nesting box bully?

[mollygrace]

I have two nesting boxes for my 6 one-year-old hens. 5 of the hens will only use the box on the right and they all seem fine and happy with whatever system they've worked out for sharing it. My 6th hen is a crossbeak and just finally started laying regularly. She likes the box on the left, so never has any competition for it. Today I noticed that when she was sitting in it, one of the other hens kept pushing her out, but not using it herself. Not even using the other one. She'd just come over and push the crossbeak out and then leave. (The crossbeak is clearly the lowest in the pecking order, but for the most part the others don't bother her too much.) I observed this three times in about 10 minutes, so I eventually went in there and guarded my crossbeak in the box. The potential bully tried to go that way a few more times while I was sitting there, but I stopped her until the egg was laid. And no more trouble between them afterward.

Any thoughts about what's going on here?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Some birds like to give lower ranked birds a hard time just for being there. They don't want or need the nest, they just see stationary victim so they pick on them.

As long as the low ranked bird can eventually lay in her preferred location and doesn't get too beaten up over it I wouldn't consider it an issue.

 

[Mrs. K]

Put up a bit of a curtain on the nest.