Help with reintroduction

[Sue]

Please could someone give me advice. Further to my problem with the hen who had to be separated because she had been injured by one of the other hens. They had been together for a week with the breeder before I had them (they are 18 and 21 weeks old). He said he though the Wyandotte was top of the pecking order and the Sussex the bottom, but as soon as I got them here the Wyandotte started picking on the Sussex quite seriously - she was pecking her, chasing her and wouldn't let her near the food or water or into the house. She injured her and the breeder told me to take her away completely for 7-10 Days until she had healed. This I have done, but I don't know what to do next. It will be 7 days this weekend. I thought I might put her into a dog cage next to the others, but would have to bring her away completely at night. My question is how long do I have to do this before I try to put her back and how do I put her back? Do I put her into the house when they are all settled at night? I have no idea what to do and the breeder is now not being much help. I asked if I could return the Sussex who is being bullied or the Wyandotte, but he has refused to have them back and they are not ill. Please could someone help me. I have the Sussex in a dog cage in my spare bedroom at the moment!!!

 

[karlooben]

hi can you not seprate a small part of the run and let the injured girl free in there so that they can always see each other my run is pretty large but it has 3 seprate areas but the girls can see each other . what about trying to add the injured girl into the coop at night when its dark and the others are sleepy i know some people do that wehn introducing new comers , i know what you are going though as when mine are poorly i put them into one of the seprated runs and then it can be a bit of a job getting them reintroduced with the others even if its only been a few days .

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, in future, if you can spray the wounds with Purple Spray (gentian violet) to disguise the colour of the blood (PS is also antiseptic, and you can get it at an equestrian supply shop), then removed the bully from the group, not the bullied. This will then make all of the other hens rethink the pecking order, while the removed hen will lose her place.

Anyway, with the situation you have, I would make a little run within your run by putting a temporary fence up and putting the dog crate in there, and letting the injured hen out into the little enclosre. That way she will be able to see the other hens, but the shouldn't be able to do any damage through the fence. After a couple of days let them have supervised mingling, and note that there may be more pcking going on as they try to reestablish the pecking order again.

If you identify one particular pecker, then you can do it the opposite way around, and put the bully in the dog crate, and let the other hen out into the main run with the others

Hopefully, everything will setle down again in a few days

 

[Sue]

I tried the purple spray before the blood was drawn, but it didn't make the slightest difference and I have since been told by someone that it doesn't work, neither does the anti-pecking spray! I can put the dog cage in the run so she is separate, but what I don't know and no one seems to be able to tell me is what do I do with her at night! Obviously I can't just leave her outside all night on her own in just a cage.

 

[Cheviot]

Hi,
Could you put something waterproof over it, leaving a gap for ventilation, hopefully the weather seems to have warmed up a little, so she should be OK left alone overnight.
Regards
Sue

 

[Anonymous]

Purple spray is not a pecking deterrant. It is an antiseptic.

Chickens are interested in the colour red. It encourages them to peck at it (one of the reasons why some feeders and waterers have a red base), so when a nasty peck draws blood, the colour of the blood attracts more pecking, and it ends up being a vicious circle, sometimes til the hens have cannibalized the injured one.

By spraying any wounds with purple spray (or you can get a nice turquoise one for sheep foot rot) it disguises the colour of the blood, and so discourages mob pecking. It wont stop bullying though... for that you need to remove the bully and change her place in the pecking order