Pecking Order or Bullying?

[OhioStateCluckeyes]

I'm a new chicken Mama. I've had my little flock since the beginning of September. A friend with a large flock gave me two Production Red's and two lacey Wyandottes. All was peace and harmony. Two weeks ago a barn owl attacked one of the Production Reds and she died in my arms. I was heartbroken. A well meaning friend brought me one of his sister-in-laws chickens. She's a big beautiful Australorp. The other three have been nothing but mean. I watched the pecking order change from Sophia my remaining Production Red at the top to Blanche the large lacey Wyandotte. But all three pick on the new girl. Its been two weeks with no improvement. I have to section her off when I get home from work to make sure she is getting food and water.

Is this still the pecking order shaking out? Or is Blanche a bully and the other two are going along with it? Help!

 

[azygous]

This is normal behavior when a new hen gets introduced. There's a trick to it. I wrote about how to go about introducing a new hen to a flock. This system takes a few weeks, but it always works. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock.71997/