Chicken being bullied! Help!

[Molly McCoy]

Ok chicken experts! I have a chicken that I had to bring in for a few days due to a vent issue.. she is all better now yay! But I still have a problem... I brought her back out to the coop and everything seemed to be normal.. the others weren't pecking at her.. but when I came out this morning I noticed they were all ganging up on her and she was scared. She does have a little blood on her comb. I took her back out and let her be alone in the yard to free range. I'm a new chicken mom so I'm freaking out as you can tell. Any suggestions?!?!

 

[junebuggena]

When you remove a bird from the flock, even for a few days, you disrupt the established pecking order. Putting her back in essentially means that she is 'new' to the flock. Chickens are territorial, and react to newcomers with aggressive 'bullying'. It seems harsh to us humans, but it is completely normal chicken behavior. Lots of space and places for her to escape will help ease tensions, as will extra feeders and waterers.

 

[BBB Becky]

That happened to me with a new hen. It was really bad and I was able to bring her back and exchange her for a more confident (mini bully) and the new hen is fine.

This new hen did have a chest-to-chest with the current leader; but they seem to share their obligations now.

My very last hen still gets ostracized at night. Each evening, I lift her up onto the top perch and all the others move over and let her roost.

She stays up on the top roost all night (because I check).

Good luck with your new hen. I am so sorry this is happening.

 

[lynnehd]

Ok chicken experts! I have a chicken that I had to bring in for a few days due to a vent issue.. she is all better now yay! But I still have a problem... I brought her back out to the coop and everything seemed to be normal.. the others weren't pecking at her.. but when I came out this morning I noticed they were all ganging up on her and she was scared. She does have a little blood on her comb. I took her back out and let her be alone in the yard to free range. I'm a new chicken mom so I'm freaking out as you can tell. Any suggestions?!?!

If space and extra feeders don't work, see if you can identify the 'lead bully'. If so, remove her for a few days to a week. Out of sight.
Good luck!

 

[Molly McCoy]

They still seem to be pecking at her as of day 2 back in the coop, so i will try to identify the big bully. Thanks for the advice!

 

[lynnehd]

They still seem to be pecking at her as of day 2 back in the coop, so i will try to identify the big bully. Thanks for the advice!

If you can't, or it doesn't help (that is, the others still go after that chicken), then there are some other ideas too.

 

[Pork Pie]

Whilst it may be of little use at the moment - here's a couple of links that you may find interesting for the future

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/reintegrating-a-recovered-hen-to-a-small-flock

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1015820/reintegration-by-supervised-visits#post_15742910