Reintroducing a hen after injury during winter

[fallenmaplefarms]

I have a 9 month old Gold Laced Wyandotte that I will soon need to send back to the coop. She had a bit of trouble with lameness and I’ve been treating her inside for three weeks. She’s currently in my bathroom and getting around a little too well when I let her out of the cage. Yesterday, I think she was trying to get up to roost on the window sill!

Needless to say, she’s doing very well and will need to go back outside soon. I live in northern NY and the weather…well…it’s northern NY in January…enough said. What is the best way to acclimate her to the weather and also get the others (13 hens and 1 roo) acclimated to her again. I think the dog crate in the coop is the best option. But with the temps, is she going to be too cold out there? Do I bring her out in small doses or just leave her out?

The temps normally around high 20s to mid thirties. With average lows to teens to 20s.

I would expect her to be in the cage for a week or so while the others get used to her again. She was the loner of the flock to begin with and always roosted on the bottom roost all by herself.

Any suggestions on how to make this transition easier all the way around?

 

[BantyChooks]

I'd pick the warmest day in the coming week, put her outside in a crate, and monitor. Based on your weather, she should be okay even with the temperature change as it's not too extreme. If you're having issues with bullying once you let her out, I've found it can be helpful to give them a change of scenery as a distraction, such as a new food item like a cabbage head or by shoveling a space for them to explore outside. Hay bales are also a favorite, with the added bonus of providing a space to hide behind.
Best of luck!

 

[fallenmaplefarms]

I'd pick the warmest day in the coming week, put her outside in a crate, and monitor. Based on your weather, she should be okay even with the temperature change as it's not too extreme. If you're having issues with bullying once you let her out, I've found it can be helpful to give them a change of scenery as a distraction, such as a new food item like a cabbage head or by shoveling a space for them to explore outside. Hay bales are also a favorite, with the added bonus of providing a space to hide behind.
Best of luck!

Thanks for the suggestion! I love the idea of getting a hay bale. I’ll have to seek one out. Temps are going back up to high 30s by Wednesday so I will put her and her cage out then. Maybe by Sunday I can try turning her loose with the flock. With the distraction of the hay and moving things around in the run a bit hopefully the reintroduction goes smooth.

 

[BantyChooks]

Thanks for the suggestion! I love the idea of getting a hay bale. I’ll have to seek one out. Temps are going back up to high 30s by Wednesday so I will put her and her cage out then. Maybe by Sunday I can try turning her loose with the flock. With the distraction of the hay and moving things around in the run a bit hopefully the reintroduction goes smooth.

Sounds like a great plan! If you roll the hay out over the snow (if it’s thin enough,) I find that it can encourage them to go outside more and stretch their legs, which is an added bonus - a busy chicken typically isn’t an aggressive chicken. Let us know how it goes.

 

[fallenmaplefarms]

My girl is back in the coop! We moved her out and put her in a large exercise pen that’s 4 x 2 x 3 and covered so they can’t poop on her. We rigged her up a roost but I do need to get a couple of dishes for grit and oyster shells.

So far so good. She did get henpecked a bit by my miserable Wyandotte, Gert, and has a bit of blood on her comb. But it didn’t seem to bother her. She didn’t try to move away nor did she peck back. She’s standing her ground lol.

For the most part, the rest of the flock is distracted by the hay. So thanks for that suggestion! I’ll get a fresh bale when it’s time to move her out from the cage.

I do have to say as a first time chicken owner, I’m pretty damned proud that I was able to nurse a chicken back to health. Thanks to this board and all of the chicken books I read! I was petrified at first but with a little bit of help it’s not so daunting anymore!

 

[fallenmaplefarms]

After a week of the see no touch method I decided to turn my girl loose with the rest of the flock. All went well until she got too close to my miserable hen, Gert. There was a little tussle and she went and hid in the nest box for awhile.

She finally got the courage to try and enter the run again and was stopped dead by my damned rooster. Another scuffle ensued and she ran and hid in the nest box again after a few of them ganged up on her. Then she got brave and came out again only to have her comb pecked by one of my buff Orpington.

Her comb was injured already from when I first put her out last week so I decided to put her back in the cage for another week and see if time will help to ease the transition. I do believe if I wasn’t out there to stop the scuffles it would have been a lot worse.

The saga will continue

 

[rosemarythyme]

Next time to try reintroducing her, it'd be a good time to rearrange all your clutter in the run (and maybe add some extra) so the chickens have other things to distract them and she has extra cover she can take without having to resort to going inside.

 

[fallenmaplefarms]

The second reintroduction went well! I made a temporary run just outside the covered run out of chicken wire about 25 feet long by 5 feet wide and spread out a bale of hay and tossed some scratch.

My girl that was injured still hasn’t come out of the coop yet. But the others are mingling in and out of the coop and there have been a few pecks (some directed at her but she’s pecking at the Ameraucanas who are at the very bottom of the pecking order too) but no scuffles! As the song goes…now she just has to learn ‘when to hold em when to fold em. Know when to walk away and when to run’.

 

[fallenmaplefarms]

So day two of reintroducing was a nightmare and bloody. As soon as my girl came out of the coop the rooster and two hens were all over her. The rooster had her pinned down and was pecking at her head while two hens joined in also. I let the go at it for a bit but then they bloodied her ear and ripped her comb open again so I called it. Poor girl.

I caved and brought her back inside. In the two weeks she was out in the coop in the cage she barely ate or drank and stopped laying again. I figured it would be best rather than have a dead chicken on my hands.

Luckily spring is around the corner so the plan is to set up another small coop. I have a pair of Ameraucanas that are really docile so I think they might make her good flock mates. I’m still formulating a plan. But at least she’s safe.