Bessie has to go.

[MrEgghead]

My flock consists of 2 Black Sex Links (Bessie and Sister), 1 red Maran (Merry), 1 Chocolate Orpington (Fluffy), 1 grey Easter Egger (Silver), and 1 Rhode Island Red (Pepper).
I found a broken egg in the hen house and Pepper was there trying to eat it. I quickly removed it and cleaned the nest. I assumed she was the culprit as there was no one else around. However, both the wife and I have since caught Bessie pecking at the eggs a couple of times.

Bessie has been a bully to Pepper for some time. I've tried peepers, erected a barrier to to provide line of sight breakage, and finally built a second coop while fencing off a portion of the run. I put Bessie and Fluffy in this area, Fluffy is head hen in charge, but only intimidates Pepper with her size. Bessie, however is very hateful towards Pepper. The other girls leave her be, except Merry, who just lets her know she has seniority.

I released all the birds into the yard, as I do every evening before dusk. I saw Bessie chase Pepper and jump on her. While holding her down, she started pecking at the back of Pepper's comb, (which already has a small scab on it. This is the first time I've actually seen her assault and it was brutal. I quickly got Bessie and put her back in D block.

I hate to think it, but I believe Bessie has to go. I really don't wanna kill her, I'm afraid if I re-home her, she will bring these behaviors with her, which the new owner wouldn't appreciate.

Any thoughts? You can see the scab on her comb here.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Sounds like she’s trying to mate the other hen. I’d separate her for awhile and let the order reorder themselves.

 

[FrostRanger]

What's their diet like including treats and how much space is in their coop and run?

 

[BaaKaaawk]

Everyone has their opinions on how to handle situations, and you will need to figure out your threshold there. I know chickens will be chickens, but there is a point at which I am reminded that over 200 million (not thousand, but million) chickens are processed for food daily...

 

[Debbie292d]

A couple of weeks ago I put a mauve hen with 6 others in a pen I'm waiting to get a chocolate rooster for. They got along great in there, but each day when left to free range, the new one stayed in the pen or right around the perimeter of it. I thought she was just getting her bearings being in new territory. Today I thought that's enough, and carried her over to where the others from her flock were eating the Henhouse Reserve I'd sprinkled. She joined them. Then, a few minutes later, I saw a paint hen from a different pen high-tail it over to attack her. I waited as the two went around and around, and the mauve hen won after the paint hen was caught off balance and fell into a mud puddle. They both walked away from each other.

So what makes one hen just "out" for another? It's not pecking order as these aren't in the same pen and have never even been together. Jealousy maybe? The different color, perhaps? I doubt that, as there are four chocolate hens, so the mauve one isn't that different. I have absolutely no idea.

Maybe get the hose out and spray Bessie every time you see her attack Pepper. It appears water worked in this situation.

 

[SkyAJK]

I am sorry to hear that you have bullying in your flock. It is a difficult issue.

It is depending on your available space, times, patient, and how much you want to try in all sort of ways to get Bessie behaves a bit better or improve completely.

Your Bessie sounds like my Apple.....the mounting, pulling feather.etc.

Apple is like that and I have tried many things over the last 2 years...she is much better now, I switch/swap until I got the mix right. That is Apple doing less bullying, she gets the peck from our lead hen, but Apple still bully my Basil here and there.

I end up with 2 mobs of hens, each has their own leader and they are rival gangs.

In the past I had a rooster and there was no bullying in the flock because the rooster managed the peace of the flock, but now I have a tiny Pekin rooster, he is not effective because he is too tiny. Nevertheless he does keep the peace to some degree.

All the best with whatever you decide to do.

 

[SourRoses]

Maybe get the hose out and spray Bessie every time you see her attack Pepper. It appears water worked in this situation.

The only problem with that is it's close to impossible to avoid spraying the victim.
My mother likes to use the hose as a disciplinary measure, especially on cockerels who won't leave someone alone.
But I've had to point out often enough that there's a lot of friendly fire and it's one more thing for the victim to be upset about. So now at least she tries to get them coming or going but not next to another chicken.
When we have those problems, I (often wait for dark, then) remove the offending party.
Chickens abusing each other doesn't fit with my goal to keep them humanely.

OP, Pecking the back of the head can be murderous behavior... something I learned the hard way. That's why when a chicken is really harassed, they'll stick their head down in a corner and butt up in the air to effect the best block they can.

It can be okay to rehome a bully if the new home has assertive chickens. Just make sure they know what her temperament is like.
While there are homes suitable for an aggressor, sometimes it takes so long to find one that it's best to put the bully hen down instead. Up to you.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I wouldn’t stress about rehoming her. A new flock will automatically put her at the bottom of the pecking order especially since she is a lone hen. If you decide to go that route don’t feel guilty in the least.

 

[Mrs. K]

Once in a while you get a bird that does not fit into your flock, even if they were raised together (being raised together has limited influence on full grown birds). It is like ponding a square into a round whole.

You can certainly try the above suggestions, but truthfully this bird might fit better in a different flock. A larger flock one with a great deal of space. I would let this bird go.

Discord just kind of ruins the whole chicken flock for me. Letting birds go out of my flock, adding birds to my flock are all part of animal husbandry.

Might be that your coup really fits better one less bird, try it and see.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

@MrEgghead- this may or may not be helpful to know, but my sister's friend gave us a "bully chicken" who was apparently a partner in crime with another hen and would bully 2 other hens. Well after we took her into our flock, she is now close to the bottom of the pecking order. I have never seen her bully anyone.
So basically what I am trying to say is that a different flock may put her in her place and stop her bullying behavior, if you choose to rehome her.
At the same time, they still accept her and keep the peace, and they let her near them.