Rural Gardening: Rooster head pecking new pullet, 1 by msjuris

msjuris wrote:
I have a 6 week old rooster and (4) 5 week old pullets (All red sex links). Yesterday someone gave me (2) two week old Gold-laced Wyandottes. The pullets all got along lovely. The rooster, however, has taken to pecking the head of one of the new pullets. I'm very new to raising chickens and maybe shouldn't have adopted the additional pullets (I'm a sucker for animals in need). I've separated both Wyandottes from the rest of the flock, however, I'm concerned about how and when to try introducing them to the rest of the flock again. I don't want the girls to take the roo's lead and start pecking. It was only one of the two Wyandottes he was doing it to and it start almost immediately upon introduction. I read somewhere that chickens will peck at chickens of a different color. It didn't seem like the roo's pecking was just him asserting his dominance, but again, I'm a newbie and only know what I've read and experienced over the past 5 weeks.

I've read Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens several times as well as Chickens in your Backyard. It didn't really cover how to resolve head pecking of a pullet by a rooster.

I attached a picture of Roaster the rooster, Hanna and Pixie the two fluffy buff colored (Pixie has the longer tail feathers) and Zelda and Henrietta the brown and white spotted. (Zelda is the darker brown).