reintroduction of a rehabed hen vs bullying alpha hen

[CooCooCoo]

Three nights ago, I found one of our creme legbars limp and sprawled out on the tray below the roosting bars. I left her overnight to determine if she would resolve on her own overnight. When I went to her in the morning, she was in the same spot. I noticed a place on each foot where there was a small blood bleb and it looked like the top of her head had been messed with. She was lame, not able to stand and held one of her feet close in to her body. She was quiet and allowed me to pick her up. Since then, we've put her in the house in a dog crate and provided quiet, water and food (altho she hasn't been too interested until today.) She can now bear weight and walk around. She has found her wings again and will run/fly in the coop when I placed her there for awhile this evening, thinking that I didn't want to keep her away too long from her girl friends. What I noticed on reintroducing her was that the largest chicken, a plymouth white, pecked at her head on 3 separate occasions. Because I was watching for this, I quickly picked up the offender and put her in the dog crate in the pen for a time out after each insult... with the last insult, I left the offender in the crate for an hour in time out . The rest of the flock seemed more at peace with the alpha tucked away. When it came time to put them to bed, I watch for awhile while the injured hen placed herself in the nesting box to sleep and then the plymouth came over and pecked her on the head. So, I ended up bringing the injured hen back in to the house for the night. My thought is that I will give her time to be well on her feet and then have to let her find her way within the flock. I would appreciate any ideas you have about this literal 'pecking order' behaviour of the plymouth. How do I reintroduce the rehabed hen? what do I do with the alpha hen if she continues to peck at the other's head? I hadn't noticed any of this behavior before...they are 20 weeks old. Thanks for your input.

 

[sourland]

You may have to remove the aggressive hen from the flock for a matter of days.