Advice on returning injured hen to flock

[s6bee]

Ok, yesterday my daughter unfortunately woke up to find one of our hens attacked and bloodied from another hen. The coop looked like a murder scene I kid you not. Since I was not home she recieved advice from BYC to bring her in, clean her up, etc. Today you would not even know Ivana ( the attacked hen ) was injured. So should I put her back w/ the flock today even though it's very cold and windy out and they are not leaving the coop, or wait till it's nicer out which may not be till Wed.? Any advice to make it easier on her would be helpful.
Thanks
Steph

 

[chickflick]

Maybe wait till dark and put her on the roost. Would be good to see how the other hens react to her during the day since no one knows why she got attacked.

 

[s6bee]

I do believe my coop is just a tad too small. I had the same hen attack another one recently, just not this bad. She's a very pushy hen. I think she would be fine if I placed her in another home that had more chickens. She's one of 5 and the other breeds are very passive so.....one more attack and she's gone. I hate to do it since it's my son's pet but I can't do this. I believe we will enlarge or make a whole new pen this summer, which can't come soon enough!

Thanks
Stephanie

 

[Alleyoops25]

I think the way in which she goes out is all going to depend on how cold it has ben in your area, how warm your coop is and the differnce btween these and the temp of your house. I would start slow by putting her in the garage before you put her back out with the rest. She can get used to a cooler place in the garage but wont have to deal with extra cold wind. Then I would try putting her back out at the warmest point of the day. As for your grouchy hen, you might ought to think about temoprarily free ranging her during the day to give her her own space, or you could throw together some very temporary fencing to keep her in. I dont think you will have to many problems putting the injured one back out as she hasnt beeenn in for a really long period of time though.

 

[s6bee]

The cold was my concern now that she's in a warm place. I live in Upstate NY and right now the outside temps are 13 degrees. The winds have calmed down though. The garage isn't heated, so it's pretty cold there too. The coop we keep a lwarming light on and overnight with the hens gets down to maybe 40 degrees.
There's no place to let the mean one free range right now. We are snow and ice covered.....
I think I'm going to keep her in today, bring her back out tomorrow when the temps will be in the 20s'. I just don't want her to get sick.

 

[akcskye]

I have introduced (and re-introduced) chickens twice.

Adding them back in straight away is not the best thing to do, for sure.

With my re-introduction, Feather, was severely injured by a dog.

She was inside my home for 2 weeks recouperating from her injuries.

We kept her in a dog kennel outside the run for 3 days and brought her in at night to stay warm.

Then, we had a HUGE rooster fight, and had to take her out of the kennel so we could take one of the roos to the Feed Store to rehome.

So, we let everyone out to free range while we were gone, and by nightfall (30 mins later), she was up on the roost nestled in under the roo that remained.

The next day, minimal pecking, but acceptance.

Good luck!