Off with their heads! Eat them!
Well that's one method of managing a bully in the flock. I don't handle it that way myself, but it's definitely an option.
Another option is to rehome, but making it someone else's problem seems like a kind of cop-out, but it's a definitely an option. Except in flocks such as mine where a contagious avian virus is present - you certainly don't want to be spreading that around to other flocks.
What I do is to utilize a "jail" within the run. Either the bully or the victim spend time incarcerated to prevent direct contact, yet they are still in full view of the flock. This gets tricky when the bully happens to be laying. I need to keep an eye on her to pick up signs she needs access to a nest. The best thing is to trade off by letting the bully and victim take turns in jail.
I'm currently addressing this problem in my flock. A two-year old Cream Legbar has turned into a veritable terrorist. She is terrorizing nearly everyone, launching herself at anyone younger, but her main target is a six-year old Speckled Sussex. The consequences of constant bullying has resulted in appetite and subsequent weight loss in this older hen.
When this happens, things have become serious and intervention is absolutely necessary. This victim has lost all self confidence and has been spending her days hiding in the coop, not daring to try to approach the feeder for fear of being ambushed.
I first learned the value of giving a chronic victim a "vacation" from her tormentor years ago. After two or three weeks of spending daytime in jail, her self confidence was restored and she was able to stand up for herself from then on. The transformation was that stunning. This also serves to interrupt the bullying behavior, and many times, it can reform the bully.
I've realized tho, that I should not rely on others to do it. My circus, my monkeys (errr, chickens)
), and free ranging is the ultimate distraction from misbehavior.
