Bossy chickens

[Lady Lemongrass]

Hi lovely chicken folk. Hoping you have some advice and experience to share.
My small chicken flock of 6 recently expanded to 8. One of my original chickens is not playing nice. Introductions done in the night.
One of the chickens being bullied is injured likely permanently (racoon attack) she cam to stay with me because of the injury and I have a seperate area that runs parallel to my main coop. This is where she recouped from her injury. She has now been put with the main flock or she won't survive the winter.
Question, will removing the bossy hen for a few days change her ways and the pecking order? I put her in sick bay yesterday and everyone else is happier. How long shall I leave her there?
Thank you.

 

[Kiki]

Welcome!
There is no set rule with how to deal with this. Removing her for a while may or may not work. You will just have to try it and see.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

I have had bully hens in the past and my experiences with them is they rarely improve. I've caged them as well and see definite improvements in the flock. There will always be a pecking order and each bird will have a spot from the top down. However there shouldn't be a bully. If this bully bird continues, you might consider rehoming her. Never allow bullying or terrorizing to the point of injury. Definitely make sure your birds have enough space in the run, 10 square feet per bird, so they have enough personal space.

Good luck with your flock!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
You can also look into pinless peepers if you want to try something else.

 

[Jenbirdee]

hello and welcome to BYC!

 

[Nomadicus]

Hello and Welcome to BYC! Glad to have you in this poultry loving community.

 

[swampfox440]

Welcome to BYC! thanks for joining us.

 

[N F C]

Hi, as other greeters have said, separating the bully may or may not help. When I had 2 bully girls, nothing seemed to change their behavior so I re-homed them (letting the new owner know what they were like). Even re-homed, those 2 kept up their evil ways.

Good luck whichever way you choose to deal with this!

 

[Kenneth Zweerink]

Welcome to BackYard Chickens. The Best of Luck with your Flock! And a Big Hello from Eastern Nebraska.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hiya, and welcome to BYC!!

If it's been a couple of days, I'd go ahead and put her back and see how it goes and agree with what everyone's saying. You never know, it may work. If it doesn't, you have some decisions to make. Good luck!