Integrating new hen

[rainbowgardener]

So we have seven full grown hens, six of them have been together all their lives (4+ years), one was added a couple years ago as an adult and integrated I successfully. Now we adopted another one from our neighbors. They have a rooster (we don't ) and their large rooster was being very hard on her. Her back is all defeathered with sores, comb mangled, etc. And their hens were starting to join in and attack her. She is smaller and already was partly crippled.
So we put her in a wire dog cage right next to the wire run where ours are when they aren't free ranging. When they come out to free range , they gather round her cage. So they have plenty of exposure. It's been almost a week now. Still if we let her out when ours are out they try to attack her. One is the ringleader. When we put her away, the others ignore the newbie. But if the ringleader is out, a couple of the others look like they are getting ready to join in.
When we got the other one, she was an alpha type that put the others in their place and it worked fine. And our hens are not aggressive and do not fight amongst themselves. I guess this poor traumatized lady is just a victim type.
Is there something else I can do? She is not getting much exercise, because I can't just guard her all day.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Chickens attack wounds because they are instinctively drawn to peck blood, and the color red. You will want to keep her separate until her wounds have healed and she’s gotten some good feathers grown in. When integrating, it’s usually a good idea to integrate multiple birds. That way they have a friendly face to run to whenever they’re being bullied. Perhaps your neighbor would allow you to take another one. This “ringleader” is probably head of your pecking order. A stranger in her territory is not okay, so she’s trying to set some boundaries for this newcomer, and show her who’s boss. Free range them together as the first step. It allows for neutral grounds to be roamed at the same time that they get to know each other in a friendly way. After a couple weeks of this, begin closing off half of the run for them and put her in the other side. They can see each other at all times of the day and talk to each other, but not be able to hurt one another or bully. After a long time of this you can fully integrate, but if you see any sort of bullying, it’s back to step one. This bird has been through to much.

I hope I could help!

 

[Mrs. K]

Well this is a lot of dinking around, but it generally works.

Let the flock out to free range, and lock the new bird in the coop/run by herself. Put out treats or feed close to the fence on both sides. This allows the new bird to explore the area and get comfortable in the new area without being chased or harassed. Do make sure there are a lot of hide outs in the coop/run, and multiple feed bowls Separate the new bird in the coop in the wire pen for the night. Do this for two days.

Day three, pick one other bird from your flock, try and get a middle of the road bird, and she gets locked into the run with the new bird. The rest of the flock goes out. Now there will probably be a dust up or two- but this is one on one, and they will generally come to a truce. Wash repeat for several days - until you see no aggression.

Then put the ringleader in the cage, and let the two girls out with the flock, you are now adding a pair to 4 birds. Watch carefully, if one of those gets the least bit aggressive, squirt them with a high powered squirt gun, or otherwise interfere, or lock up with the other meanie. If there is no aggression then late in the day, let the mean biddy out. If she immediately goes into attack mode, I would lock her up, and out of sight of the others for a week, then try again. If she is still too mean well, then she may have to go or you could try pin-less peepers.

Not all birds work out in a flock. But I have had good luck with this.

Mrs K