Little Hen Ostrasized by Flock

Wednesday morning when I went to feed the chickens I found the little crossbred hen that was hatched here in August of 2011 hiding in a corner seeming unable to walk.  I was very sad because this is a nice young hen and because she was raised here.  But she was raised here all naturally with no vaccinations and I figured she had contracted the dreaded Maerk's disease which paralyses chickens and other birds.

Little Hen on the left

Chickens are quick to spot a weakness in another bird and will peck it to death. That's why she was hiding in the corner trying to protect her head.

I took her to the hay barn, made her a nice hay lined nest in a cardboard box and left her to quietly die. I thought about wringing her neck to put her down, but couldn't bring myself to do it.

When I went to the barn to get the tractor that evening, I was expecting to find her dead, but instead she was walking around chipper as you please.  The barn is pretty wide open to critters and I was surprised she was OK but decided that something had caused the other chickens to try to kill her so she couldn't go back to the chicken house. I rounded up some food and water and left her for the night.  Yesterday evening she was still up and hopping around, although roosting on the ground rather than up on the hay bales.  I don't dare take her back to the hen house, so if she survives today I'll haul one of the old rabbit hutches into the barn and secure her there.  She may still succumb to the Maerk's but maybe not.  You never know what's going on in the minds of a flock of chickens.  They'd as soon kill you as look at you some days and I am sure they get cabin fever just like people and cats.  Cats and cabin fever. Well, that's another story.