Reintroducing a hen

[Rgregory]

hello all,

I had to remove a hen for sourcrop about 1.5 weeks ago. She's all better

But im concerened about putting her back. My flock is very small- one rooster and 5 hens total (herself included).

Would it help to pull one more hen from the flock and put the two of them together for another week and then reintroduce the two of them to the remaining 3hens + rooster??

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[CluckinA]

I would reintroduce at night after a few days of “look don’t touch”

 

[Wolferstyle717]

In my experience when I had to maintain my hen for 2 weeks, the way I introduced them was by letting all the other hens out of there coop first if they werent already out and while there pecking on the ground distracted, put the hen down when they arent looking and watch carefully for any aggressive behavior. They will most likely have to do the pecking order again but just let them. Only take the hen back if they are intentionally grabbing the comb of the chicken. I wish you luck.

 

[azygous]

In such a small flock you probably could just return her to the flock and stay and watch. Depending on where in the social order this returning hen was when she left, there may be little to no conflict when she shows up again.

If, on the other hand, this hen has always been the ambitious sort and covets a spot near the top of the pecking order, she may be challenged and she may be vigorous about diving back into the contest for rank.

What you can expect is as little as another hen who feels she outranks this hen coming up and giving her a peck on the comb. Or you may see a fight with outstretched talons, some latching onto combs causing a few drops of blood, and then everyone accepts the outcome and goes back to business as usual.

Those would be within the realm of normal. What would require a slower reintegration would be if several hens attack the returning hen, standing on her back and beating her up with their beaks. You would want to break that up and then use a crate or a jail area to slowly reintroduce the hen.

 

[Rgregory]

Thank you so much for the replies so far! Unfortunatley, i dont let them out - they live in a large kennel type area. But i suppose i can just throw down scratch and mealworms in there like normal and see what they do.

Im not sure where she falls on the pecking order... she's the one missing the most feathers if thats a clue. But i think thats from treading. I do have one particularly aggressive hen jn that flock that i took in as a stray some time ago- (some kind of smaller game hen) and shes not very nice.....

 

[Rgregory]

Theres another hen in there thats missing a ton pf feathers as well- which is why i was considering removing the two and putting them back later. They look pathetic the poor things.... and they are currently starting to grow in new feathers.