I had a small flock of 3 hens who all got along once the pecking order was figured out.

One day, a lower hen became broody and I allowed her to hatch a clutch of eggs. This broodyness made her a bit defensive and caused some issues with the top hen.

Once the eggs hatched I separated her and her chicks to a nursery space away from the other hens until I felt they were old enough to free range, ~4 weeks. I didn’t move her while nesting because I was afraid of breaking her broodyness.

Gradually she became less and less protective and has now returned to laying eggs. The chicks are independent approaching 8 weeks, although still attached to the mother hen. They are still roosting/nesting separately to the other hens in the nursery coop.

When the bullying happens now, she submits immediately to the lead hen and has no protective urges for the chicks.

The issue is that the top hen isn’t letting up and I’m concerned about what happens when the chicks become too big to fit in the nursery coop and everyone needs to roost together.

I’ve seen some recommendations to separate the one being bullied for awhile, others to separate the bully and others to let things play out. One thing I was potentially going to wait out was for the rooster chick(s) to grow up enough to police the hen fighting.

Any other suggestions here?