reintroducing broody hen back to the flock. Help!

[stacym]

I have a Black Australorp hen that went broody. We had her sit on some eggs that we were told were fertilized. To make a long story short the eggs didn't hatch and my daughter decided to put her back in the pen with the 4 other hens. They tore her comb,pecked and chased her nonstop.

She has always been the hen on the low end of the pecking order. But ever since she has been separated the others will go out of their way to attack her. Even when they free range they all will chase her down. Today she followed at my heals while I gardened. She knew they wouldn't dare attack her when I was around. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Can you keep her in an area, where she and the others can see each other, but are separated by a fence? This way they will get used to her being around again, and then after a week or so, let her out again and see if whe is accepted.

That's about all I can think of.

Goodluck!

 

[Judy]

Squirt the attackers with a garden hose.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I know I shouldn't but I grin when ddawn mentions that garden hose. The mental image is good. It makes sense to me since a squirt gun with water is a good way to let a dog know that you don't like what it is doing. It does not hurt them but they really don't like it.

Something else you mght try is to observe the chickens and see if you can identify the instigator and isolate her for a day or so. Your Australorp may be able to integrate into the flock with the others. Then when you bring back the instigator, she is too busy trying to work out the pecking order issues to pick on one hen.

The other side of this is to put the other hens that are low in the pecking order with the Australorp for a day or two. When you reintegrate, the aggressive ones don't know which one to pick on, especially if you do squirt them with a hose when they start.

Don't know that any of this will solve your problem but it might work. Good Luck!!