dominant chicken problem

[firefowl]

I've got 2 chickens, 1 of them I introduced later after giving away my other chicken (swapped a large australorp for a bantam). it's bigger then my other chicken but is lower on the pecking order. the original australorp and my other chicken used to get on great but I swapped it because it was noisy and also a bit too large for my yard.

however the new bantam australorp has always been bullied by the other chicken. it was never happy sharing the coop with it. however for a while they did but it never let it roost next to it. the other chicken has been broody for months and it won't let the australorp in. or if it does let it in it sits on the ground because it won't let it on the roost or even on the hay part. everynight the australorp roosts on top of the coop. what can I do?

 

[SunkenRoadFarms]

Broodiness is extremely harsh on a bird, so you shouldn't let them go longer than the 21 days it takes to hatch eggs (or a little longer). Your broody's aggressive behavior is due to the hormones surging through her. I would break her, then you can get a true assessment in how well they get along.

 

[firefowl]

ok I broke her she's not broody anymore. she still is dominant towards the other chicken though. even though there is enough room on the egg box the australorp always sits on the grass as she's not allowed there. also the australorp occasionally (usually at least once a day) starts going bak bak BAGAAK! really loudly for no apparent reason. today it happened while the other one was laying an egg I think she may have not let her in the coop and the australorp wanted to lay. just a guess though...