Out cast hen

[kelbel313]

I have had 6 rhode island reds for about 3 years. Last year, I posted about one of my girls falling very ill. I brought her inside and she made a miraculous recovery but that took about 6 months. When I tried to reintroduce her to the others there was an instant fight that left her with a good gash on her comb. For fear of losing her I figured she needed to be separated for safety. My husband made a makeshift coop out of a rabbit hutch that we positioned directly next to the run of my other 5 chickens thinking if they saw each other 24/7 they would get used to Sophia again and she could move back in. It's been several months and everytime they are out of their enclosures they attack Sophia. I HAVE to figure something out before winter bc she will not be able to stay warm alone. Any suggestions as to what I can do to create harmony in my flock again?? Please help!

 

[sourland]

Well, it's all about the social structure. The pecking order can be quite nasty at times. She has to remake her place in that social structure. Try introducing one of the more mellow hens to the outcast hen on her territory. They will fight, but hopefully she will prevail. Leave them together a couple of days and add another hen. Let them work things out and then continue the process adding the dominant hen into the mix as the very last bird. There will be fighting, and there may be blood it's inevitable, but hopefully they will merge as a flock. Very frequently it is an ex-dominant hen that faces the most problems upon reintroduction as all the rest want to subordinate her.

 

[aart]

I read a couple good integration tricks on anther forum the other day, had never heard these before.

1. Put all birds in a new coop and run, this takes the territoriality issues away.
2. In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best of mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

As always: lots of space, multiple feed/water stations, places to hide 'out of line of sight' and/or up and away from aggressors are always good tools for integration.