[Sudanpan]

Evening All, hope everyone is staying safe and not going too do-lally during these strange times.
I have a small flock of hens (5) They have been together all their lives, age range is 2 years old up to 5 years.
Up until 3 weeks ago all was fine, established pecking order was in situ, no hystrionics anywhere.
Then, one of the younger hens has started to be a major bully to one particular individual - I noticed a big kerfuffle one morning, didn't think too much about it but later on that morning I found the smallest hen with her head stuffed behind a bunch of grass and when i picked her up she had a badly damaged comb, lots of blood everywhere. I cleaned her up and then separated her within the run for a week to allow her to heal up. While she was in the separate area (chicken mesh fencing so everyone could see everyone) all was fine and the other 4 hens made a point of all staying with her on the other side of the fence.
So after a week I let her rejoin the flock - but watched. Pretty much immediately bully bird was back at her, not just re-establishing normal pecking order but pinning her down and pecking head and neck. So I rescued the hen, but this time put the bully in separation.
Something I have noticed with the bully hen is that she has been holding her tail feathers much more erect over the last month or so - much more akin to a young cockerel - not sure this ie relevant but I thought it was interesting.
I plan to leave bully separate for the next couple of weeks - if the reintroduction doesn't work then she will have to go.
My question is are there any tricks I can use to help stop the bullying?
Thanks in advance

[Steph Hen]

I’d avoid separating them if possible, even if they can see each other they tend to all have to reestablish the pecking order leading to more stress. If you do need to remove a recovering bird it’s better to remove a friend with her so she’s not the only one reintroduced.
Your bully may be getting cockish, I had a leg horn hen started bullying and then mounting all her peers when they were all female flock. A cockerel sorted this out and she went back to laying lots of eggs.

You can try to make life easier for your bullied hen, give the birds distractions, hiding places, so she can get away. Several feed and water stations may also help split them apart. I’m sure others will be along with more suggestions.

[twizzel]

Roosters are well known for keeping the girls in check providing you can deal with the 3am crowing in summer 

[Richmond]

There is always a pecking order and in a small flock the bottom ranking hen tends to be worse off than in a large flock. Your dominant hen may be particularly aggressive but removing either her or the one at the bottom is not going to change things long term. Introducing a cockerel may help but not necessarily. You don't mention what breed they are but some breeds are naturally more aggressive and some more timid.

Another reason hens get bullied relentlessly is illness, which other hens will sense way before you notice anything. In order to protect the integrity of the flock any perceived weakness is literally driven out. What age is the bullied hen? If she is an older hen it just might be that she is not as well as she once was. Hybrid hens are usually spent by the age of 5, if not before.

[chrismahon]

We had this problem last year Sudanpan. One hen stopped laying and moulted. After the moult she started bullying another hen so we did as you have and separated her for a while, but she started again immediately and only stopped when that hen stopped laying. The bully hasn't laid since and now comes over to me and does a cockerel 'stompy dance' every time I clean out the coop. She's a bantam, so too small for a Bumpa beak bit, but that's what I would have fitted. She has never laid again and has been repeatedly separated whilst the bullied hen was laying.


Don't know how attached to this hen you are, but clearly she can't be allowed to carry on bullying. She probably won't lay again based on my experience, so will be consuming food and causing problems for no return. Our girl is a pet, so we put up with the inconvenience. If she wasn't she would have been pts. You could try a Bumpa bit in the first instance.

[doganjo]

Because this has happened suddenly I would think your bully is changing sex.  It happens more often than folk think. So you will carry on having this problem until teh change is complete.  I'd be inclined to cull it.

[Sudanpan]

Thanks for the responses 
The bullied hen is a white with grey/black speckled collar - she is about 5, hasn't laid eggs for a couple of years but we like her
The bully looks like a white leghorn - she hatched from some varied fertile eggs that we got in when the the bullied hen was broody a couple of years ago.
We used to have a cockerel, but he died a couple of years ago, never got round to replacing him.
TBH my suspicions were that the bully was possibly having hormonal changes - she is just acting much more rooster like.
Will see how things progress
Thanks again