I have a very confused hen.....

[foxyloxy]

Hey everyone. We have a RIR hen that has started mounting/trying to mate with my cochin.

(I know she's a hen since we have 8 hens and were getting 8 eggs a day in the fall. The RIR was one of our first layers.) We went out of town for a couple weeks, and when we got back the cochin had a bald, sore spot on her head and feathers missing from both sides of her back. I noticed that a couple of the hens, including the RIR, were picking on her, but today I actually saw the RIR climb on her.

And it seems like it's getting worse. The RIR is totally incessant. Constantly chasing the cochin when she comes out of the coop, so she sits in the door of the coop all day to get away from the RIR. I'm getting worried, and I'm not sure what to do. Anyone have any advice on this?

Thanks!

 

[Higins00]

I just saw this in my flock too. I thought maybe since they are stuck in a small area now because of the snow, they usually free range on 3 acres. But the mounting thing was so strange so I took her and another bully together and separated them. Hopfully when they all get back together with the flock they will be sent to the middle of the pecking order and not be agressive like that.

 

[MissJenny]

I am far from an expert at this kind of thing... but that cochin must be seriously miserable, to no fault of her own. I would remove the offending hen for a week to ten days. This will do two things: 1.) it will give the poor cochin a break and 2.) it should help to lower the offending hen in the pecking order.

Is your cochin a standard or a bantam? I have a soft spot for cochins. They tend to be docile and the go broody so nicely

Wish I could reach into their little chickeny brains and snap on some synapses. Why they do half the idiotic things they do is a mystery to me...

Good luck -- let us know how this works out.

Jenny

 

[TigerLilly]

Do either of you have roosters? I think I read on here somewhere that if you dont have one, sometimes a hen will start displaying roo behavior.

 

[Higins00]

I had a roo but am in the middle of swaping them out for new gene's. So no adult roo at this time. But the hen that is mounting is usually a nice quiet hen, it's just weired

 

[axion_lotus]

To me it seems like your RIR hen is taking on the "roo role" while there is no roo in the coop. It's mostly a dominance thing when one hen will start mounting the other hens.

Isolating the RIR for a week or so would be the best thing. Knock that bully down a few pegs!

(Also, I love cochins, they're so cute and fluffy!

)

 

[tinychicky]

is she crowing at all? i've had hens that crowed....and one that fought roosters

it's kinda wierd that she's mounting though. try removing her from the coop for a little while. also, putting a rooster in would definetly help