Can I let them mingle?

[spacemonkey333]

They'll learn to run from her, if you let her do her thing. The important thing is she isn't pecking hard enough to actually injure them. An hour out is pretty good to start though, I usually keep my chicks first outing to 1-2 hours and work up from there.

Strength in numbers seems to be the key here. When they all group together, she backs off. When there is a straggler, she targets it. My kids were not liking the aggressiveness at all. They got really upset

 

[rosemarythyme]

Strength in numbers seems to be the key here. When they all group together, she backs off. When there is a straggler, she targets it. My kids were not liking the aggressiveness at all. They got really upset

Unfortunately this is how chicken society works, and this is why it's always better to add more than 1 bird at a time, because a solitary chick or hen becomes an easier target. Guess you can turn this into a lesson about pecking order?

Often the hens that are most aggressive to chicks are lower in the pecking order themselves (current guess is they don't want to fall even further in ranking, so they assert themselves over the babies).

As the chicks get more exposure to the adults they will learn which ones are safe(ish) to approach and which ones to stay away from, and you may see them proactively hide when the bully comes by.

15 days old, chicks relaxed in presence of a "safe" adult (this is NOT mom)

15 days old, getting out of the way of the bully and keeping an eye on her

 

[spacemonkey333]

Unfortunately this is how chicken society works, and this is why it's always better to add more than 1 bird at a time, because a solitary chick or hen becomes an easier target. Guess you can turn this into a lesson about pecking order?

Often the hens that are most aggressive to chicks are lower in the pecking order themselves (current guess is they don't want to fall even further in ranking, so they assert themselves over the babies).

As the chicks get more exposure to the adults they will learn which ones are safe(ish) to approach and which ones to stay away from, and you may see them proactively hide when the bully comes by.

15 days old, chicks relaxed in presence of a "safe" adult (this is NOT mom)
View attachment 2809091

15 days old, getting out of the way of the bully and keeping an eye on her
View attachment 2809093

Ok. That makes sense. My RIR has never seemed to be the head honcho. She has always seemed to be the most passive. She has also always been the most lovey dovey with us humans, which is why it was so weird. The rooster and the other 2 chicks let the newbies do their thing. She must be the lowest in the pecking order. Crazy stuff.