Four month old pullet, strange walk and chirp.

[EmRose]

Today I noticed one of the chickens digging herself quite a hole for a dust bath. Even after I let the others out of the pen to wander around, she stayed in fluffing dust all over and then just sitting. She didn't seem keen on leaving it, though she did stand up for a bit when I came in to see her. Then she sat right back down.

I left and came back awhile later and the others had gone in due to rain; she was still sitting in that hole making a high pitched chirp, but she stopped when she saw me coming. I went in again and she got up but she was walking strange, with her hind end kind of dropped. I half expected an egg to pop out where she stood, the way she was waddling around. She laid down further under the coup where it's drier, and she couldn't seem to sit comfortably.

I went in to look this behavior up, didn't quite find anything. I went out again and she was walking perfectly normal and seemed as anxious to come back out as the rest of the girls.

Is this behaviour preperation for egg laying or was she in pain or what?

 

[Judy]

It's possible she was having trouble passing an egg. Maybe she was trying to relieve itching from some lice or mites. You could check her bottom for both, and for unusual swelling -- or anything unusual. Hard to say. Maybe she was just enjoying her dust bath!

 

[Teepov]

This is so odd because one of my pullets (exactly the same age) was doing the same thing a couple of days ago. She was squatting and wouldn't walk normally when I disturbed her from her dustbath. She actually ran away, but ran the way you would if you had a bum knee or ankle; kind of all wonky and with her bottom down. I thought she was injured... there's been a big tom cat hanging around but I hadn't ever noticed him messing with the birds. When I finally caught her, I checked her legs and belly. Her legs were fine and no injuries anywhere else. I'm not really experienced enough to tell if there was an 'egg-shaped' lump in her abdomen, but I definitely didn't feel any big lumps.

After I let her go, she was walking perfectly normally and has been acting/walking normally again for the past 2 days.

 

[6littlechicks]

it sounds like she's thinking about getting ready to lay! That's what my girl did last week and she started laying on friday.

 

[EmRose]

Well it must either have been a cramp from sitting in her dust bath for so long or she might be getting ready to lay. She's been fine ever since. All of the chickens' combs and wattles are starting to develop pretty nicely all of sudden, though. I thought they they wouldn't lay for a least 5 months, but then I read somewhere that they can start at even 4 months. I don't know though. I'm away at school now, so either way I'll probably miss the first egg, even if I come home every weekend.