Is this normal or do I have a weird chicken?

[christwodog]

Ever since Kalani was a few days old, she wanted to always sleep under someone's wing. Usually Gretel would go along with this and put her wing over Kalani. Now that everyone is grown, she prefers to sleep under Kono's wing, I guess because he's so big? He is tolerant of this routine and doesn't complain as she jams her head under his armpit (wingpit?) to wedge herself under his big wing. Is this normal?

None of the others do this! It is pretty cute, though!

 

[PouleNoire]

Probably nothing to worry about, my Amerucana likes to rub herself into everyone especially Paisley, my white standard size cochin, on cold nights.

...I don't know though, maybe we both have weird chickens, lol

 

[aart]

Not weird, I have a few who do that.

 

[SueT]

I have chickens that do that too. Queen Rose doesn't want anyone next to her on the roost, but if the underlings duck down, she'll usually put her wing over them and be nice. They stick their heads under her wing, asking for this. It doesn't always work, sometimes she isn't buying it, and forces them to choose another roost.

 

[azygous]

Let's just call the behavior "unique" so as not to offend Kalani.

No doubt the behavior is a residual from when she was a chick, and her instinct to seek cover under a warm body was stronger than usual, so it's no wonder she still has the urge in times of stress.

Yes, I see this from time to time in my flock. At present, I'm integrating an Easter Egger rescue hen, Olive, and she's going through a lot of stress finding her place in the pecking order. The other day, she was getting grief from numerous other chickens, so she dove under the largest available cover - my big, broad, Black Cochin Morgan. Neat trick as Olive is nearly as large as Morgan.

I have two eight-year old Wyadotte BFFs. From time to time, I find one hovering under the protective wing of the other while roosting. Chickens are no different than we are when it comes to taking comfort where they can find it.

One of the saddest, yet extremely touching stories in this regard was one in which a coop fire had occurred, killing all the occupants. The owner found the bodies of the rooster and his favorite hen side by side with his wing spread protectively over her body.

 

[christwodog]

Thanks for the replies - I wasn't worried about her, but curious if it was common - I don't have any prior experience to go on!

 

[donrae]

My main coop is a converted greenhouse. There's a shelf that runs around the perimeter that the birds use to sleep. So, they don't actually roost on a pole, they're on a slat shelf. My adults often do the huddle underneath each other, especially when it's cold out. In summer they space out a lot more to cool off.

 

[Grace11]

Some of my ladies do that very same thing. To me its hiding their head so no one pecks them away. A "get away from me peck" is almost always aimed at the head. Most of the time the peck never even lands. Sillly birds.

 

[Lucyluvchickens]

My chickens love to do that! It's so funny