A true pet chicken? Intergration not going well.

[urban dreamer]

Here's the story:

One of my hens died about a month and a half ago and left me with a flock of three. Well, my SO caught the "chicken bug" and asked for a chicken of his own to replace the one we lost. So three weeks ago we bought Emma. Emma has been quarentined all this time and on Friday night, we moved her into the big coop with the other birds. Then all hell broke lose Saturday morning. Emma's not a small bird, a good 5lbs RIR. My head hen, Zoii (BR), gave Emma a few good pecks, pulled some feathers and was done with her. She was in no way concerned about her place as head hen. Gladys and Ginger on the other hand- Oh My GOD! I never knew how mean they could be! Gladys is a 4lb EE and Ginger is mabey a pound. Ginger isn't a banty, but a really small bird. So far Ginger has been giving Emma the most trouble. She's lost a ton of feathers and they broke a quill and drew blood. After that, I built a chicken wire barrier so they could see each other, but Ginger and Gladys could not hurt Emma. They circled the wire, trying to find a way to her. Later that day it started to rain and I had to open the barrier so Emma could get out of the weather. They attacked her again. She spends most of her time hidden in the coop. I have sat out there in the run several time during the last few days. Every time Emma see me, she runs out of the coop to greet me at the door. She knows that as long as Im out there, the other birds won't come near her. Emma plops down on my leg and grooms. As long as Im there, the other birds leave her alone (mostly). The only time I've seen her eat and drink is when Im right there next to her. When Ginger comes at her, Emma runs in between my legs. I know intergration is not pretty, and disturbing the pecking order takes a few days to fix, but come on! I feel horrible for her. Today when I left the run, I put Emma inside the coop door. She tried to follow me out. As soon as she hit the run, Ginger and Gladys jumped her, plucking feathers and terrorizing her. I ran back and opened the run door and here comes Emma, right on my chest. I held her for a minute, but I know I can't always protect her. I had no choice but to put her back in the coop. I hate the idea of putting her back in the quaretine coop alone. She's the first chicken I've had that will left you hold and pet them. She's a very sweet bird. I have been thinking about altering a dog harness and have a chicken on a leash, that was while Im in the garden, she can roam around with me. Because Im in the city, I can't just let her roam around un-restrained.

So here's the questions:

Has anyone eles have a intergration go this horribly bad? How can I get them to settle down, just enough to let Emma out of the coop and let her eat/drink on her own?

I've thought mabey about putting Gladys and Ginger in the quarentine coop to knock them down a few peggs. Zoii isn't giving Emma much trouble. Mabey I could introduce Gladys back one week and add Ginger in later when they have settled down. I feel bad for my SO too. He dosn't understand why my chickens want to kill his chicken. I thought to just let nature take it's course, but nature isn't being very pretty right now. Anyone have any ideas on how I can help poor Emma?

Thanks for any responses!

 

[peepacheep]

I am in the process of reintroducing a hen back to the flock. Pink, was the top hen and an aggressive feather eater. When we finally got pinless peepers to stay on her the pecking order turned upside down. On the second morning I found her cowering under the roost, bloodied comb, missing feathers, blood packed in her nostrils. I brought her indoors and it took her a week to recover. It has been a slow process over the past 2 weeks getting her settled back. The first week I had her in a large dog crate for several hours a day. The other hens could have hissy fits and posture but Pink was safe. I thought once they were ignoring her they had accepted her, in hindsight, the next thing I did was too much, too soon, I let her out in the run. When the rooster, Edgar, approached her, she squatted, when he stepped on her back the other hens attacked her. The lowest hens in the pecking order were the most aggressive. The rooster did what he could to break it up but Pink was was under a pile of hens. I had shove birds off of her to pick her up, Edgar was highly agitated by this time so he was screaming, hopping up and down showing me his spurs. Once out of the run, Pink sat without moving for 15 minutes. After this I decided to try 'bunny bonding' methods. What in the world is 'bunny bonding' you ask? Spayed and neutered rabbit pairs can form deep, lasting relationships with each other but sometimes they need a little help figuring out dominance and trusting each other. Sometimes they can bond in a a few days, sometimes it takes a month.The House Rabbit Society and House Rabbit Network have some great articles on these techniques. I have had 4 pairs of bonded rabbits over the years, they are so sweet together. But back to chickens. The next day I set Pink in our cat enclosure, a neutral territory for all the chickens. One by one over the morning I brought 8 of the hens, from top to bottom, into the enclosure, leaving Edgar 2 of the middle hens for company. Threw bird seed all over the enclosure so there was fun food everywhere. When an unfortunate small creature was discovered they all ran after the hen that had it in her beak. Everyone was so busy exploring and eating they ignored Pink. Late in the afternoon I brought the hens back to the run, bringing Pink in last. This time 8 hens ignored her, only the 2 lowest hens, Muff and Benny, challenged her. Pink out postured Muff, and Muff stalked away. Benny, the lowest hen, with a still featherless butt on account of Pink, has been another matter. Also Pink was terrified of letting Edgar anywhere near her. Next day Edgar and Pink had a day in the cat enclosure so he could court and dance without any distractions. Brought them back to the run together and it went better but Pink is still hiding behind me when Benny starts circling her. Over the past couple of days Pink, Benny and Edgar have been in the cat enclosure. Driving the tractor past them and mowing some ways away worked as a great distraction. Benny and Pink decided standing together was less scary than standing alone with rumbling noises going on. So while Pink is not back with the flock she has made a lot of progress in 2 weeks. I think if I had simply left her in with the whole flock she would have died from injuries or stress. Hoping in the next week or so that Pink can eat and move around more freely without fear of Benny attacking her. Benny maybe the next one to spend time in the dog crate. An extension is being built onto the run that will have a door into it so chickens can be together but separated, I am hoping that this will help introductions in the future. Good luck!

 

[urban dreamer]

Thanks for the response! I decided to separate my flock. My two mean EE's are now in the quarantine coop alone. That leaves Emma in the big coop with my now-broody, head-hen Zoii. Zoii has been showing her tale feathers since she started being broody, but not at Emma. Emma still begs to be held and wants to sit on your lap. Ginger and Gladys are not happy with being in the much smaller quarantine coop, but they need a attitude adjustment. I figure introducing them as the new birds may help when I try to put them all back together. In the mean time, Emma has a new toy, a chicken harness! We modified a dog harness and we now walk the chicken around outside the coop. This way, she gets the attention she wants and she can see Gladys and Ginger without the fear of being pecked to death. I am going to keep them separate until Emma's neck feathers grow back. Then I will introduce them back one at a time. First Gladys, them Ginger a week later. Hopefully this will work!