I don't know what to do

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Louise adele23

Louise adele23

In the Brooder
Apr 17, 2018
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Recently my family and I adopted a resuce chook when we tried to introduce her to our flock everything was going OK we separated her for a week but still aloud the others to see her once we let her out all of our chooks attacked her we left her thinking they were establishing the pecking order until they cornered her and took out a large chunk of her comb now she is terrified of all the chooks we really don't know what to do cause she is an absolute sweetheart and loves us but shakes and cry's out whenever another chook comes near If someone could tell us what to do it'll be very much appreciated it may be important to know that she is missing the front of her beak because of the situation we rescued her from
 

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Put her back in the "look no touch" enclosure.
Over the next few days, scatter some treats on the ground in/around her enclosure so they can all eat together/get used to being around each other doing normal chicken things.

Set up an additional feed/water station if you don't already have more than one.

Put places for her to hide in the run.

And next time you try to put them all together, keep an eye on the situation. Pecks and some chasing are normal, but if they draw blood it's not ok and other measures must be taken. (If you notice any particular other chicken picking on her really harshly, you can separate that chicken out. (Put it in the look no touch pen and let your new girl roam around with the rest of the flock while bully looks on)
 
Hello! Welcome to BYC!! :frow

I'm sorry to hear of your integration troubles. You've gotten some good advice above. A lot of times it'll take far more than a week to properly integrate, especially a single chicken.

Feel free to check out the links below for some interesting reading. Good luck on your adventures!
 
Meg-in-MT said:
Hello! Welcome to BYC!! :frow

I'm sorry to hear of your integration troubles. You've gotten some good advice above. A lot of times it'll take far more than a week to properly integrate, especially a single chicken.

Feel free to check out the links below for some interesting reading. Good luck on your adventures!
Click to expand...
It is definitely harder to integrate just one bird, but it can be done. Having a friend helps immensely.
 
I spend a month integrating small ones to be sure. I’ve gotten some grumpy older RIR and I’m over paranoid. They my sense she’s weaker ( I’m guessing if she’s a rescue) but over time and as they get used to each other she’ll be getting healthier and stronger. That may help but definitely gonna take some time. Maybe you could find her a buddy?
 
It's never a good idea to directly introduce a new chicken into an already established flock. Chickens are known to have a very strict pecking order, and any newcomer will be attacked since now the entire flock has to establish a completely new pecking order. Usually the one dominant chicken will go after the newbee straight away, and the rest will follow her "guidelines". Always keep a newbee in a look-no-touch pen for about 2 weeks (and even longer if needed), and then release her after this "cooling down" period, but still under your very watchful eye. If there are still continuously fights going on, if the newbee still gets cornered and attacked... then you might want to consider to take away the dominant one for a while and put HER in the look-no-touch pen for two weeks. Just don't give up. Chickens are weird creatures and can sometimes be very mean to each other and even towards other animals. I too had one chicken being an asshole, even towards the ducks, cat and dog (never towards us though). I put her in lock down for about a month - because it took her a while to finally realize that bullying the others resulted being put back in jail - and then she finally calmed down. She still went after the other animals from time to time, but nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that would have made us concerned. :)
 
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Sorry to hear about your poor girl. If she's an ex-battery hen, new surroundings are already overwhelming, and unfamiliar birds can be downright terrifying. She should eventually integrate into the flock, she'll just need a lot of extra time and help from you. Good advice has already been given, and I think @BullChick 's advice to have her bond with just one bird to start is a great idea.
Here's a couple links for further reading:

Introducing A Single Hen to an Existing Flock

Chicken Bully/Chicken Victim
 

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