reintroducing hen to flock

[Callacda]

I only have 3 hens. They are pets really. One was sick and I removed her from the other 2 that were raised with her. I call her blue. They were all three raised together from the time they were chicks, close and never fought. They all knew their place in the flock. I call them red, blue, and yellow due to their leg bands. Yellow has always been the top hen because she is the largest. Blue was the one that was sick and I brought her in my house in a kennel. She lost weight. I would like to put more weight on her before I put her back because they tried to beat her up when I put her in with them the other day. I want to get blue back as soon as possible. I don't know what to do. Can I take out the other two, put them in a crate and reintroduce them one at a time, or what? ONLY 3 hens. What would be the best way?

 

[DobieLover]

Can you post pictures of your setup?
Where are you located?
Blue needs to be reintroduced to the other two as if she were brand new to the flock with a "look don't touch" introduction period of about a week. Then when you finally allow her to intermingle with the others, you need to have lots of space with lots of things in the space to perch on, hide behind and scratch around in with 2 feeders and 2 water stations as far apart as possible so she can access food and water. It's just going to take some time for her to reintegrate.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Welcome from New Orleans, I agree completely with @DobieLover. We had to do this over the summer and handled it like Dobie suggests. It worked out veery well.

 

[rosemarythyme]

For future reference, best to house sick/injured birds in view of the flock whenever possible, to avoid the need to reintegrate/ease reintegration.

 

[Callacda]

For future reference, best to house sick/injured birds in view of the flock whenever possible, to avoid the need to reintegrate/ease reintegration.

I was too stupid. I have had my three chickens for 3 years now, and I have not had to do anything like this before, to separate them. They have always been very healthy. Did not realize it (separating one)would be a problem until after I did it. I wish my vet would have taken her in that day but they were full, and I knew she was sick, so I had to do something to help her. I wish my vets office would have warned me but the receptionist probably didn't even know. Thank you so much for your reply.
I was thinking since I only have three, I would take the one that is recovering and put her back in the run (coop is enclosed in the run), take the other 2 out, put them in 2 separate kennels, and reintroduce them again one at a time, introducing the yellow, the largest of the three last to the other 2. The yellow one is the leader of the three, but they have always got along beautifully till I did this stupid thing. I hope that works. Let me know if anyone thinks that would make it worse or if that might work out. Thank you again. STUPID!!

 

[Callacda]

Can you post pictures of your setup?
Where are you located?
Blue needs to be reintroduced to the other two as if she were brand new to the flock with a "look don't touch" introduction period of about a week. Then when you finally allow her to intermingle with the others, you need to have lots of space with lots of things in the space to perch on, hide behind and scratch around in with 2 feeders and 2 water stations as far apart as possible so she can access food and water. It's just going to take some time for her to reintegrate.

As soon as I get home from work in the morning, I will take a picture. live in Louisiana.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I was thinking since I only have three, I would take the one that is recovering and put her back in the run (coop is enclosed in the run), take the other 2 out, put them in 2 separate kennels, and reintroduce them again one at a time, introducing the yellow, the largest of the three last to the other 2. The yellow one is the leader of the three, but they have always got along beautifully till I did this stupid thing. I hope that works. Let me know if anyone thinks that would make it worse or if that might work out. Thank you again. STUPID!!

Not stupid, it's not necessarily something folks think of. Just pointing it out for your future reference (or any one else's, if they have a similar situation).

Not sure how much this applies to a small flock, but some advice to consider: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock.71997/ Keep in mind this will be a gradual process, and depending on temperment of your birds and factors like space, hiding spots, etc. it can go fairly quickly and smoothly, or may need to be extended over a few weeks.

 

[aart]

I was thinking since I only have three, I would take the one that is recovering and put her back in the run (coop is enclosed in the run), take the other 2 out, put them in 2 separate kennels, and reintroduce them again one at a time

Not a bad idea, will the kennels fit into the run?
If not put them right next to the run.

live in Louisiana.

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