Help! What to do with aggressive hen

[sab]

Scenario: 3 yr old hens and a yr old duck are a formed flock.
I have two 16 week old hens who really need to be in the coop with the others. They are in a tractor and it's just too hot. They need more room to beathe. I have free ranged them together and the chicks know to get outbid old birds way. But when I put them in the run with other 3 this AM the most dominate hen went at them in a serious way. I mean she had that little bird cornered with her head through the fence and ol Hateful Helen was just deciding which feather to pull out of her first when I rescued her.

If I remove Helen by herself for a week will that do any good?? Or am I looking at 2 flocks for all time....

 

[artsyrobin]

have you had them in a little sectioned off area within the run? for a week or so, so the others can get used to them being in with the? if so, your best plan is pull her from the flock at least a week, maybe longer, the pecking order will be reset, like rebooting a computer, she will have lost her top hen status, so will start at the bottom- if they haven't beem together and you toss them in together, their is going to be fussing and squabbling

 

[sab]

They have free ranged together. But they have not consistently been together. I just moved my yr old flock into the newly built coop. During that adjustment time I did not let the older birds out of the new run. I will find a way to section off part of the run. I read here to put them on the roost at night and they all will wakeup a happy bonded flock. I'm scared to do that with queen helen running around. And the duck is another factor altogether. She charges the new birds like a tank. But she can just move into the tractor and have her own space if she is going to tank the chicks.

Some one tell me you've done this lots of times and all will be well.....

 

[Mrs. K]

Make sure there are some different heights in your run, like a out side roost, a pallet laid across some saw horses, a box or a cage they can stand on or under. A large branch, By cluttering up the run, it gives the birds places to get away from each other.

MrsK