One scared chicken!

mynameislutz said:

Hello, I have a flock of 27 chickens, three of them are easter eggers, the others are RIR.

I have searched for an answer, but came up short.

Two of the three easter eggers seem to be able to handle the RIR aggressiveness. However, it seems to be running one on empty. She runs around the pen very scared of all the others. I understand that there is the pecking order, but she is beyond scared. She appears to be molting too. Now she does not sleep on the roost with the rest of the chickens, she sleeps on top of the nesting boxes by herself.

Any ideas on what to do?

I also have 16 month old chicks, I am not sure if I could put her with them. She does seem to be a bit broody.

Thanks

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Welcome to BYC!
I'm gonna ask a lot of questions...cause it's just what I do...and can't give a viable suggestion/solution without more info.

Have the 27 birds always lived together?
How big is your coop, and run if you have one, (feet by feet)?
How much roost length do you have(feet)?
Pics of your coops/runs can help too.

What is your climate? Putting your location in your profile can sometimes help folks give better answers/suggestions.
Where are you keeping the months olds?
Plans for integration?


If she's molting they can be a bit goofy and those new pin feathers can be uncomfortable,
you might gently examine her off her perch after dark to see if she is growing new feathers
'Broody' is if she's sitting a nest all day and all night except for daily forays to eat/drink/poop/bathe.
Molting and broody usually doesn't happen at the same time.

There's always a low bird, sometimes they are isolated/shunned more than others, sometimes they are more nervous than others.

I will attempt to reply to everyone who has offered advice.

I appreciate everyone offering their opinion!

Let me start off with the stats of my flock.

I have 24 RIR, 1 Brahma, 3 EE's. All 27 are about 1.5 years old. The one acting nutty is an EE. These 27 have 168 sq foot inside and about that outside. They have more than enough roost space, if they want, they all fit onto one, except the brahma since she cant fly that high.

For the little ones, I have 12 Buff Orpingtons and 4 EE. These 16 are just over one month in age. They have 72 sq foot inside, and in the spring, I am building their run outside that will be about the same size as the big pen which is about 168 sq foot.

I am not planning on combining flocks. I plan to have two different flocks so that it is easier to rotate chickens and so my egg supply never completely stops. The 27 older ones are slowing down and only lay about 12 eggs a day.

After reading the responses, the nutty EE is not sitting all day long, I think she must be molting and she hides in the nesting boxes to get away from all the commotion.

I am located near Pittsburgh, PA. It does get cold in the winter, but with them being in the barn it does stay 10-15 degrees warmer than it is outside.

Again, THANK YOU everyone for your replies!

If I did not reply to you in this post, I do apologize.

I believe I attached pictures of all the chicken area.

Please add your comments or questions if you have any and I will do my best to get back to you!

Coops look great!
Hopefully, the EE will grow out her feathers and start feeling better soon.

aart said:

Coops look great!
Hopefully, the EE will grow out her feathers and start feeling better soon.

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X2! Also, I find the EE's to be a bit more flighty than some of the other breeds, so besides molting, some of that may be at play too. Once she's finished and gets comfortable again, she should settle down.