Re-Introducing Hen Into Flock of 8

[CaptainCat]

Hi all,

A few months back we had to separate one of our Easter egger chicks and nurse her back to health for months. It looked like a vitamin B deficiency - she couldn’t walk at all, and had her legs sticking out straight in front of her. She’s been inside the house on shavings in a doggy play pen since. Fast forward to today, she’s all better, but still walks a bit funky and she’s about 1/2-3/4 the size of the other chickens she grew up with.

Our 8 other girls, all hatched 5/1, have been in the coop and run together for quite some time. We have a 4x8 coop with attached 8x16 run, then let the girls free range during the day.

My question is, how should I best go about reintroducing my chicken back to her flock? And how long does this usually take? We have a doggy kennel, but it’s not that big (see photos). I can move that from the coop to the run daily for a week or two if that might work best? Or we can put in a temporary T-post in one of the corners of the run and put up some wire, but not sure we could dig it down (if chickens would be smart enough to scratch/dig down to attack the chicken we are sectioning off from the flock)?

 

[Debbie292d]

I personally would try it to see if they remember her and accept her. With our silkies, that might just work, though she'd be lowest in the pecking order.

Otherwise, if yours aren't as accepting, your idea of putting her with them in that cage at least gets them used to her and her used to them. If you chose the fence, I doubt they'd dig enough to get under it so that'd give her more space.

What would she do if you let her out when they have their free range time? That's another time they can all get used to each other without being close together.

 

[CaptainCat]

I personally would try it to see if they remember her and accept her. With our silkies, that might just work, though she'd be lowest in the pecking order.

Otherwise, if yours aren't as accepting, your idea of putting her with them in that cage at least gets them used to her and her used to them. If you chose the fence, I doubt they'd dig enough to get under it so that'd give her more space.

What would she do if you let her out when they have their free range time? That's another time they can all get used to each other without being close together.

Thanks for the reply!

We have put her out with the girls while they are free ranging, while watching over them like hawks. They are all super interested in each other! Our French Black copper Maran (top of the pecking order) and white leghorn (second in the pecking order) picked on her quite a bit, so we quickly called it quits without some sort of physical barrier.

Full transparency - we might be being a bit overprotective. We nursed this gal back to health and have had her in the house with us for the last 3ish months, so we’re probably being a bit overbearing.

 

[Debbie292d]

Thanks for the reply!

We have put her out with the girls while they are free ranging, while watching over them like hawks. They are all super interested in each other! Our French Black copper Maran (top of the pecking order) and white leghorn (second in the pecking order) picked on her quite a bit, so we quickly called it quits without some sort of physical barrier.

Full transparency - we might be being a bit overprotective. We nursed this gal back to health and have had her in the house with us for the last 3ish months, so we’re probably being a bit overbearing.

Nope, that's totally understandable and what some of us would have done as well. Congrats on getting her back to nearly new again! I currently have two in our infirmary a long ways away.

 

[CaptainCat]

Nope, that's totally understandable and what some of us would have done as well. Congrats on getting her back to nearly new again! I currently have two in our infirmary a long ways away.

View attachment 3964746

They are so cute - good luck on getting them back in perfect health! And thanks for all the advice!

 

[Mrs. K]

While you let the others out to free range, let her out to explore the coop/run. You have a beautiful coop/run, but a problem I see, is that every bird can see every other bird 100% of time. You need to add some clutter to that run. Add ladders, or saw horses, pallets leaned against the wall, pallets up on cement blocks, mini walls set up with feed bowls on both sides.

If you look, there is no way for your birds to use the vertical space in the run. By adding a lot of clutter, birds can get on top of things, behind things, and out of sight. Adding multiple feed bowls, behind things set ups so that a bird eating at one can't see who is eating at another.

So let your birds out, add a lot of clutter, let the injured bird explore the coup/run. This lets her get some territory rights. Let your birds in and take the injured one back to the house for the night. Do this for two days.

Next day, pick a bird kind of in the middle of flock, not the bottom or the top. Let everyone else out, put her and the injured bird into the run/coup. One on one, a bit of bluster, a lot of clutter, and the injured bird can get out of sight, escape. Come dark, take the injured bird back to the house, repeat until these two are eating side be side.

Now, let everyone out to free range, se how it goes. If there is a wicked one, put HER into that little dog crate, sometimes there is two. Let the others get along - at dark, the injured one should follow the others back into the coop, maybe with a little encouragement. Keep the bully or bullies in the crate.

Might repeat this a day or two, then let one of the bullies out, see how it goes, let the other out.

Mrs K

 

[CaptainCat]

While you let the others out to free range, let her out to explore the coop/run. You have a beautiful coop/run, but a problem I see, is that every bird can see every other bird 100% of time. You need to add some clutter to that run. Add ladders, or saw horses, pallets leaned against the wall, pallets up on cement blocks, mini walls set up with feed bowls on both sides.

If you look, there is no way for your birds to use the vertical space in the run. By adding a lot of clutter, birds can get on top of things, behind things, and out of sight. Adding multiple feed bowls, behind things set ups so that a bird eating at one can't see who is eating at another.

So let your birds out, add a lot of clutter, let the injured bird explore the coup/run. This lets her get some territory rights. Let your birds in and take the injured one back to the house for the night. Do this for two days.

Next day, pick a bird kind of in the middle of flock, not the bottom or the top. Let everyone else out, put her and the injured bird into the run/coup. One on one, a bit of bluster, a lot of clutter, and the injured bird can get out of sight, escape. Come dark, take the injured bird back to the house, repeat until these two are eating side be side.

Now, let everyone out to free range, se how it goes. If there is a wicked one, put HER into that little dog crate, sometimes there is two. Let the others get along - at dark, the injured one should follow the others back into the coop, maybe with a little encouragement. Keep the bully or bullies in the crate.

Might repeat this a day or two, then let one of the bullies out, see how it goes, let the other out.

Mrs K

Thank you so much for all the details!

I have been thinking long and hard about how to clutter up the run, lol! Believe it or not, it took me a LONG time to decide to add in some roost bars (branches on the left side of the photo), and even that got my OCD overwhelmed, haha. But that being said, we do have lots of pallets, wooden ladders, some old mirrors, and I recently bought a chicken swing. I'll start filling it up and go from there.

Love the idea about getting more of them 1:1, though I'm not entirely sure how to determine which of the girls is among the middle of the pecking order. I can definitely tell which girls rank among the top, but all the others seem pretty complacent. Maybe I'll try with one of our Buff Orpingtons. Both are pretty mellow, and I haven't seen either of them get picked on any of the other birds, so I'd guess they might be middle of the pecking order.

 

[aart]

I have been thinking long and hard about how to clutter up the run

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/