[ellied]

I got 4 BHWT hens last Wednesday - commercial free range rather than battery but I had to double check as they looked awful and were very wild, half feathered or very little feather at all, but they seem to have come along a bit in the last few days except that only 1 will go in the coop with the 4 existing hens, the other 3 prefer to shelter in the wee pen I had them in the first night they arrived, with an old horse rug over the 2 mesh sides and space at the back for ventilation..

Last night I was out til 9pm and as they'd all started taking themselves to bed at last, I just shut the coop, draped the blanket and left the pen away from the wall rather than push it up tight to block the entrance as I couldn't see and didn't want to disturb them by moving the house over their heads!

Except it was a very cold night and this morning I found one hen had overnighted under a wee bush outside on her own, and the other 2 were end to end in the wee passageway behind the pen so had very little warmth from each other and the wee-est one was looking very sleepy and chilled

The rest responded to breakfast etc as normal so I brought the wee one indoors and managed to get some warm water and powdered glucose mixed up and syringed in tiny amounts down her beak eventually she started pecking at grain etc so she had another hour in the kitchen in a cat basket and then went out at 10, seemed far more mobile etc but by 11 was getting harried by the existing hens as all the newcomers are occasionally except she wasn't running away like usual so I've had her back in the cat box in the run withher own water and food, which she is taking - she had a good drink when I had her loose in the pen that hour as I was very relieved to see..

But how to reintegrate her?  I am thinking of leaving her in the box til after dark and popping her in the nesting box at the side of the coop when the girls go in for teh night, so they will hopefully include her in the hen huddle if it's cold and not pick on her I can go out before light in the morning to let them out before the hopefully see her and I wonder if that is all I can do?

I wish I had a wee hen jacket with wing holes to hand but I don't!  I'm hoping rest, food and then coop huddling will sort her out but because she's deformed and tiny I am worried obviously..

Any ideas?  I tried oatmeal porridge with a bit of brown sugar stirred in, but she didn't seem keen and the others wolfed it when I tried them with it..  I wonder if I'm doing her favours keeping her going but until now she's been very feisty and her neck doesn't appear to prevent her eating, drinking or preening what few feathers she has..

[Hatty]

I got a new batch of exbats 3 months ago 1 out of the group was being bullied by all the others, she spent all her time huddled in a corner (1st to be named "Shirl the girl")  I took her out of the run every morning and let her free range giving her own food and drink every night I physically put her in the hen house with the others, she has come on a treat! now they all free range and Shirl follows me everywhere she holds her own in the group we still get bits of bullying but nothing to serious

[doganjo]

Will talk to you about this tomorrow, but I've kept my four isolated from the others with two pallets - they pretty well stay inside most of the time, but I'm quite happy about that as it's been chilly here last two days.  I'll give you some poultry spice for them. 
How about a felt jacket - I'm sure you could whip one of those up in a jiffy!

[Sylvia]

I believe you can find the pattern for knitted hen jackets if you google, I found it ages ago when I was looking for patterns for dog coats.

[Bionic]

I was intrigued by the knitted hen jackets so decided to take a look. This site shows how to make a fleece jacket and has the pattern for a knitted one.

http://littlehenrescue.co.uk/jumpers.aspx

Sally

[ellisr]

You could cut the arms off an old jumper and make a jacket from it, or a childs jumper put on a hot wash to felt it then cut it to fit add a couple of poppers to make it easy on and off.

[ellied]

She has been better the last day or so and I popped her in the catbox to ensure she got plenty of food for an hour or so before they all went away, then put her in the coop once all the rest were in so at least she was in at night.

She's still not right tho - the other 3 have started looking a bit more fluffy with regrowth but she's still bald and this morning she's sniffling so whether she has the chills or something more in need of antibiotics I'm not sure.  I've brought her in the kitchen (in the box!) to warm up as it's so cold out today.  She's eating and drinking but I'm still worried and wondering if these 4 new ones have brought anything infectious to the rest

Do I have to take her to a vet to get antibiotics for a hen or can I buy them online?  any recommendations?

I have also just picked up my Flubenvet layers pellets and was going to put them all on them for a week - should I wait rather than upset the system right now or might the symptoms be helped if I carry on?

So far it's all been plain sailing with the chooks, this is my first poorly hen and I'm glad of any advice for how to help her and protect the rest..  should I just keep her in the cat box in the house til she is better or doesn't get better, rather than try and keep them together so they integrate?  I don't yet have a second run or house to isolate new ones, unfortunately and it's too late now anyway obviously..