Trouble getting rehabilitated chicken back into the group?

[ChocolateMouse]

It sounds like you have a bigger problem than reintroducing this chicken. It sounds like you have a flock harmony problem. Often this is brought on by issues in housing/care, like not enough space, feeders, water sources, hiding spots, things to do, etc. Sometimes it's brought on because a chicken is an odd one out, a bully, etc. and making life miserable for all. It would take some more knowledge about your setup and observation of your flock to make a good diagnosis there.

 

[Crazychickensinsummit]

It sounds like you have a bigger problem than reintroducing this chicken. It sounds like you have a flock harmony problem. Often this is brought on by issues in housing/care, like not enough space, feeders, water sources, hiding spots, things to do, etc. Sometimes it's brought on because a chicken is an odd one out, a bully, etc. and making life miserable for all. It would take some more knowledge about your setup and observation of your flock to make a good diagnosis there.

Thank you for this info. To give you a better picture & to answer your other ques., We do have a very nice brand new & expensive large chicken coop built by the Amish. We can stand up straight inside of the coop. We have 5 chickens all together, one Road Island Red, one Americana, 2 Long Horns, and one Bard Rock. We use to have a rooster that was suppose to be a chicken, but after it endangering the other chickens when it was mating (being too rough!) We found another home for it with our neighbor down the road a ways. And we use to have another Road Island Red a month or two ago that had died from heat stroke & we were not able to save it in time. So with a few changes in the numbers we use to have in chickens, who knows if that sort of thing can also play any part in their behavior? However they certainly do have enough room in their coop & in the outside pen. We do not yet have obstacles or more roosts set up in the pen to give the chickens more to do in way of escape from bullying, other than going back & forth into the coop. We make sure they always have plenty of fresh clean, cold water w/ electro lights & vit. Added in their drinking water. This is suppose to help them during really hot weather & when stressed.
So with having only 5 chickens, there are 8 nesting boxes for them to nest in and plenty of roosting space in the coop itself, but not in the pen area, yet.
This should give you a better idea of what their living space is.
We also have two fans set up in front of the coop Windows that we leave running when it's hot enough, so as to better prevent any more heat strokes in the future. We also add ice cubes to their water to help keep it cold, & they have a roof over their pen to give them shade from the sun.
We keep their coop well cleaned out, it gets cleaned once a week with wood shavings in the nesting boxes & fresh cut gay on the coop floor. We leave the vent door open to help air it out as well.

 

[Mrs. K]

Try pin -less peepers.

 

[rosemarythyme]

We had 2 chickens at one point that were badly bullied & both had to be taken out & rehabilitated 'til they healed, which usually took a while & then by the time they were ready & healed enough to go back into the coop, it's as if the other chickens didn't remember who they were?

How do we re-introduce rehabilitated chickens & keep them safe?

I have never fully removed a chicken from the flock, unless it's something infectious I would keep ill birds in the coop or run with the others, but in an isolation unit. I had a pullet I was treating for wry neck for 6 weeks - reintroducing was as simple as opening the door of her isolation unit and letting her back with the others.

However they certainly do have enough room in their coop & in the outside pen. We do not yet have obstacles or more roosts set up in the pen to give the chickens more to do in way of escape from bullying, other than going back & forth into the coop.

Photos of your set up would be helpful, but from the sounds of it you really would benefit from adding obstacles to your run area. It's very easy to do if you just scrounge around for junk in your yard or garage (much of my run clutter is stuff that was already around or left out by others). It not only provides hiding areas to reduce bullying, but keeps birds busy. Bored birds are more likely to have behavioral issues.

 

[aart]

Photos of your set up would be helpful

Would be Very Helpful!