small run. The feeding areas are separated only by the metal gate and hardware cloth. We have a Grandpa's feeder in the small run and another in the large run - but they can see through the gate and hardware cloth. When they're outside foraging it's just open space, but perhaps I can put one plate around the side of a shrub they use for cover if they see a hawk flying overhead. Overall, there's a pretty nice set-up for them. When our avian vet visits us she thinks there's plenty of both vertical and horizontal space with perches, etc. At least that's another opinion. Thanks for your help!