Re-introducing Hen Back Into Flock

[Jadore Poules]

Hello. My hen has been isolated from the 7 other flock for about 3 months, recovering from an illness and putting on weight. Sporadically during the past 1.5 months she has been let out during warm weather to free range with the rest of the flock. For a long while they tended to pick on her so she hung alone. After a while she found some docile hens to hang around with, without trouble.

The problem is the roo. My hen has gone from fleeing in terror from him to submitting to him. However, she stays crouched down as he hops off and he then begin to pick at her comb, drawing blood. She then runs to either my dog (her friend) or to me for rescue when the roo starts this.

She spends her nights in the shed, apart from the flock. She is still underweight but can withstand the weather better than before.

I wish to put her back in the coop with the flock. But I don't know if this is wise as she may be injured. Is there anyway besides just tossing her in with the rest of them and seeing what happens?

 

[CMV]

It is always difficult to re-introduce a sick/injured bird back into an already existing flock. I would set her up in a large dog crate inside the coop to protect her from any physical assault by her mates. Let her see and be seen by the flock for a couple weeks before they can actually touch her. She can probably free-range with the flock because she has plenty of space to avoid trouble, but once the flock is locked up she needs to be protected until they get used to her again. I would stop removing her at night because this is just prolonging the integration.

The roo I would put in a "time-out" for a few weeks. Separate him from the flock, and when he returns he should be less likely to pick on the injured girl. This time-out will also give your girl more opportunity to get settled back into the flock without risking injury.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Jadore Poules]

Thanks for the advice! I will give it a go and put her in a crate in the coop, especially now since the weather at night is unusually warmer than usual and should not shock her system too much, temperature-wise. After all this time nursing her back to health, I wouldn't want to lose her to a situation I can take control of!