Aggressive hen- what to do?

[austinclarksf]

I have 9 chickens, 1 RIR, 1 spanish bird, 1 game bird, 2 aracaunas, 1 buff, 2 cochins, and 1 silver laced wyandotte. They are all between 8-12 months. They live in a 25x25 run. their coop is always open, and is 4x8. Food and water dispersed evenly around the run, there's junipers growing that create little cubbies and sections. I feed my girls fresh organic (bug infested) produce daily from the farm I work on, as well as scraps from the kitchen and mealworms. I also let them free range the neighborhood weekly. They have a pecker block, I have cd's and a mirror hung up, and I give them mealworms daily. They have a screened bed with grass growing, and an abundance of alfalfa. SPOILED chickens if you ask me.

I have posted about this before. What can I do about my aggressive RIR? I've removed her from the flock for 1-2 weeks and re introduced, but every time within a few days she resumes this behavior. She chases any bird except the spanish hen, the game bird, and one of my cochins all around the run, sometimes taking turns on who she wants to chase. She'll catch some of my hens and jump on their backs to pull feathers. She does not eat the feathers- spits them out- so I know it's not a protein issue. She can be very engaged in something on one end of the coop, maybe a worm or veggie scrap, and will turn around without warning and sprint 15 feet to attack a resting hen.

Naturally, she is territorial with her space being the alpha of the flock, and that I would understand, it's the incessant and unprovoked chasing that's the issue. None of my hens exhibit any of this behavior- only her. When I remove her from the flock, all of my hens get along relatively peacefully. When the RIR is in the run, 5 chickens are confined to any hiding spot out of the RIR's line of sight.

I am very close to just snapping her neck- my beautiful barred rock cochin is getting all scrapped up from the RIR's pecking- those cochin pants slow her down. However, the RIR happens to be my best layer. What to do?

 

[austinclarksf]

On a side note- I've noticed that when I re introduce her, my spanish hen recognizes her instantly even after 2 weeks and they buddy up together (I think they were raised together, I bought them as a pair). When she is approached by another hen who does not recognize her and they begin a standoff, my spanish bird will rush in and peck the opposition, breaking what would be a normal establishment of the pecking order, and the RIR will begin the chasing. The few standoffs that did not involve the spanish hen's intervention resulted in peace between birds- like my white cochin and game bird.

My RIR is the smallest bird in my flock, and has lost every real fight I've seen her partake in. Is my spanish hen enabling her? Do I need to isolate and re introduce with the spanish hen in confinement? The spanish hen exhibits no aggressive behavior, even with the RIR gone, although she does like her personal space.

 

[Chickie64]

I've been having the same problem with my reds, they just seem to be aggressive with other breeds. Might look into getting peepers for her, I've heard of them working. Maybe it would be best to get rid of her if separating her for 1-2 weeks has proven ineffective already.

 

[donrae]

Good layer or not, I'd remove her from the flock, however you choose. Rehome her or eat her, whatever.