Hen being mean to chick.

[Emily_loveschickens]

I have a hen who does not want to be nice to this one chick I am trying to integrate. Can I separate the hen? She is the meanest out of all of them and tries to chase her through her pen. Thanks

 

[microchick]

You could try putting her in a pen in the coop where the other hens can get used to seeing her for a few days. Then set up an area in the coop with an opening small enough that only she can get through if the other hens start picking on her.

I did this with chicken wire partitions that I built, setting up a 'safe' area and set it up so there was a 3-4 inch slit where the youngsters could squeeze through to get away from the rest of the flock if they wanted to. Worked great.

It isn't going to be an easy integration at best since she is now by herself. Hens are going to set up a pecking order and she is going to be at the bottom of the pack no matter what you do.

How are the other hens treating her? If they are doing okay with her you might consider separating the 'mean' hen for a few days to 'level' the playing field so to speak.

It would be great if you could pick up another hen or two close to her age for her to hang with after isolation. I've always had my best 'integrations' with larger numbers of young birds.

 

[azygous]

The "chick" is getting close to full size by now, so a "panic room" set up may not be able to function for long as it depends on the opening being too small for the older chickens.

You do have a dilemma. A single chick is going to stick out and therefore be a target. @microchick is right that more chicks would make it easier to integrate, if only to increase the number of small "targets". But it really depends on the temperaments of the adults. You should plan on the bully hen continuing to pursue the chick.

I might be inclined to cage this hen during the day while giving the chick a chance to integrate with the others, thereby building its self confidence. Once the chick is doing well with the adults, then try releasing the bully hen and see how the chick does evading her.

Getting more chickens is going to require more integration. Be aware that it will create a lot more stress on your flock and work and worry for you.

I've integrated single chicks before. They do just fine as long as they have an assertive temperament and self confidence.

 

[Emily_loveschickens]

Tell me how this set up looks.
For the run I put in a small to medium sized dog crate where she has her food and water and is protected. The reason I am not going to integrate her right this second is because I think she either sprained bruised or broke her wing during the raccoon attack. So I do want her to be safe. The other picture is of what I’ve done in the coop. I put in a plastic bin with mesh over with her food and water that she can sleep in. I want her to sleep in the big girls coop today since it is all predator proofed and I would feel safer with her having some buddies during the night.

 

[Tonyroo]

Don't get another bird, your existing bird will eventually be part of the flock. Just takes a while and patience.

 

[azygous]

Do you have a pet crate the chick can be comfortable in? You could place the chick in such a crate in the run until it gets a little larger and develops self confidence. By self confidence I mean that the chick will not be so afraid of the adults that it gives up trying to evade them and instead offers itself up to abuse without trying to protect itself. Often a safe enclosure while the chick and the adult flock are getting used to one another will be enough to achieve successful integration.

 

[azygous]

That should work!

 

[azygous]

Beware of getting a chicken off Craig's List or Facebook or chicken meets. It's a good way to import an avian virus into your flock.

 

[Emily_loveschickens]

I am having such a hard time integrating them I don’t know what to do

 

[azygous]

Is this the only chick you have? If not, how many total chicks and how old are they? How many adult chickens?