Please help - Assistance with reintroducing a hen to her flock

[clmartin0721]

Hello everyone,

We are new chicken owners with a flock of 12 Red sex-links that are 7 months old. Recently we had a hen almost die from heatstroke, and we have been nursing her back to health. Now that it's time to start getting her back with the flock, we are looking for some suggestions from people with experience. Here are some facts specific to our situation;

• The hens have all been together from birth
• We have never had any issues with pecking or fighting in the flock
• The hens have plenty of room in both the coop and the run;

I tried to introduce her back this evening, and it went well for about 30 minutes, then 3 hens pinned her down and started pecking, at which point I extracted her from the flock. Some other points to consider;

• The hen being reintroduced still isn't 100% on her movement and agility. Here is a video of her walking;

• She is eating and drinking, but not as much as normal.
• She seems to get tired after walking for an extended period, I'm sure she is still "getting her feet under her".

Here is my current plan to get her back into the flock;

• Tomorrow evening I will put her in the run with one other hen for the night. The rest of the hens will be in the coop.
• The next evening I will have her in the run with two other hens, and on the third day I will have her in the run with three other hens. After that I will have her in the main flock full time.
• During the three day reintroduction, se will be separated from the other hens during the day, and will only interact with the others at night.

Please let me know if this will work, or if I should be doing something else. We are very fond of this girl, and want to see her happy with her sisters again! Thanks for the input.

C. Martin,
Houston, Texas

 

[redsoxs]

I like your plan. I think it will help since she was already a member of the the flock. Let us know how it goes!

 

[donrae]

I would wait until she's back to normal. You can try it now, but it's the flock's job to weed out weakness. Weak birds invite predator attention and are driven out. They may not accept her until she can prove she's worthy of rejoining them. And even when she's back to normal, they'll still make her prove herself, you'll just have to let her fend for herself and not intervene unless there's blood drawn.