HELP! reintroducing wounded hen back to flock

[Bad Wolf]

We had one of our hens hurt badly about a month ago. She had to have stitches, but has healed very nicely (thanks for all the advice on here It's a pretty nice day here, almost 45 and I was trying to give her some fresh air with the flock outside. She immediately was jumped on by the rooster and a few of the hens were trying to attack her. It's only been 1 month, I didn't think they would forget about her that quickly. Do I have to introduce her like she was a 'new' chicken to the flock? She has been living inside since she was hurt. Any suggestions??

 

[Judy]

When you have a bully, a good approach is to remove her for several days, because when she returns she will be at the bottom of the pecking order. Unfortunately, that's the situation you have created. I would expect the roo to jump her, though; it's a dominance thing, if nothing else. She is going to get pecked. Just watch for blood. You might have to expose her gradually or make a separate pen for a while so they can see and hear each other.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Where is she injured at. If it's on her back, she needs to wear a hen apron to cover the wound. In other areas, I recommend spraying the wound with BluCote which colors the wound a darker color so the other chickens don't notice the wound.

 

[Bad Wolf]

It is on her side, under a wing. We had to get rid of one of our roo's because they were tearing the hens apart. It was sad to see them losing their feathers and this hen was cut open, like a pocket on her side. She has healed nicely, but still has a wound the size of a half dollar where I couldn't stitch because the skin was too thin. She does have a saddle on but was picked on so much I brought her back inside. I think I'll wait till it's a little warmer (and some snow has melted) and try to put her back in a separate section.

Thanks for all suggestions!!!