Larger Hens Bullying Smaller Hen

[Hunter44]

I owned three chickens only a few months ago, but due to a raccoon incident, I lost two and was only left with one in my coop. Recently, I took on three more hens as a favor for a friend...I didn't really want to take them in, but he had not alternative. These three hens were considerably larger than my 1, and I have noticed recently my original hen has peck marks and bleeding on her head. I've separated them, but my question is where should I go from here? Is it possible to bond them gradually or should I just find another home for these three hens. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[katelk]

If there is one hen in particular that looks like the lead bully, it would be best to separate that one and let the other new hens get to know your little hen. After a week or toe you can reintroduce the bully and she will start out at the bottom of the pecking order, usually fixing the problem.

If there is not a clear leader of the bullying, one thing I have had to do in the past is like a chicken "shuffle". Take your hen and one of the new ones and let them run together away from the other two In a week or so when they seem to get along, add a hen to the mix. If bullying starts, take away the hen who started with yours originally. Once the second new hen starts being nice, add back the hen who already knows your little one. Continue until they all "get to know each other" and can coexist all at once peacefully. This will let them all get to know each other, shake up the pecking order, and keep your little one from being ganged up on. If you have a setup where they can all see each other through a fence throughout this process, that would be great.

 

[Hunter44]

I'm not entirely sure, but I think I may have an idea of which one it is. Thank you for your help!

 

[jessietacos]

I have chickens of different sizes, and when things were rough at first, I just separated them. Eventually they establish a pecking order and form a profound bond