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I've been very tempted to isolate the bullies instead, too, but I had two concerns. One is that for the first couple of days, the injured hen herself was very nervous to be near other chickens - any of them - so I just wanted to give her a sense of security so she could get her confidence back. And my other concern was that at first I wasn't sure how many of the others were doing it, and how many to isolate. Or if I isolated a couple of them together, if they'd turn on each other when cramped for space... So it was complicated.Or let her out with the others, and keep your bullies in there. I am more of a believer of locking up the bullies, verse the victim, but I have seen posts where, time alone for the victim is good. With protection, she forgets she is a victim.
Mrs K
Now I think it's just two of them who are the main instigators. I'll see how it goes today, and then maybe tomorrow I'll put those two in the smaller run partition, and put the recovering hen in the main run with the others. Good thing it's the weekend so I can spend more time with them observing.
This whole intervention and rescue/rehabilitation operation has only been possible because of COVID. It's only because I'm still working from home that I was even able to notice she got attacked, and was able to isolate and treat her right away. She was so bloodied and so persecuted when I first saw it, that had I been at the office all day, I would have probably just come home that night to find her dead and half-eaten in the run So... the pandemic has been great for chicken ownership (as a silver lining to all the crap it has brought on other fronts).