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Ok, update.... (sorry if this is long, but hopefully someone else will gain some useful tips from this post)....
We've made progress!
It took a little more effort than simply solitary confinement, but time-out gets quite a bit of credit. Here's what I did:
azygous, you suggested I put Gracie out after a few days and I agreed to do that. However, afterwards I spoke with my hay supplier. He grew up on a farm with thousands of chickens, and he offered another valid point. He said that if I put her out too soon, it probably won't work -- he said, "If you think about it, a broody hen takes at least ten days away from her flock before she returns, and only then does she lose her status." Seeing as I only had six days left, I decided to stick out the whole ten days. And then, due to my own personal scheduling conflicts -- I wanted to be present as much as possible for the first three days after reintroducing Gracie to her flock -- so I actually ended up putting her out at Day Twelve.
I put her out at midnight, setting her on the roost between the other birds. As expected, everyone slept fine together. I went to bed and came back to the coop just before dawn to be present when they all came out of their chicken coma. After everyone came down from the roost, Gracie slipped into attack mode again. But I was there to intervene. I grabbed her, held her down by forcing my hand on her back, and flicked her on the head (like a chicken pecking a younger one to discipline). She seemed fine for a little while, then attacked another hen again. This time, I not only grabbed her and flicked her on the head, but I pulled on her neck feathers and held her down a good minute or so. She was SO shocked and SO humiliated, she simply laid in that position for a few minutes -- literally, maybe three minutes! practically paralyzed -- before finally getting back up and resuming her normal chicken business.
At one point, my top hen glared beak-to-beak at Gracie, looking very angry, as if to say "Stop acting like a nincompoop. We have it good now. DONT. SCREW. THIS. UP." She was clearly furious with her, and later on I noticed Gracie did have a tiny blood spot on her comb (nothing serious). Clearly, this was the top hen's doing. She was never my favorite, but I'm learning to really love my top hen. Apparently, she's taken on the role of the rooster and is doing her best to keep peace in the house.
There have been no more brutal attacks since, at least not that I know of. Gracie is not charging anyone anymore, so things are working themselves out. I see a HUGE improvement over where we were two weeks ago. That is, the new ones steer clear of her still. When Gracie is out in the run, they go into the coop. If she comes left, they go right, etc. At the first sight of her, they cry and run. They're only dodging her, but I think it's the best I can hope for until they develop enough self confidence to hold their own. And they have lots of hay stacks to jump on, roosts, perches and ramps everywhere, several waterers and feeders on varying levels all around, and a plethora of obstacles to create diversion. My run isn't very large, but I've provided a ton of "playground items" which gives them options.
One more thing I did...
Lucy, the smallest of the newcomers, is beyond terrified to go to bed. She goes into complete panic mode when the sun sets and they all need to get on the same roost, with the Big Bad Bully sitting right next to her. So, I hung a "makeshift" curtain from the rafters that hangs down between the two sets of girls. It's just a scrap piece of fabric that I stapled overhead. It seems to give Lucy considerable peace of mind and everyone can sleep now. My plan is to raise the curtain height a little every few days so they can see more of each other each night, until eventually I can remove it altogether.
So I'm pretty sure that now, it's just normal pecking order business. Which is what I was after.
Thank you all
P.S. chickengeorgeto, you mentioned that it's possible a second ranker may be doing the higher ranker's heavy pecking for her. I believe you were SPOT ON! I did notice that Gracie tends to be more "bullyish" when the top hen is around. When the top hen is in the nesting box or otherwise occupied, Gracie seems much more docile. She plays much more nicely with the younger ones and no one else even seems mildly afraid of her. They'll even eat together. It's as if Gracie only flexes her muscles around the top girl, as if to say "Look at me, look at what I can do."
Wow. What an eye opener.
We've made progress!
azygous, you suggested I put Gracie out after a few days and I agreed to do that. However, afterwards I spoke with my hay supplier. He grew up on a farm with thousands of chickens, and he offered another valid point. He said that if I put her out too soon, it probably won't work -- he said, "If you think about it, a broody hen takes at least ten days away from her flock before she returns, and only then does she lose her status." Seeing as I only had six days left, I decided to stick out the whole ten days. And then, due to my own personal scheduling conflicts -- I wanted to be present as much as possible for the first three days after reintroducing Gracie to her flock -- so I actually ended up putting her out at Day Twelve.
I put her out at midnight, setting her on the roost between the other birds. As expected, everyone slept fine together. I went to bed and came back to the coop just before dawn to be present when they all came out of their chicken coma. After everyone came down from the roost, Gracie slipped into attack mode again. But I was there to intervene. I grabbed her, held her down by forcing my hand on her back, and flicked her on the head (like a chicken pecking a younger one to discipline). She seemed fine for a little while, then attacked another hen again. This time, I not only grabbed her and flicked her on the head, but I pulled on her neck feathers and held her down a good minute or so. She was SO shocked and SO humiliated, she simply laid in that position for a few minutes -- literally, maybe three minutes! practically paralyzed -- before finally getting back up and resuming her normal chicken business.
At one point, my top hen glared beak-to-beak at Gracie, looking very angry, as if to say "Stop acting like a nincompoop. We have it good now. DONT. SCREW. THIS. UP." She was clearly furious with her, and later on I noticed Gracie did have a tiny blood spot on her comb (nothing serious). Clearly, this was the top hen's doing. She was never my favorite, but I'm learning to really love my top hen. Apparently, she's taken on the role of the rooster and is doing her best to keep peace in the house.
There have been no more brutal attacks since, at least not that I know of. Gracie is not charging anyone anymore, so things are working themselves out. I see a HUGE improvement over where we were two weeks ago. That is, the new ones steer clear of her still. When Gracie is out in the run, they go into the coop. If she comes left, they go right, etc. At the first sight of her, they cry and run. They're only dodging her, but I think it's the best I can hope for until they develop enough self confidence to hold their own. And they have lots of hay stacks to jump on, roosts, perches and ramps everywhere, several waterers and feeders on varying levels all around, and a plethora of obstacles to create diversion. My run isn't very large, but I've provided a ton of "playground items" which gives them options.
One more thing I did...
Lucy, the smallest of the newcomers, is beyond terrified to go to bed. She goes into complete panic mode when the sun sets and they all need to get on the same roost, with the Big Bad Bully sitting right next to her. So, I hung a "makeshift" curtain from the rafters that hangs down between the two sets of girls. It's just a scrap piece of fabric that I stapled overhead. It seems to give Lucy considerable peace of mind and everyone can sleep now. My plan is to raise the curtain height a little every few days so they can see more of each other each night, until eventually I can remove it altogether.
So I'm pretty sure that now, it's just normal pecking order business. Which is what I was after.
Thank you all
P.S. chickengeorgeto, you mentioned that it's possible a second ranker may be doing the higher ranker's heavy pecking for her. I believe you were SPOT ON! I did notice that Gracie tends to be more "bullyish" when the top hen is around. When the top hen is in the nesting box or otherwise occupied, Gracie seems much more docile. She plays much more nicely with the younger ones and no one else even seems mildly afraid of her. They'll even eat together. It's as if Gracie only flexes her muscles around the top girl, as if to say "Look at me, look at what I can do."
Wow. What an eye opener.
