I've got 3 one-year old Plymouth Barred Rock hens that have been raised together since they were day-olds. They live in a coop with an enclosed run. Coop is 10 sq feet, and run is 32 sq feet. Last month, I noticed that one of the hens had a wound on her foot, so I brought her inside the house for a few days until the wound had healed. I re-introduced her to the coop in the middle of the night so that the other 2 might get used to her in the dark. There were no problems for 2 weeks, and then I went in one morning and saw that the wound on her foot was back, and that they had also pecked her head just behind the comb, and she was seriously bleeding. I brought her back into the house, and have waited 2 weeks to ensure that her wounds are completely healed. I read that it might help to disrupt the pecking order by figuring out which hen is doing the pecking, and remove that one for a little while. I brought the newly healed hen into the coop this morning to see which one would maybe try to peck her. But it's HER! She attacked one of the other hens viciously pecking her face. I can't keep the hen in the house much longer because she is very loud and it is stressing a baby rabbit rescue that is also living in the house. It's winter, so I can't build her a separate coop in the yard. And now it doesn't look like I can re-introduce her to the flock. Any suggestions?
It's all about the pecking order- let them work it out , maintain separate pens, or get rid of the injured hen.
