Salmon Favorelle being bullied

[Jchandler]

I have a Salmon Favorelle and a bantam in my backyard coop. (We lost 2 other chickens over the winter.) We just added two, one year old chickens. One is a Bluebell hen and the other is an Olive Egger. They came together and are bonded. I have a shed and built a coop inside of it. I put the two new hens in a large dog crate inside the shed so they could all see and hear each other just not together. During the day the new hens are in a pen outside and my other two free range my backyard. I've done this for 2 weeks. This past week, I let all 4 free range together. The Bluebell and Olive Egger went after the Salmon Favorelle. As I expected, but it's been a few days and they haven't left her alone. Anytime they see the Salmon Favorelle they go after her. She is always submissive, but they still pull feathers and have made her bleed once.
Any suggestions on how to try to introduce again? Or is this something that probably won't stop?
One more question, if I get chicks, do you think they will be more accepting of my Salmon Favorelle since they would be raised with her?
Thank you so much for any help, advice, and opinions.

 

[diamondsilkies]

Try separating them again for a week or so. After that, go out there late at night and put all four birds together on the roost in the coop. For some reason, they tend to be nicer to birds that they wake up with. This usually works, but I would wake up early to check on them, just in case. There may still be some aggression within the next week or so, but if all goes well, it should work itself out. Just make sure to keep an eye out for any severe fighting, in which case you should separate again.

As for chicks, they should be much more accepting of her. I would worry more about her being aggressive towards them. It can work, though, and more chickens will probably help keep the others from bothering her as much. When I was first starting out with chickens, a family friend of mine had a hen that was always picked on, no matter what they tried. Once my chicks reached 12 weeks old, I brought her to my place, and she quickly made it known amongst the chicks that she was in charge. From then on, she lived a happy life as a dominant hen.

 

[Chickassan]

If you raise chicks with her they'll be much more respectful of her.
Do know she may very well end up mothering the chicks which would be great since Faverolles don't take any crap once chicks are involved.