How to stop hen from abusing other hens when the rooster is mating

[Steve J]

I have a barred rock hen that is super jealous of my rooster. Whenever he's mating another hen she runs up and attacks while the hen is under the rooster. She pecks the back of their heads as hard as she can. Really takes aim and goes at it super hard. I have mostly all new hens now and I've kicked her out of the flock. As she was really doing damage to the other hens. Is there anyway to put her back in the flock and stop her from doing this?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Are they younger birds? I see that behavior more in younger hens. They seem to outgrow it, but some stay mean.

 

[Steve J]

She's about 2 and a half. I had to remove her from the pen when she started in on the new red sex links, when the rooster tried to mount them. Now she's living outside the pen roosting in a crate I put up for her. I was hoping she'd get used to the new ones that way, but it is more a jealousy problem than a familiarity problem. So, when I let her back in after a week she went right back to attacking them when he was mounted. The problem is the mounted hens are very easy targets then, as they're immobile. I doubt I can break her, because she's just so seemingly jealous.

 

[aart]

How old are the new birds?
Is the cockbird 2.5 also?

 

[Steve J]

Yes, cock is about 2 and the new birds are pullets, but she was attacking the older birds she was raised with from chicks as well. The new birds are fitting in well besides her attacks. I probably will have to get rid of the barred rock , would rather she fit in , but she's a chicken and from my experience they don't care what humans want.

 

[junebuggena]

Not jealous, dominant. She's the boss hen. Barred Rocks tend to be very dominant birds, and they need more space than the average bird to keep their aggressive tendencies in check.

 

[Steve J]

Space they have, as it's a big pen and they free range when I'm home.

 

[aart]

Ditto the dominance.
You could isolate her out of sight of the others for a couple weeks then reintroduce.
Or she might make some good stew.