solitary confinement

[Dhkoenig]

Hi All - one of my ladies is sick and has to be separated from the flock so she can have her medicine in her own water...I am not so much worried about her getting the other girls sick because 1) she has been with them up til now and if they are going to get what she has, they already have...and also I am fairly sure her infection is bacterial which means she got it from a source that my other ladies had exposure to also...so here is my question. I can easily put a dog crate set-up for her within their run so she can see them and interact, but have her own water and food and be safe from being picked on if she is unwell...but what do you do about laying? If I put her in a dog crate, she won't roost with the other girls at night, does she just sleep on the floor of the dog crate by herself out in the run? (Our run is covered and secured with layers of very strong wire) She is used to roosting at night with her sisters, so will she just sleep on the ground? Where does she lay her eggs? Anyone have info for me because I am super tempted to not separate her because we have big dogs in our house, inside won't work - if I put her in isolation in the garage, I have the same questions - what about sleeping on a perch and what about laying eggs and worse yet, what about reintroducing her into the flock after being away? Can anyone give me any advice on separating my lady from her sisters while she re"coop"erates and if I keep her separate from them within their run, what does she do sleeping at night by herself and not on a roost, and where/how does she lay eggs without her nesting box? Help!

 

[cavemanrich]

If you need her to be isolated for her safety from pecking, the dog crate inside run is just fine. Place some hay inside for a nest, and she can lay eggs in that nest just fine. For the night, I would take crate and hen and place inside garage when the rest of hens go to roost. In the morning, bring back into run. This way you will not have a reintroduction issues. Your hen will sleep just fine on the crate floor. She may decide to sleep on hay in nest.
I would not leave crate with hen inside run overnight. There I toooooo many things that can go wrong, I will skip listing them. I can if you really needed to hear them, but just use your imagination of the possibilities.
A run is only secure to a certain point, and to certain predators. (not all)

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Dhkoenig]

If you need her to be isolated for her safety from pecking, the dog crate inside run is just fine. Place some hay inside for a nest, and she can lay eggs in that nest just fine. For the night, I would take crate and hen and place inside garage when the rest of hens go to roost. In the morning, bring back into run. This way you will not have a reintroduction issues. Your hen will sleep just fine on the crate floor. She may decide to sleep on hay in nest.
I would not leave crate with hen inside run overnight. There I toooooo many things that can go wrong, I will skip listing them. I can if you really needed to hear them, but just use your imagination of the possibilities.
A run is only secure to a certain point, and to certain predators. (not all)

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

This was actually hugely helpful!!!! I appreciate it so much. I was worried that being in the crate in the run she wouldn't lay eggs and also then the others will go after her when she gets better knowing she was sick but it would be worse if she was gone. Thank you so much for this! I have a really big dog crate so I can put straw and shavings in it - I never knew they would lay without being in a nesting box or someplace dark and private. So thank you for this!!!