Bully hen plus rooster

[British chicks]

Hi. I have a 3 year old bully hen. I've had her for a year and a half and she has always been head hen and a bully. About a year ago I got a pair of rescue cockerels that integrated well with my 4 hens. The bully settled down and all was calm. One of the other 3 hens went broody and I decided to let her sit on the eggs. They didn't hatch, but she had invested so much time in them I got her some day old chicks. The chicks are now 9 months old.

The pair of cockerels died... And Ginger went back to bullying, focusing on the chicks. I thought another cockerel might help so got one from the same breeder as the chicks. He is the same age as them.

He has fit in pretty well. We've had him 4-6 weeks.

When he mounts one of the 9 month old chicks Ginger comes over and pecks at her head of holds her down. It looks horrible.

Has anyone else seem this kind of behaviour.

Fyi there are 3 3 year olds - ISA ex battery rescues - and 3 9 month old 'chicks'. 2 are bantam pekins, 1 is an ISA. The cockerel is a bantam.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's pretty normal for a dominant hen to do to a young cockeral. What are you considering bullying? Pecking is normal as long as there no blood, or cornering and pecking.

How big is your set up? Smaller set ups can cause aggression issues.

 

[British chicks]

Hi. Thanks for you thoughts and questions.
7 birds in total in 400 sq ft of run, but they also go in to a bigger grassy area for part of each day.

The bully hen chases the younger hens, prostrates them and pecks. She also guards the pop hole and the food and water.

She is not pecking the cockerel. She seems to see his mounting of the younger hens as an opportunity to peck them. So while he is mounting the younger ones she runs over and pecks at their head.

At the moment they really live as two flocks, only coming together at feeding and bedtime. Currently the young ones are sleeping in a shed rather than the coop. I think it suits us all.
My husband and I are talking of dividing the run in half, coop on one side, shed on the other, and just call it even.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That also is quite normal behaviors. Chicks raised in a flock don't become fully integrated until at least they are laying and sometimes longer. Even than chicks raised together tend to stick together, so there will be sub-flocks within a flock.

Pecking is how chickens talk to each other. Not all pecking is bad. Often the receiver of the peck screams far louder than necessary.

If you separate the flocks you will have more problems later if you want to bring them back together.

Your hen should calm down a bit more after she feels she's established her position as the top bird to the young ones.