Chicken problems!

dominobrown

dominobrown

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Help please! (maybe this should be in vet forum, or speacial chicken forum if you know of any?)
I am a very novice chicken keeper to say the least. I recently got 3 hens, 2 young ones, and one fully grown one that so far has laid an egg everyday since i got it.
Last night I got another hen, which is cross breed off a person who is like a poultry expert who breeds them for showing, and I got an accident hen who is dark metallic green in colur (sussex X)... anyways,
Introduced new hen at night with other 3, bit of squabbling but left them. This morning let them out of house into run, new hen wouldn't come out of hen house so I put food down for her a left them.
Got back went to check them and new hen has had all the feathers pecked off her neck and there is a bit of blood about, she also has a bloody beak. I think the bigger hen is attacking her, so took new hen away, put purple spary on the bit with no feather and put her in my horse stable with food and water. The other 3 hens seem ok, and new hen has got up and is walking around stable a bit, but has got a bit of blood in her beak?? Is she bleeding inside her mouth or has she defended herself and cut the other one (though couldn't see anything on the others) ????
What do I do? Can I introduce them all back together or not? Phoned hen expert who was out but her husband said it is the fully grown hen 'defending' her chicks so I would best taking her away (but she is only one who lays at the mo so reluctant to get of her).
Help!!!!
(chicken dinner for reading this! lol)
 
I always keep them seperate at first in adjoining runs until they get used to each other. Hens can be evil little blighters. A dog crate makes a good temporary second pen.
 
iv got 3 hens and that were together since 8 weeks old, but last year one started bullying the others, so i took the bully away and reintroduced a little later, i put netex pecking spray on the one that was being pecked and that soon stopped it. put the new hen in a seperate pen right next to the originals so they get used to eachothers company. when one of mine had chicks it would attack the others but simply to get them away from her chicks, if they didnt bother her she left them alone! but i would put pecking spray on anyway as they will just keep pecking her other wise.
 
Nettle 123- thanks will try and find temporary thing i can put new hen in!
miss_buffay- I need anti-pecking spray! Thanks for the tips.

Why can't chickens be straightfoward and simple like horses?!?!
 
Horses straightforward and simple ??? lol.

In the past I have even kept them seperate but close together with chicken wire and leccy fence stakes, makes a good temporary option too.

Good luck
 
As others have said, seperate them for a while but adjoining so they can still see each other, but can't get at each other. When you do decide they are settled enough to put them all together, put the new girl in at dusk when they are all a bit sleepy - just makes the introduction a little bit easier.

If you want extra chook advice try the Omlet website forum, its very good.
 
we have always bought young chickens the all rome fields and all live together an have a big house to sleep and lay in we always just let them out and introduce there selfs but there is a hole in the wall what leads out to an outdoor pen through the night if they get hushed out haha,xx
 
Always better to put more than one newbie in at once.
Hens can be really nasty found one of mine yesterday running around with dead rat in it's beak being pursued by others!!
 
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