introducing two new hens HELP!!!

[Berynn]

I have 5 pullets in a pen, one of my pullets (jezabell) is mean to the two EE's. Jezebell is a brown leg horn and is 6 months old. My new EE's will be a year in July. I have the EE's in a small chicken tractor, for two days now. Jezebell wont stop picking on them. She is the older of the other 4.

I let the EE's out a few times today and she jumps on their backs and stalks them. I am afraid that she will hurt them, even though they are bigger then Jezabell. I wont let them out of their tractor unless i'm there.

How much pecking is to much, and should I wait the entire two to three weeks of them staring at each other through their cage.

Jezebell is a nice chik, but to be honest she is a grump, that is if a chicken can be a grump, She is the bully of the bunch.

 

[Berynn]

I'm sorry Jezabell was born in july, my EE's were born last february, and they are so sweet. Jezzy is mean, but I love her I just want her to be nice and not so in charge

 

[Charlie Chicken]

The "pecking order" in chickens is a natural trait in chickens and there isn't much us humans can do about it. If the flock is all of the same age the pecking order will usually sort itself out and everyone will get along.

Raising chickens in small spaces such as with a chicken tractor where the bird who is being picked on has no place to hide further complicates the situation.

Introducing a chicken from a different flock or a different age adds still more to the problem.

To make matters even more difficult, if an aggressive bird is involved the problem just gets even more difficult.

I sounds like you may have a combination of all these factors and may have a situation for which there is no answer other than removing one of the birds.

 

[Berynn]

I am in the process of building a really large house and run for my flock, but if there is a situation were a hen can be a naughty jezabell, I own her. When I was niave to chicken raising and let them free range all the other nice girls would come home at dusk, but not my jezabell (and we all know what a jezabell is) She would come home bright and early in the morning squalking at my window for food. It took me and my nine year old two days to catch this tramp. We love her, you know the old saying the child that gives you the most trouble is loved the most. We love her but she is a handfull. We will keep her forever.