Chicken Depressed?

[Crazy Chicken Lady10]

A few months ago, one of my hens, Henrietta, starting acting off. She started sitting in the nesting box all day but stopped laying eggs. Whenever I or another chicken gets near her when she is like this, she puffs up her feathers. I have to lift her out of the nesting box and set her outside. She will sit on the ground all puffed up for a minute before running to meet her flock. But she always comes back to the nesting box after a while. Even when she would be with her friends, she would seem a bit off. She took dirt bathes with them but didn't seem quite herself. When they would approach her, she would puff up. She's gotten a little better, and sometimes she even comes out of the nesting box on her own, but she's still not the same. At first, I thought it was broodiness, but she doesn't seem to care when I take the other hens eggs that she sits on. (We have multiple nesting boxes but they all prefer the same one). Around the same time she started acting strange, she lost her best friend, Alice, to old age. We adopted Henrietta and were told she was found in a not so nice neck of the woods in the city. When we brought her into our flock, Alice was the first hen she bonded with. Is she depressed because of Alice's death? Could it have brought back memories from her past? She was always very outgoing and friendly before this happened.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I think it she is broody. Is this the first time she has been broody? She may be confused as to what she is suppose to do.

 

[Crazy Chicken Lady10]

Yes, this is the first time she has done anything like this. But she doesn't seem to care about the eggs and has been this way for a few months. I've had hens go broody before and they only acted that way for a week. But, if she is broody how do I help her? I have tried blocking off the nesting boxes but she just makes a nest on the ground. Thank you for your response

I think it she is broody. Is this the first time she has been broody? She may be confused as to what she is suppose to do.

 

[Owenp_2]

A few months ago, one of my hens, Henrietta, starting acting off. She started sitting in the nesting box all day but stopped laying eggs. Whenever I or another chicken gets near her when she is like this, she puffs up her feathers. I have to lift her out of the nesting box and set her outside. She will sit on the ground all puffed up for a minute before running to meet her flock. But she always comes back to the nesting box after a while. Even when she would be with her friends, she would seem a bit off. She took dirt bathes with them but didn't seem quite herself. When they would approach her, she would puff up. She's gotten a little better, and sometimes she even comes out of the nesting box on her own, but she's still not the same. At first, I thought it was broodiness, but she doesn't seem to care when I take the other hens eggs that she sits on. (We have multiple nesting boxes but they all prefer the same one). Around the same time she started acting strange, she lost her best friend, Alice, to old age. We adopted Henrietta and were told she was found in a not so nice neck of the woods in the city. When we brought her into our flock, Alice was the first hen she bonded with. Is she depressed because of Alice's death? Could it have brought back memories from her past? She was always very outgoing and friendly before this happened.

She is more than likely just broody. What breed?

 

[CluckerFamily]

I have a broody hen that I have been slowly breaking for about a month.
Some people put the broody hen in a time-out spot until she breaks. You could do this if you would like, I think but I'm not 100% sure, they put the broody hen in a dog crate in the coop with her own water and food.

 

[Crazy Chicken Lady10]

She is more than likely just broody. What breed?

I'm not sure because I adopted her and she didn't look like any hen I've ever seen. At first, I thought she was a black sex link but she doesn't look like the black sex link I already had so I wasn't sure.

 

[Crazy Chicken Lady10]

I have a broody hen that I have been slowly breaking for about a month.
Some people put the broody hen in a time-out spot until she breaks. You could do this if you would like, I think but I'm not 100% sure, they put the broody hen in a dog crate in the coop with her own water and food.

Thank you for the suggestion

 

[Owenp_2]

I'm not sure because I adopted her and she didn't look like any hen I've ever seen. At first, I thought she was a black sex link but she doesn't look like the black sex link I already had so I wasn't sure. View attachment 2362919

Hmmm? Do you have pictures of what she looks like when she puffs up?

 

[Crazy Chicken Lady10]

Hmmm? Do you have pictures of what she looks like when she puffs up?

Sorry, it's a bit hard to see. The preferred laying spot in the coop is this red container thing. The first picture is of her when she is normal and the second one is after I came close to her.

 

[Owenp_2]

Sorry, it's a bit hard to see. The preferred laying spot in the coop is this red container thing. The first picture is of her when she is normal and the second one is after I came close to her. View attachment 2362969View attachment 2362971

Yes I would just say she is broody if you want chicks now would be the time to get some fertile eggs or get your own if you have a rooster.