I had a hen that was injured by an overly zealous cockerel. I got rid of the aggressive one but kept his very calm brother. She was allowed to heal in isolation but always in full view of the flock. She seemed to enjoy it for a while but then got a bit stir crazy. She has always been the most submissive, lowest in pecking order, and was the most mated. I kept her apart from the main flock for a bit longer to fatten up a bit. I put some chicks I was brooding in with her. I was hoping she would bond with them a bit and enjoy their company but she never showed interest in them. She'd peck them a bit so they learned to stay away. I also figured it was better to have multiple birds to integrate. The chicks are now around 5 weeks so I began the process to integrate them with the main flock. Now everyone can mix. The chicks are doing fine. No one has given them more than a quick peck on the head to teach them manners.
The hen on the other hand has gone bananas. She is terrified of the cockerel. Anytime she sees him she runs for the nearest hiding place, even if he is on the other side of the fencing. I have never seen him be aggressive with her. He will hop on, do his business, and then hop off. He doesn't chase her down, pull her feathers, or claw at her. She is also acting scared of the rest of the flock. She runs away and makes squawking sounds. She is actually drawing attention to herself and the other birds are starting to become aggressive toward her. One of my BOs has pecked at her hard while she was trying to hide. My rooster pecked at her aggressively and I've never seen him do anything like that before. She even rials up the ducks and they are very mellow.
From what I have seen, no one chases her away from the flock. They only attack when she is making a bunch of noise or running around like crazy. She spends most of her time in the coop. She seems to have become very attached to me and will run up to me whenever she sees me. She lets me pick her up. She wasn't like that before. I have taken her out in the yard when I'm working out there so she can do chicken stuff but I can't be with her all the time.
For reference, my coop is a 12ft by 24ft section of my barn. The birds have access to my entire 5 acre lot all day. Not including any chicks, I have one rooster, one cockerel, 7 hens/pullets, and 3 ducks. I know I don't have enough girls that's why I hatched more chicks and I ordered 13 pullets. However, the rest of the flock seems to get along fine even with the ratio being off.
(Sorry this turned out really long.) What can I do to calm this crazy hen down? How can I get her to bond with the main flock again and hang out with them like she used to?
The hen on the other hand has gone bananas. She is terrified of the cockerel. Anytime she sees him she runs for the nearest hiding place, even if he is on the other side of the fencing. I have never seen him be aggressive with her. He will hop on, do his business, and then hop off. He doesn't chase her down, pull her feathers, or claw at her. She is also acting scared of the rest of the flock. She runs away and makes squawking sounds. She is actually drawing attention to herself and the other birds are starting to become aggressive toward her. One of my BOs has pecked at her hard while she was trying to hide. My rooster pecked at her aggressively and I've never seen him do anything like that before. She even rials up the ducks and they are very mellow.
From what I have seen, no one chases her away from the flock. They only attack when she is making a bunch of noise or running around like crazy. She spends most of her time in the coop. She seems to have become very attached to me and will run up to me whenever she sees me. She lets me pick her up. She wasn't like that before. I have taken her out in the yard when I'm working out there so she can do chicken stuff but I can't be with her all the time.
For reference, my coop is a 12ft by 24ft section of my barn. The birds have access to my entire 5 acre lot all day. Not including any chicks, I have one rooster, one cockerel, 7 hens/pullets, and 3 ducks. I know I don't have enough girls that's why I hatched more chicks and I ordered 13 pullets. However, the rest of the flock seems to get along fine even with the ratio being off.
(Sorry this turned out really long.) What can I do to calm this crazy hen down? How can I get her to bond with the main flock again and hang out with them like she used to?
