Bullying of hen with ongoing heath issues (sorry, a little long)

[SJaneDoe]

Hi all,
I hope this is the right forum - I wasn't sure if this should be here or in injuries. I need some advice!

So I posted a few months back about a young hen I have that had some crop issues, and everyone was really helpful about treatments for her. She seemed to recover, but the problem kept coming back. (I had her in a dog crate within the run with the others during the day while treating her.) She never got worse, but she never got 100% better either. She eats normally. Meanwhile, I also noticed she looks different than her sisters - her legs seems a bit stubby and her comb never got bigger than when she was a pullet. She doesn't normally lay, but she did lay 1-2 eggs in the fall. I know many people would just cull her, but I really don't want to. She's the only one of my 8 hens that my kids have named.

Anyway, the problem I'm having is that the other hens are bullying her quite aggressively. I got them all as day olds and they've always been together (I've had them about 9 months). At first I thought it was just pecking-order stuff, but since it's gotten really snowy and cold they've been backing her into corners and pulling out her feathers. Today they drew blood. They have a 36 sq ft coop, with lots of space for roosting and 5 nest boxes. They will let her onto the roosts, but none will snuggle up to her and she's usually on a roost by herself. They have space under the raised coop plus a 96 sq ft run that's partially covered. They don't like to go out from the covered area into the snow. I give them greens etc. almost every day and I give them "toys" as often as I can. I'm not letting them free range over the winter because we have tons of predators.

I'm at a loss as to what to do for her. I could separate her during the day and return her to roost at night, but the only places I would be able to keep her are a smallish dog crate in my (unheated) garage, or an old unused coop that has no protected run. I can't bring her inside because we have indoor predators. I'm worried if I separate her they'll just pick on her even more when she gets back with the flock. Is there anything I can do?

 

[azygous]

How old is this hen?

How many chickens in the flock?

Is she always in the coop? Or is there a run that she sometimes spends time in?

What does her poop look like?

 

[SJaneDoe]

Thanks for helping!
She is 9 months old. I have 8 chickens in the flock, all the same age and similar size. She comes out to the run to eat and wander around with the others. She is usually last out of the coop, but she does come out every day.
Her poops alternate between normal and normal colour but runny.

 

[azygous]

How large is the run? Do the chickens bully her during the day in the run? Chickens will do that to a sick chicken if she can't segregate herself into a corner.

Nine months old is the age when avian viruses produce symptoms. Did you get these chickens as chicks from a feed store? Or private breeder? Fom an online or auction source?

 

[SJaneDoe]

The run is 96 sq ft, plus underneath the raised coop.
Yes, they're bullying her during the day in the run. They'll drive her into a corner and peck her.
The chicks came from a well-known and well-respected breeder, and picked up at the feed store. This isn't a new issue with her, it first showed up when she was 7 weeks and has been on and off ever since. The major aggression is new.

 

[azygous]

Are these other hens coming into lay? Often, hormones affect aggression. Spring can be the worst time for it.

As for the sick hen, it sounds like a genetic issue that is now throwing up a road block for a normal life. It's probably not possible to diagnose her problem until she dies and a necropsy is performed.

Can you think of any other symptoms you may not have mentioned? When she first started having issues at seven weeks, what were her symptoms at that time?

 

[SJaneDoe]

The other hens have been laying since late summer-early fall.
I think you're right about her having a genetic defect. At 7 weeks I thought it was the early stages of sour crop, so I treated her for that multiple times and it did improve temporarily. The only symptoms were an enlarged crop, no weird smell or anything else. (The original thread about that is here.)
Should I try separating her during the day or do you think that will make things worse?

 

[carlaashdown]

I have similar circumstances as you.

I have a 10 month old pullet that had a leg sprain and crop impaction starting early November. Sprain was better in a few days. Impaction took forever (over a month) to get cleared which caused prolonged sour crop and subsequently a slight pendulous crop. She wears a crop bra now or she won’t completely empty.
She had another episode of impacted crop recently along with another sprain (weirdly coincidentally at the same time again). She‘s smaller and thinner (due to the crop issues), but otherwise normal.
Since the issues, she’s low in the pecking order, but not last (one under her).
She was recently in the sick crate for a week, so now she’s fighting for her spot in the pecking order again.

Although my girl is back in with her flock during the day, I’ve been still putting her in the crate at night. It‘s in the chicken coop, so she can still see the others and they can see her. So, not completely separated and out of sight. I give her food and water there. She can eat peacefully and not be pecked. Then, I remove the food and water, so she can sleep. I’m probably going to start putting her on the roost tonight after dark and see how that goes.

I currently have six hens and a roo, all the same age. Not my first flock, but haven’t had chickens in years. I am no chicken expert. But what I would do (and may have to do with my girl also) is let her live as long as she can as happily as she can be. She is actually my son’s favorite too and gets extra special attention. We love her. She’s out pecking and scratching around during the day, but I have a safe place she can go to eat and sleep if needed without being attacked.

I do not know the answer as to why they are suddenly more aggressive to her. I do know that sometimes hens will bully other hens that are sick and ones that are not laying. I also know that it’s been abnormally cold here and all of mine are acting differently.

Best of luck to you!

 

[azygous]

I skimmed through the early thread you posted when this hen was seven weeks old. The final post mentioned a fence staple. That is a chilling clue. It's possible she swallowed a staple back then and it caused a crop issue at the time and moved into the gizzard. It's also possible she has secretly been swallowed such things from time to time since then. This is a behavior abnormality called "pica".

Humans and animals can suffer from it. It's a compulsion to eat non-food items like screws and paper clips and staples. We see chicken victims of pica here on BYC from time to time, and when the chicken is Xrayed, it shows a gizzard full of hardware. Endoscopy surgery is necessary to remove the metal, and it comes with a large price tag. First step is having her Xrayed to find out if this is what her issue is.

The problem with trying to flush the foreign object out of the gizzard is it's sharp and has likely hooked into tissue. It also lacks the properties that would be easily flushed, surface area and able to float in liquid. But as a last resort, you could try a flush.