I’m going to separate the bully. But how?

[Emily_loveschickens]

Hey everybody.
I decided I’m going to separate my bully hen for a little while. My initial plan was to have a dog crate in the run and have her in it during the day away from the others and at night put her in the coop in a smaller box. I would cart that on for 5-7 days. I am just questioning whether or not I should separate her. I have caught her red-handed multiple times chasing this chicken and pecking her. She has missing feathers on her head and her back and I believe the main culprit is Penelope who I am planning on separating. Lmk if this sounds like a good plan. Thanks. This picture is of the bullied hen.

 

[3KillerBs]

I can't offer advice myself because I haven't had a bullying issue, but here's an excellent article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

 

[Mrs. K]

A lot depends on your set up. The size of the coop and run and age of your birds. What you are suggesting is a good place to start. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

 

[Lor]

I keep an x pen (puppy pen) in the run for naughty bullies. Also comes in handy to feed our injured chicken without being bothered. We haven't separated at night in the coop, though. The older hens (one of which is the bully at times) have their own roost so no problems at night.
It gives the poor bullied one a break but hasn't necessarily stopped the bully long term.

 

[Liberty-Chicken]

I would put a penlis pepper on her. It prevents a chicken from looking exactly in front of itself, which makes it harder for pecking purposes. It's kind of hard to put on though, and it doesn't really work on smaller chickens. Separating might work, but I've never done it before.

 

[BDutch]

Lots of space and hiding places help a lot.