Can you keep a chicken by herself???

[carajane612]

We have a hen who we believe suffered a heat stroke earlier this summer...

A month ago her legs were completely paralyzed & she could barely get around. Like many we consider our chickens pets & were not willing to let her go without a fight, especially since she was very coherent, eating, drinking & laying eggs. With tons of love & patience she has made HUGE progress

She can currently stumble/walk on her own a little but still has a long way to go. We have tried to keep her with our three other chickens as much as we can but one of them has turned into a BIG BULLY... Survival of the fittest I suppose.
We've currently been keeping our handicapped girl in a hard sided dog crate but we want her to be able to stretch out & move around more than she can in the crate. We have one of those small prefab coops (that we thought would be big enough for our 4 large hens - yea right!!) & my question is can we keep her in there by herself? We recently converted our shed into a large coop & attached a nice outdoor run for them. Were thinking about placing the prefab coop inside of the shed so she can still see/hear the other girls? I know chickens are flock animals but I'm hoping this will be a good solution until she **HOPEFULLY** makes a full recovery & can defend herself against our bully. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Granny Hatchet]

i dont know what they are but alot of things can cause paralysis like you describe disease, poison. i wouldnt rule out when putting with other chickens. you can keep them by them self they just are not happy about it. do you have one more you can add with her?

 

[carajane612]

I'd love to keep her with the other chickens but she is getting pecked pretty badly by one of them. I'm fearful if I put another one of them in with her they will just start to peck her too???

 

[Granny Hatchet]

its possible yes. but if you know their personalities you could pick one and watch. i have been told that if you lock up the dominant hen for a week or so, it will change the pecking order.

 

[carajane612]

We've considered separating the bully but are fearful that it would be all for nothing. If our handicapped girl shows any sign of weakness I think it wont take long for the bully to start up her bad habit again. We do have another less dominant chicken we could put in with our handicapped girl...

 

[Granny Hatchet]

rereading the whole post, i think your original idea would be the best short term solution. you can also give her extra treats and or vitamins to help her along faster

 

[carajane612]

Could you offer any suggestions of what kind of vitamins I should be offering her? Treats are in full swing

 

[Granny Hatchet]

i have heard that infants poly-vi-sol is good but i stick with what they sell for chickens different brands dont matter just a multi