I have a bully hen! :/

[ChickenMom33]

I have an about 4 month old Rhode Island Red hen and she is just a plain bully to my month old silkie and frizzle bantam chicks. I have them all outside on my grass today and my Rhoad Island Red keeps chasing them and pecking at them what can i do to get them to play nice? I have about 3 weeks left before i want to put them all together in the outside coop. Any advice?

 

[Stiggy]

Silkie's and other bantys tend to be very docile and thus are more likely to get bullied, you will need to separate them or they will get injured. possible trenching her whos boss could work but it is doubtful. chances are they will never get along very well. However try seperating them to start with. you may just need 2 different coups

 

[ChickenMom33]

Thank you. I have them separated now but i just let them all out on the grass today since it was so nice out. I dont want my bantams out in the coop until they are a little bigger. I really dont want two coops and if my Rhode Island cant be nice to them then i will have to find her a new home but that brings me to my next question, i also have a blue cochin who has been with my rhode island since they were a day old and are now inseparable.. How would my cochin do if i had to get rid of my rhode island but still had my 3 bantams with her? I really wish i could have got all 5 chickens at the same time to avoid this but unfortunately i was unable to :/

 

[Stiggy]

I assume that your cochin is a full sized one? not a banty then. she would prob sulk a little but then be fine as long as she accepted aand they accepted her into the flock. it is a shame to have to separate chickens who love their buddies but sometimes it must be done. I relaise its hard but having a bully chicken is never a great idea and can lead to blood shed, I always try to keep the docile ones ( mine are generally docile anyways) unless I have to keep them because they are needed for breeding. admittedly my docile babies are treated better than their stroppy flighty counterparts as I spend more time with them and give them more treats ( not that my others are mistreated or anything I just don't spend as much time with them, which seems to suit them fine anyways)
getting back to the problem at hand , does your cochin get along with your bantys? if so then you could try putting her in with them to see what happens, if they get along leave them for a while then in a week or so try to introduce back the rir and see what happens, she maybecome more docile if she is no longer at the top of the order

 

[ChickenMom33]

Ok i will try that. I think i will wait the 3 more weeks for my bantams to be big enough to go to the outside coop and see how my RIR treats them and if she is still being a bully them i will separate them and see how my cochin does. I really dont want to split them up but i dont want a mean chicken either :/ thanks for the tips though! You were a ton of help.