Pecking

[Jenyenen]

My neighbour had a solo chicken named Henny that I have fallen in love with after the passing of my Dad.
After noticing her pen was a little depressing- no safe night space, no dust bath or scrap pile- I have fast been learning about chickens and have begun sprucing her space, although I currently know very little about chickens.
Yesterday, my neighbour put two new chickens in the pen with her.
It rained over night and when I came to visit her this morning she was drenched.
This afternoon when I visited, she had visibly been pecked and at one point, was held down and pecked on the back of the head by one of the new chooks.
Henny is a rescue chook whose top beak has been chopped off.
Friends who have chooks have suggested a slow introduction and breaking up the two new chooks and have them spend time with Henny separately? When Henny was held down and pecked I intervened and picked her up. Is this something I should have done?
Any tips on how to curve pecking and aggression would he so appreciated.

 

[DobieLover]

Welcome to BYC! I so sorry for the loss of your father.

When Henny was held down and pecked I intervened and picked her up. Is this something I should have done?

Yes. This is definitely a situation that requires intervention.

Please post pictures of her enclosure. She does need friends and she does need a secure coop to roost in at night with protection from the elements.

A successful integration requires lots of time and lots of space. The 2 new birds should not have been just dumped in with her. I would make the enclosure 10'x10' or as larger if possible. I would also do whatever you can to get a roof over it to help keep the space dry. If you have some branches, an old wood chair or two, an old wood pallet leaning against the wall, wood chips, leaves or other dry organic matter for them to scratch around in with at least 2 feed stations and fresh clean water. That will help immensely.

What are the chances that she and her friends could get a secure coop to protect them from predators at night? Do they still belong to your neighbor?

 

[Jenyenen]

Thank you greatly for your reply and for your kind words re Dad.
She is still my neighbours, I just visit each day, particularly after noticing she was on her own with nothing really stimulating her.
I don’t have pictures but I can take some tomorrow. I would love more guidance when I add them.
The enclosure of quite large, I’d estimate 10x 7 approximately, and in an L shape.
Last week, I found a used dog house and elevated this in besser blocks with torn up newspaper in it.
There was an old book shelf in there and this afternoon, I nailed a bit of tin to it, kind of like a lean to, to prevent rain getting in.
I also added some crates elevated off the ground on a pallet with tin over top.
I added two tyres last week- one as a scratching pile and the other as a dust bath. I have been sprinkling things like oats, sunflower seeds etc into the scrap pile and dried herbs like rosemary into the dust bath.
The food appears to be thrown onto the ground- and this is both fruit and veg scraps and a seed mix.
The water was just a bucket which I felt was too tall for Henny to reach so I created a poly pipe type drinking station.
I’ve added some branches and poles about 1m off the ground for them to roost on.
I don’t know the neighbour well and she seems set in her ways but is also open to me sprucing things but ‘not fussing.’ I don’t think there’s any chance of a roof being added but I have been keeping my eye out on a proper coop.
I convinced my neighbour to leave Henny out of the pen tonight and suggested a crate of some sort but she didn’t have anything. Henny was offered the yard as an escape, with access to undercover and a lawn mower to roost on and a basket to sleep in. I am feeling very sad for Henny tonight but glad she is away from the two newbies.