Jealous hen?

[chickfused]

I have a hen that is chasing my rooster off another hen whenever he tries to mount her. I should note that he's too big for the second hen and I should probably get rid of her before he hurts her. I can't figure out if the first one is jealous, or saving her friend. I've never seen anything like this. She's not a dominant hen, she doesn't mount or bully anyone. Keeps her place in the pecking order, but nothing more. And she lets him mount bigger girls, just not this wee one.

 

[azygous]

It could be either. Hens may not be jealous in the sense that some humans are, but she could be discouraging the fertilizing of this hens eggs due to reproductive competition.

On the other hand, I have seen in my flock over the years that some hens are vehemently reluctant to be mated, and other hens will come to her aid when a rooster tries to mate the reluctant hen. Is your petite hen showing any signs of distress as the rooster approaches her, trying to run from him?

 

[chickfused]

Is your petite hen showing any signs of distress as the rooster approaches her, trying to run from him?

Sometimes, but most times she seems to want to mate. She just goes breast down to the ground and sticks her butt in the air rather than trying to hold him up. Sometimes she runs, but more often than not, she's interested. This doesn't seem to matter to the other hen.

 

[azygous]

Then it appears this behavior has more to do with reproductive competition which to us humans can look like jealousy.

 

[chickfused]

Funny that. The "jealous" hen lays an egg every 2 weeks these days.

 

[K0k0shka]

My guess would be that the first hen is reading the small hen's body position as distress rather than mating, and is coming to her aid. Maybe in her mind she has the image of what a normal mating looks like - the hen crouched and the rooster on top of her - but what she's seeing is a hen flat down on the ground, which looks more like she's immobilized/pinned down/ attacked, or like a pullet too young to be mated, and it might be triggering a different response in the first hen (because they do often come to each other's aid if one is being attacked). Her instincts are not taking into account what humans have done to completely reshape the sizes, looks and colors of different varieties of chickens, and she doesn't realize that the second hen is just too small, and not a young chick being molested by the rooster (which does happen), or a victim being pinned breast down to the ground.