Reintroduction

[youngbirdmom]

I am working on slowly reintroducing my head hen back to the tiny flock after an injury. The only thing they all seem interested in is figuring out what mesh is. None have tried to attack each other through the mesh.

I am having a lot of anxiety about letting her out when shes better. So, does this sound like it’ll be a smoother reintroduction? She has only been separated for about a week and this is the third time they’ve been near each other since and the first time with just the mesh between them. They were all raised together since they were less than a week old.

 

[lavendermarie]

I am working on slowly reintroducing my head hen back to the tiny flock after an injury. The only thing they all seem interested in is figuring out what mesh is. None have tried to attack each other through the mesh.

I am having a lot of anxiety about letting her out when shes better. So, does this sound like it’ll be a smoother reintroduction? She has only been separated for about a week and this is the third time they’ve been near each other since and the first time with just the mesh between them. They were all raised together since they were less than a week old.View attachment 3105930

It doesn’t sound like there’s anything pointing in the direction of the re-introduction becoming an issue. I would try not to let the worry take over just yet. I hope the best for you!

 

[Isadora]

Try to relax. A week is not really that long at all as far as separation goes, especially if they've seen each other since.

 

[Mrs. K]

Being raised together has little to do with adult chicken behavior.

Separating birds often times cause more problems with integration.

However, in your picture, I don't see any aggressive behavior. If you only have two birds in the coop, and one bird that has been separated, I would let everyone out into the yard, and see what happens.

What I would expect to happen, is there might be a bit of bluster, and then they act as normal, later everyone going back into the coop.

A bigger problem is when you have very aggressive birds, or very small space, or 5-6 birds and try an add a single bird. I do it like a math problem, with plus and minuses and try to get close to zero.

top hen +1
two hens together -2
plenty of space +1

so I would not worry about it.

She looks healthy to me, why did you separate her? The longer you wait, the bigger the problem.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

You never know for sure how living animals will react, but I agree with the rest. Let her out when you can observe and see what happens. There might be issues, that's why you should observe, but with what you said and the photo I don't expect anything close to serious.

 

[youngbirdmom]

Being raised together has little to do with adult chicken behavior.

Separating birds often times cause more problems with integration.

However, in your picture, I don't see any aggressive behavior. If you only have two birds in the coop, and one bird that has been separated, I would let everyone out into the yard, and see what happens.

What I would expect to happen, is there might be a bit of bluster, and then they act as normal, later everyone going back into the coop.

A bigger problem is when you have very aggressive birds, or very small space, or 5-6 birds and try an add a single bird. I do it like a math problem, with plus and minuses and try to get close to zero.

top hen +1
two hens together -2
plenty of space +1

so I would not worry about it.

She looks healthy to me, why did you separate her? The longer you wait, the bigger the problem.

Mrs K

She had an impacted crop and was completely immobile. She then ripped open her own crop and we had to do emergency surgery and she has been recovering from that. She also started high stepping during her recovery and I’ve been waiting until she can walk and jump smoothly. But she started jumping last night and landing smoothly. So hopefully I can put her back by tomorrow.

 

[youngbirdmom]

Being raised together has little to do with adult chicken behavior.

Separating birds often times cause more problems with integration.

However, in your picture, I don't see any aggressive behavior. If you only have two birds in the coop, and one bird that has been separated, I would let everyone out into the yard, and see what happens.

What I would expect to happen, is there might be a bit of bluster, and then they act as normal, later everyone going back into the coop.

A bigger problem is when you have very aggressive birds, or very small space, or 5-6 birds and try an add a single bird. I do it like a math problem, with plus and minuses and try to get close to zero.

top hen +1
two hens together -2
plenty of space +1

so I would not worry about it.

She looks healthy to me, why did you separate her? The longer you wait, the bigger the problem.

Mrs K

Actually the separated one was the mean bird. But she had surgery she has been a lot more docile and even during the mini meetings she hasn’t shown any aggression. She honestly has had a complete personality shift.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Actually the separated one was the mean bird. But she had surgery she has been a lot more docile and even during the mini meetings she hasn’t shown any aggression. She honestly has had a complete personality shift.

Might work out for the best in the long run then, if this has taken her down a notch.