I recently adopted a mistreated Polish hen and kept her under my watch for 16 days to ensure she was without disease, of course, I would allow the others to mingle with her from time to time or see her and they all seemed to be getting along, but recently when I moved them into my coop she began attacking the others and is hogging all the food and water. The slightly smaller chickens are terrified and keep huddling in the back of the coop. The only chicken who she seems to tolerate is my Hamburg who is the smallest of the flock, but other then that she has been nothing but trouble. What should I do? She is friendly around me and my family and seems to not be bothered by the dogs or myself at all, but her behavior towards the others are becoming worrisome. Any ideas? Again, she's slightly larger then the original head hen, but not by much.
I would make certain there's plenty of room for the others to get away from her, and also have multiple feeders and waterers for them to use. It's really just a way for her to try to establish her place in the order of things, but if they can't get away from her aggression or are kept hungry and thirsty, you'll have more problems. If you make certain they're all okay aside from this, it'll settle down eventually.
