My question is regarding a bullied hen I had to isolate and how to reintroduce her back into the flock. I have 10 hens (3 barred rocks, 3 buff orpingtons, 3 new hampshire reds, 1 black sex linked) that are all about a year old. They share a 50 sq ft coop and a 224 sq ft covered run. We've had a terrible cold snap this past weekend (lows in the -12 to -14 range with highs of zero degrees) with temperatures almost as cold the week before. Over the weekend I kept the chickens in the coop and used a incandescent light to keep the coop warm (14 to 20 degrees). I noticed Monday that one of the barred rocks was missing feather around her head, sides, back, and vent. Her back was bleeding and at least three chickens were pecking her. I placed the bullied hen in a dog crate within the coop. I cleaned what I could and sprayed her with blu-kote. Today (Thursday), while tending to the isolated hen's food and water she got past me and ran out into the run where the other chickens immediately started pecking her, they went for the blu-koted bare areas. I was able to grab her and get her back into the dog crate. I realize now that my mistake was keeping all the flock in the coop for 2 days and providing far too much bright light. Where do I go from here? How long should I keep her isolated? How do I introduce her back into the flock? Will I be able to introduce her into the flock? Since the blu-kote didn't seem to work should I try something like Rooster Booster pick no more? Thank you for your advice and help. I'm not sure what to do next.
How are you at sewing? If you can, get a pattern off the internet and make her a saddle to cover the damaged areas. Or get a friend or neighbor to do it for you. Some patterns don't even require any sewing. To re-introduce this hen, you'll need to keep her with the others where they can interact with her but not touch her. I would section off a portion of the run and let her stay there until the feathers get past the pin-feather stage. Keep her bare skin disguised with Blu-kote if you can't find a saddle for her. It would be best if she roosted with the others, however. birds kept too long totally apart from the others, even in full view, can provoke resentment in the rest.
