Permanent solitary hen?

[chickndays]

What do you do when you can no longer keep a hen with the others?
One hen must've bled while laying an egg and the others took some layers of skin off the back end. I have tried to reintroduce it back again and again but this time it wasn't in there five minutes before another hen was pecking it and chasing it so now it has some prolapse and I again removed as quickly as I could. It has been living in the garage and an auxiliary coop beside the main one and is living there again. Is there something to cover up the backside below the vent that would actually stay on?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Was the hen completely healed when you put her back? How long had she been separated? If she's wasn't completely healed, then they were just going after the injury. If she was and had been gone for awhile (longer than three days), then they were settling pecking order (which, this sounds more like injury specific than pecking order).

She should be completely separated until she's healed. Then once she's healed, you'll have to work on introducing her back to the flock. It's typically hard to introduce one bird, but not impossible. I've found sneaking the "new bird" in after dark is a lot easier than any other method, though it will still take two weeks for the pecking order to be completely settled.

 

[Mrs. K]

I don't know, but it might be a long time before this one is confident enough to be with the flock. As in months. Once they get attacked, they have no confidence and almost bring it on. Chickens will be mean to anything they can get away with it.

Keep her separated a much longer period. Seen and not touched is good.

Mrs k

 

[AinaWGSD]

I agree, if she hadn't completely healed it's too soon to reintroduce her. And if she's been separated out of sight from the rest of the flock long enough to completely heal you need to do a gradual reintroduction. Is there any way to build her her own space in the run where she can be with the flock but at the same time not in direct contact? This is like the one thing that chicken wire would actually be good for, assuming your run is big enough to split off a section for an isolation pen. Other options would be something like a large dog crate or rabbit hutch.

The idea is that everyone can see and hear each other but the picked on hen is kept physically separate so the rest of the flock can't hurt her. It will help with reintroduction once she's completely healed because the other hens won't view her as a total stranger. It should also help build her confidence if she can see and hear the others without them being able to hurt her. You're still probably going to see a bit of rough treatment when she's reintroduced, but it should be a smoother transition than if she's not there then suddenly thrown back in.