Problems with a rescue chicken

[CWB]

A couple of weeks ago, my husband brought an injured chicken home. She'd lost a lot of feathers from her back, and her skin was in a bad way. We sprayed her with Septiclense and popped her in the shed with our other chooks (ten hens of various breeds plus a cockerel). At first we weren't too worried when she wouldn't come out of the shed with the others during the day (we made sure she had food and water in there), she seemed relaxed and her wounds were healing. But I had to bring her out into the run to clean the shed, and then the others attacked her (the cockerel mounted her, the other hens pecked at her back and head). She just crouched down in a submissive pose, then spent the rest of the day sitting in a corner of the run. We assumed this was just the 'pecking order' asserting itself and left them to get on with it. But now, two weeks on, she will still only come out of the shed if we lift her out, and the others still attack her. Is this normal, or do we need to do something different?
Thanks for any advice! :?

 

[dinosaw]

Hi Cwb

One hen into a flock never goes very well, they tend to get bullied very badly and wind up lonely birds, if they haven't had a period of getting to know the birds they integrate with from a safe distance then it is worse again. She is likely getting pecked and bullied in the house as well and is terrified to come out. If she has been hiding away in the house then the other hens will not feel they have had their pound of flesh yet so it is slowing the process of her integrating though she will always be at the bottom of the flock and as chickens tend to form groups as they are introduced will always be in a group of one. I would arrange some temporary accommodation and take her out and put her in sight of the other chickens while she heals up and then try again and at least she will be in a better position to look after herself.

 

[CWB]

HI Dinosaw
Thanks very much for your advice - we let her out to free-range by herself this evening, and she was pottering around quite happily, foraging, so if we can get the others to slowly accept her, she might be OK. We'll rig something up for her tomorrow. It might be complicated by the fact that one of our hens is currently sitting on seven eggs, due to hatch this weekend, so there'll be chicks to add into the mix too!
Cheers

 

[rick]

Hi CWB,
I'm trying to do a similar thing only with a bantam cock (so different but similar in a way.)
When they're a new and in a group of one, as dinosaw says, they are really up against the wall - the highest give the newbie hell and the lowest delight in not being the lowest anymore and join in (even though they wouldn't dare on their own.) Once you've got her settled in a seperate run I think I would try to move in some of the lower ranking hens from the main group to make her part of that group (even if still at the bottom but poss not.)
Then mixing the groups won't place her as the single outsider.
That's the theory anyway - still figuring the dark art of chicken politics!

 

[Marigold]

Hi CWB
Did you ever find out where she had come from? If she had lost feathers on her back it's possible she was in a flock with a cockerel and had been mounted excessively and his spurs had made her bald and then injured her. It would certainly have been better to keep her separate for a week or two, at least behind a mesh fence so she could see the others and heal up. At this time of year, the height of the breeding season, hens are particularly aggressive which makes integration much harder.
Could you fence off a corner of the run for her and provide a temporary waterproof box for her to roost in? It doesn't have to have a perch or be closed up, just be safe and comfortable for her to go in at night. The sight of injured skin will inevitably make the bullying worse, and as you have a cockerel his attentions will also be most painful for her and prevent healing. Then as Rick says, in a week or so, try introducing her to one of the more peaceful other hens in the hope that they will become friendly together - let them out in the garden together on their own, and gradually add others to the free ranging in a space where she can get away and hide if she needs to. In a bigger space you will probably find they appear to be foraging separately, but they will be keeping an eye on each other and weighing up the situation all the same. In a small run, or in the coop, she is much more vulnerable.
I'm afraid that, as Dinosaw says, you'll have a long road ahead with this hen, but the main thing is to get her healed properly and with one or two acquaintances, if not friends, then she will have a chance.

 

[CWB]

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply, Rick and Marigold
We're going to try putting her in the dogs' pen, which is adjacent to the chicken run. The dogs are inquisitive but chicken tolerant, so she'll be fine with them. As you say, it will hopefully help her heal while still being close to the others without direct contact. My husband found her when he went to work at a holiday cottage - she was cowering the courtyard, and although he asked the owners, they didn't know where she had come from (although they have some neighbours who keep chickens, so she might have escaped from there, but there had been no enquiries about her).
It might be tricky keeping the cockerel and some of the more feisty chickens in whilst letting the others out to free-range, but they have a huge area to free-range in, so maybe even if they're all out, there will be enough space for them to work out their differences once she's fit again.
Thanks again for all the advice, and good luck with your bantam cock, Rick!

 

[CWB]

Just in case Rick or Marigold read this, I just wanted to say thanks for your advice. Caramel, the rescue chicken, is now integrated into the flock and her feathers have grown back. Your advice worked a treat, and we're really grateful.

 

[Marigold]

Really glad to hear this, CWB. It's not easy, integrating a single chicken, especially one with injuries, you did well. I hope everything goes on OK for her.

 

[rick]

Great news!