Hi! I have three chickens. Two are 8 months old and 1 is a little over a year. The older one is the head hen. She recently went into a soft molt and was acting a little off. During that time one of the two younger ones decided to try and take over and started bullying the other hen , drawing blood. I ended up separating her (the bully hen) and let the other hen finish going thru the tough part of her molt and she is now back to her regular self and has begun to grow feather again. I have a very large enclosure. Inside the enclosure is two separate coops and one can be sectioned off even. That is where the bully hen has been, so she is side by side the other hens. I can’t free range because we live in the woods and have to many predators both day and night. Now that everything seemed to be back to normal I decided to try to put them back together. Winter is starting to set in and nights are getting colder. As soon as I let the bully hen out the older hen ran up and put her in her place. As soon as she walked away the bully hen attacked the hen she was attacking before. Holding her down. I and the older hen intervened a few times but I ended up putting her back on the other side of the enclosure. My question is ....can the bully hen sleep alone in the coop and be happy and be able to stay warm enough thru a cold winter by herself? Will she need to be separated forever. I don’t plan on eating her or giving her away.
She seems to really like her side. The only reason she acts like she wants to be on the other side is when I am in there but mainly because she knows it’s treat time. Thanks in advance for any advice!!
She seems to really like her side. The only reason she acts like she wants to be on the other side is when I am in there but mainly because she knows it’s treat time. Thanks in advance for any advice!!
