Suggestions for reintroduction of a hen

farmer_bfro

Hatching
9 Years
Joined
Feb 3, 2010
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
7
Location
Montara, CA
Hey all,

We have three hens and one recently had a run-in with dad's new dachshund puppy... Otto (the pup) nosed his way into the coop and was in the middle of shaking the heck out of one of our barred rocks before we were able to get there and break it up. It was one heck of a racket, but both Otto and Marley (the hen) survived the ordeal. We isolated Marley for a couple of days in a dog kennel in our garage to make sure she was going to come around- one of her eyes remained shut for a day or so and she had some blood under one wing, but has seemingly recovered from her ordeal.

Now we have tried to re-introduce her to the other two birds- Ganesh, a larger barred rock, and Penny, an ameraucana. Ganesh has been leaving her alone, but Penny, who was lowest in the pecking order before this incident, has been flexing her new-found promotion in the order and will not leave Marley (the recovered one) alone.

I tried originally putting Marley out with the other two in the yard, and when the birds were foraging around, they would mostly leave her alone, but as soon as they got close, Penny would attack Marley. So we ended up keeping Marley in the garage for another day to be sure she was strong enough to handle any harassment she might have to endure, and I put her in the coop last night in the dark while the other birds were asleep. First thing this morning, we heard the racket and squawking of Marley being beat up on again.

I am thinking that Penny is just trying to reorganize our small flock's pecking order, and hoping that this will all blow over in time, but I wanted to reach out to this great community to see if anyone has any suggestions for re-introduction of a bird into the flock. I am hoping that after a day or two Penny will just leave her alone, but I don't want to risk her killing Marley if there is a "best" way to get them back together.

Thanks for any suggestions!

B
 
Hello I know you'll get some answers to this question in which I cant help. However I did want to say
welcome-byc.gif
from Oregon, glad your joining us.
 
When introducing a hen into the flock, I usually keep them in full view of the other birds, but protected (either in a cage or enclosure with wire, for full visibility) for a week or two. You might try that with yours, or perhaps separate Penny instead for a couple of days (so she is visible to the others, but separated). It's normal for birds to re-establish pecking order when there's a new addition. As long as they aren't drawing blood, they will usually work through it. If it were me, I would think about separating Penny to see if it calms her down.

Best of luck,
Lynn
 
You must understand that the memory of a chicken is not very long at all. Scientists speculate that a chicken will totally forget ever knowing anyother chicken if both are seperated for approx. 2 weeks. Because your hen was kept away for a much shorter period, they do remember her but now the lowest is trying to pull one over on her with, "You've been gone, so now I'm gonna take your place." Typical behavior.

Just make sure that Marley has healed up 100%. If one of the hens susepcts that she is weak, they won't hesitate from taking her down and hurting her further.

I don't know why people say that you can put a chicken in a coop over night and the others will wake up and think she's been there all along. Chickens aren't THAT stupid!
lol.png
And they don't have any trouble reminding a 'new bird' that the coop is their territory. I'd never suggest just throwing a bird to the masses without any protection and letting them work it out. Not like that. Integration is a slower process.

Take your Marley and stick her in a dog crate if you can. Put the crate in the coop. (It doesn't need to be a crate, just anywhere where she has protection but can see and 'interact', more or less with her ex-flockmates. After a few days, let them go. If you see them fighting, it's still normal. Chances are, if Marley is that strong of a hen, she'll re-dominate over Penny and regain her once-lost status. If she'd be happier with the low road and take some more abuse, she might be the lowest in the order. If, in the event Penny catches her at a tough time, and one of the birds draws blood, you'll have to take them away and seperate them until they are healed. Leave a bloody chicken with other chickens, and you're asking for cannibalism.

Oh, and by the way,
welcome-byc.gif
.
 
Last edited:
You could try putting Penny in chicken "time out," away from the others, for a while. That might take her down a peg or two, and make her the "new chicken on the block" returning to the small flock. I've done this a couple of times to our Martha when she's gotting into a mean streak, going after the other hens. Usually it takes a day of time out, then she behaves herself.

The other thing I've done is to build what I call "bully baffles" in our pen. They're little walls, built out of bamboo poles and branches (because we have a lot of bamboo growing on our property), large enough for a chicken to hide behind. That way, if one hen is being bullied she can find a place to hide out. You can use cardboard boxes, etc., to accomplish the same thing.
 
Thanks all! Great suggestions. I'll keep you posted if I can get some of these to work.

Cheers!
 
When introducing (or re-introducing) hens to my flock, I always add them to the coop at night. Everyone is settled down, new hen can get her bearings, and when morning arrives, its as if she's always been there. Now and again there is a little kerfuffle to affirm the pecking order, but nothing as bad as a mid day transfer. My cousin is a vet and told me about this trick - works every time!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom