Pullets pecking head of another pulley while roo is mounting her

[chickinlittles]

Can someone explain to my why my 2 SLW hover over and peck the head of my CLB while my Roo mounts and breeds with her?
The SLWs are very dominant pullets and this CLB is the lowest in the entire flock order. I have 12 hens and one roo and this is the only bird I have seen them do this to. Is there something I can do to stop this behavior? The breeding is tough enough without other hens coming in to take pot shots at her. They are about 18/19 weeks old and two of my girls have started laying.
Thanks in advance for any insight on this topic.

 

[chickinlittles]

Can someone explain to my why my 2 SLW hover over and peck the head of my CLB while my Roo mounts and breeds with her?
The SLWs are very dominant pullets and this CLB is the lowest in the entire flock order. I have 12 hens and one roo and this is the only bird I have seen them do this to. Is there something I can do to stop this behavior? The breeding is tough enough without other hens coming in to take pot shots at her. They are about 18/19 weeks old and two of my girls have started laying.
Thanks in advance for any insight on this topic.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My guess is it's something like them reinforcing the pecking order, especially at their age when the order becomes more important to them.

There's not much you can do about it except remove birds, but that can work, and not work. I might remove the rooster for a while if he isn't necessary.

 

[AgnesGray]

Awww, poor thing! My Welsummer has been treated in a similar manner. My barred rocks are pretty feisty gals and need the occasional timeout.

Probably the biggest improvement to the pecking issues we were having has come from increasing the amount of space they had in the run and upping their protein. Sometimes a bossy chicken is just going to be a bossy chicken though and separating is the only way to keep it from happening.

 

[chicken3fly]

I heard some thing similar happens with wolves maybe its the same thing here?

 

[chickinlittles]

Thanks for your responses. Sunshine, the CLB is very subservient to all other 12 birds. Seems like order is very well established. The SLW s are always hanging with Dali, My WFBS Roo. They have a large coop and a hugh yard over 1400 sq ft. So there’s no crowding issues. I love the look of the SLW and their egg production value but will not get anymore of them as they have been aggressive and bitchy from the start. I was convinced one was a roo early on as she was quite aggressive with me. My GLW is another story, sweet and gentle and likes to be held and cuddled. I spend a good number of hours everyday with them and will just continue to watch for this behavior and try and keep them away from her I guess.

 

[chickinlittles]

Ha! Hubby just choked on his broccoli laughing so hard at this!!