Dustbathing behaviour of hens was studied due to the assumption that the behaviour is socially facilitated, and social rank of hens was also investigated due to its importance in other aspects of hen social behaviour. After nine days of litter deprivation, both high and low ranked birds were tested by situating them in front of a video monitor displaying middle ranked birds, in a cage with sand on the floor. The test hens were allowed a one-hour habituation period in the test cage before the two-hour test phase began. Three different test videos of the middle ranking birds were used: a dustbathing hen, a standing hen, and an empty cage. Each test bird was allowed to see all three videos. Differences were found in the number of birds dustbathing, the number of dustbathing bouts, and the latency to dustbathe. Fewer dustbathing bouts and fewer initiations of dustbathing were observed among high-ranking birds compared with low-ranking birds when the video showed a standing bird. High-ranking birds began to dustbathe sooner if they were shown a video of another bird dustbathing compared with a video of a bird standing. In both high-ranking and low-ranking birds, effects on duration and intensity of dustbathing were not seen. The authors suggested two interpretations of the results: either the high-ranking birds were socially facilitated to initiate dustbathing by the video image of a dustbathing hen, or the high-ranking birds were inhibited in starting to dustbathe by the image of a standing bird. The authors then raised the question as to whether social facilitation is as clear a phenomenon as suggested by earlier workers, who only worked with feeding and drinking behaviours in hens.