Possible Prolapsed Vent- Please Help!

[Chel0ftheSea]

Today was a nice sunny day and I had the opportunity early this afternoon to catch the Rhode Island Red! So I removed her from the flock and stuck her in the dog kennel in the mother-in-law suite.

With the Rhode Island Red removed I felt that it was safe to let the vent pecked Barbu d'Anvers back in with the rest of the flock. She has been with them now for over 4 hours and everything has been great! It is still very obvious that she is the bottom of the pecking order, but the other hens will mostly just posture, maybe a small peck, or chase her a bit until she moves from whatever they wanted.

I added a second small feeding dish to the run as well as a mineral block for pecking and a chicken rolling toy filled with mealworms. The food dish was a hit, but they havn't quite figured out what the other things are yet.

I think I am just going to let her be with the flock for tonight and not worry about separating them. In the morning I will examine her for any damage, but I don't think these hens are going to hurt her over night.

How long should I keep the bully Rhode Island Red in time out from the rest of the flock?

Thank you for any advice!

 

[Eggcessive]

At least a week. But it doesn’t always help. I have rehomed a couple of Wyandotte bullies before.

 

[Chel0ftheSea]

Well I tried letting the Rhode Island Red rejoin the flock today, and at first I thought things were going to be okay...

My other Barbu d'Anvers (black mottled) and my darker colored Rosecomb seemed to have taken over the top spots in the pecking order and were keeping the Rhode Island Red in her place.

I was really proud of my little vent pecked Barbu d'Anvers for standing up to her former bully and for holding her ground at the mealworm toy. She seems to have gotten over her victim complex and has a lot more confidence and she sits somewhere in the middle of the pecking order.

But then the Rhode Island Red pecked hard and held onto the darker Rosecomb's eyelid and now she has a little missing chunk right above her eye! After that the Rosecomb seemed to loose some of her confidence and it was up to the Black Mottled Barbu d'Anvers to keep the peace. She ended up bloodying the Rhode Island Red's comb, which then proceeded to get blood on my other chickens.

The Rhode Island Red then turned her sights on attacking the chickens at the bottom of the pecking order who were just trying to avoid conflict. The little white Rosecomb would squat down anytime she came by and the Rhode Island Red decided to attack her by jumping on her back and holding onto her neck feathers! I then watched her do the same thing to the other little Rosecomb, and she tried doing it to the Plymouth Rock too! The Plymouth Rock, despite being the heaviest chicken, just wants to be left alone and doesn't like to fight in the pecking order.

So after an hour and a half of watching all this go down- I decided for the harmony of my flock, the Rhode Island Red needs to be rehomed. Bummer too because she is my best layer! So now she is back in the dog kennel and I am going to try and find someone who wants her.