Pecking Order, what's normal, what's not?

[crzychicknmom]

I posted a few weeks ago because I had an injured hen that was healed and ready to be reintroduced to the flock. Posting again because things are not going well and I'm wondering if the behavior is normal and I should get used to it or if something needs to change.

I have 5 chickens (3 ISA browns, 1 Barred Rock, 1 Ameraucana) we started off with 8 but had three roosters from our straight runs and decided to re-home all of them, particularly because the Ameraucana female was almost scalped by one, hence her needing to heal.

It took almost 3 weeks for the wound to heal completely, during which time she was always within sight of the others but in a separate fenced in run. To re-introduce her I built a new run that shared a wall of fence with the others run, but she was sleeping in a kennel that we put in the garage at night for safety. After a week of that I waited and then slipped her into the coop at night when everyone was sleepy.

That went fine, but it's been a week and they are still pecking at her, chasing her, pulling feathers (no injuries yet, she is fast and gets away). I thought I would isolate the bully but it's all four of them! She is the sweetest chicken, and has always seemed to be the lowest in the order since they were babies, but this seems extreme.

Bedtime is fine, they let her sleep with them in the coop. But she spends most of the day running from them and hiding!

Just for reference to what I have done so far:
1. Two feeders and two waterers set up far apart and one set slightly hidden from sight
2. Lots of space for them all, I doubled what they had originally. We do not free range due to predators.
3. Chicken swing, lots of fallen branches and a platform to climb/roost/hide on.
4. Treats, enrichment activities like the hanging cabbage etc.

What else can I do? Is it ok to let her our to free range while I am out in the yard to get a break from them? If things don't get better can she have her own separate coop thought the winter until the spring when we get some new silkie chicks like we were planning and have them live with her eventually? She is a solitary chicken, doesn't get in with the rest of the flock and is always doing her own thing unless she's being chased/pecked!

Thank you!

 

[Jersey giant lover]

I would take the one that chases her the least and (with lots of treats) put them together

 

[Pghelp]

I had a rehomed Araucana. She got ravaged by a raccoon and had to stay isolated while healing. Integrating her with the others was so difficult and seemed to take forever. What eventually happened was with her isolated, another hen ended up at the bottom of the food chain. I finally put the Araucana and the new underdog together. They became BFF and inseparable. The araucana never quite integrated with the others but she quickly learned to keep the RIR between her and the meanies so peace reigned. Watch and see who's at the bottom when your newbie isn't around and try putting them together. They might bond.

 

[aart]

I would take the one that chases her the least and (with lots of treats) put them together

This might work.
Put all but the most docile bird in the separation enclosure.
Let the healed bird and the most docile hang out in the main run for the day.
Then let them all range for the last hour before roosting time.