Introducing a chicken back into the flock

Raising chickens is fun and rewarding until one gets sick. When I got a sick hen I became obsessed with finding the cause and curing the poor thing. It was stressful. My sick hen  had nasty diarrhea and was lethargic and wouldn't eat. I separated her from the rest of the hens (I use my cat carrier as a "chicken hospital") and she just didn't get any better. She had stopped laying and then I noticed that another hen was laying less, too. I was afraid that I'd lose them all, so I decided to go to a vet. I couldn't locate a veterinarian that had ever treated a chicken in our area. I consulted a friend who has raised chickens for years, and he directed me to a veterinarian that specialized in birds. I took in a dropping sample and he found that my sick hen had a bacterial infection and prescribed medication for the entire flock. $100 later I was giving antibiotic to 4 chickens twice a day by mouth (that's an experience) and also adding some to their water. I was a little nervous when the vet's assistant asked how I told the difference between a hen and a rooster (augh) but the chickens gradually improved with the treatment. Then I noticed that the separated chicken was becoming more lethargic, again. She was droopy and stopped eating. After a couple of days, I realized that she was lonely. Now my dilemma was should I introduce her back into the flock before she was well enough to fend off her healthy sisters or risk her dying of depression.

I did some research on-line and combined some suggestions for reintroducing a hen into the flock. I call it the "greenat50" approach. So original...I hope they can help you.

1. First, I put the confined chicken within view of the other hens so that they could get used to seeing her for a couple of days.
2. Then I allowed the hens to free-range together in an enclosed area of the yard during the day for a few hours at a time - gradually increasing the time over a few days.
3. During this time, I had 3 feeding stations around the yard, all hidden from view of the other so that the weaker hen could always get something to eat.
4. After about a week and a half I let her stay with the other hens full-time. She is still lowest in the pecking order, but she is getting enough to eat and the other hens are not inflicting any injuries.

She still hasn't started to lay again, so I'll keep you posted. She lost a lot of weight and her comb shrunk so that she looked like an adolescent. She keeps getting stronger and her comb is coming back so I am hopeful. Do you have any hints for introducing new or separated chickens into the flock?

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