Hen mounting other hens..?

[CedarAcres]

We have 20 chickens, 19 ladies & one rooster. I've noticed that one of our red sex links is mercilessly picking on one of our EE's, chasing her and chasing her and mounting her when she catches her. This only happens out of the view of the rooster. The red sex link seems to be causing all the issues, but some of the other hens are now picking on the EE as well. Our rooster is always mating with the ladies and mates with the RSL (who is causing all the issues) quite frequently. The EE is currently hiding in the coop, up in the roosts. We always have had a rooster in our flocks and I don't ever remember seeing hens mounting hens. I've only heard about it when there is no rooster present. And our RSL girl is definitely a girl. I've always thought mounting was a dominance thing, so is she just asserting her place in the pecking order? Any ideas?

 

[five is my dog]

i would separate the mean girls or get rid of them. you may not want to but thats whats best for the poor EE.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Yes, hens will "mount" a chicken if they are trying to dominate them. With my chickens, if a low-ranking chicken crouches when a dominant bird comes up to her, the dominant hen will get on top of her and continue her attacking.

If your Red Sex-Link continues to be mean, I'd isolate her for about 2 1/2 weeks. When she is put back into the flock, she will have to assert her dominance all over again.

 

[CedarAcres]

Thanks guys! That's what I was thinking to do anyway.. isolating the bratty one. When I went back out everyone was getting along great, so I'll watch them over the next few days.

 

[five is my dog]

hope everything goes well!

 

[CedarAcres]

Well the mounting behavior has stopped and it's really just some chasing now. Although the EE is extremely timid (maybe too timid?) and it's keeping her from the feeders. She goes into the coop whenever she thinks she might get chased and she doesn't seem to be eating too much in there either if anyone else is in the coop at all. I'm thinking of trying to add another feeder to see if that encourages her to eat more. There's really only one that is chasing her around.

 

[five is my dog]

Well the mounting behavior has stopped and it's really just some chasing now. Although the EE is extremely timid (maybe too timid?) and it's keeping her from the feeders. She goes into the coop whenever she thinks she might get chased and she doesn't seem to be eating too much in there either if anyone else is in the coop at all. I'm thinking of trying to add another feeder to see if that encourages her to eat more. There's really only one that is chasing her around.

the EE is timid because of the bullying going on. the way to get her to eat more is to separate the bad girl.

 

[CedarAcres]

Well she has always been a very timid girl, which makes her an easy target since she won't ever peck anyone back. Although today she was at the feeders all day and no hiding in the coop so I think everyone's calming down. A neighbor had some work being done in their yard the last few days and I'm wondering if the unfamiliar noises of machinery caused them to get stressed out. I think everyone is fine now since everyone's acting back to normal.

 

[Birdmama64]

Thanks guys! That's what I was thinking to do anyway.. isolating the bratty one. When I went back out everyone was getting along great, so I'll watch them over the next few days.

I have a EE hen that is always mounting my ISA Brown. Has the feathers rubbed plum off her back. I'm getting her a hen saddle and will isolate the EE for about 3 weeks. Then we will see. Will a large dog kennel in the coop work or do I need to move her out of sight?