14ish week old chick won't leave nesting box!

[mistyfyed]

So, I have nine pullets all about the age of 14 weeks. I'm down from 12 pullets as one died as a young chick and I lost two others in the last two days. One to a dog attack (neighbors dog got loose) and the other for unknown reasons. It was fine earlier in the day, but when I found her at the end of the day she was on her way out. As a result, I'm kind of punchy about my flock and on hyper alert. I have a mixed flock in that we have three adult egg layers (given to us) and I've tried to be careful about letting the chicks get into the adult layer food, but now I'm wondering if I was careful enough. This morning I have a chick that seems fine in every respect. She's bright-eyed, her tail is up, she's eating the food I place in front of her and she's talking to me. However, she is not leaving the coop. As a matter of fact, she has sequestered herself into one of the nesting boxes and won't come out. This is very unusual behavior. The chicks have been in their coup since they were eight weeks old and they practically run over each other to get let out every morning, including my problem hen this morning. Any ideas? I'm really worried!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

So, I have nine pullets all about the age of 14 weeks. I'm down from 12 pullets as one died as a young chick and I lost two others in the last two days. One to a dog attack (neighbors dog got loose) and the other for unknown reasons. It was fine earlier in the day, but when I found her at the end of the day she was on her way out. As a result, I'm kind of punchy about my flock and on hyper alert. I have a mixed flock in that we have three adult egg layers (given to us) and I've tried to be careful about letting the chicks get into the adult layer food, but now I'm wondering if I was careful enough. This morning I have a chick that seems fine in every respect. She's bright-eyed, her tail is up, she's eating the food I place in front of her and she's talking to me. However, she is not leaving the coop. As a matter of fact, she has sequestered herself into one of the nesting boxes and won't come out. This is very unusual behavior. The chicks have been in their coup since they were eight weeks old and they practically run over each other to get let out every morning, including my problem hen this morning. Any ideas? I'm really worried!

How long have the birds been living together as one flock? Were you witness to the dog attack and, if so, was the bird lost the only bird the dog got near?
While possible exposure to layer feed would be undesirable, I would not attribute the changes you are seeing in this bird to that - my first thought is that she either a) sustained injury/damage in the dog situation and/or is possibly afflicted with whatever claimed the other recently lost bird.
On the matter of layer feed - simplify your life and for the next 4+ weeks just feed all of your birds, including the laying hens, the ration you have for your pullets (presumably a starter/grower). Provide the calcium needed by the layers by offering free choice oyster shell, etc. and you have no worries about your younger birds getting to the older birds' feed. This is how I feed my flock as it is so much easier than trying to worry about who is/isn't actively laying at any given time since only those birds actively producing, shelling and laying eggs require the calcium content of layer ration (meaning even mature hens who are not laying due to molt, broodiness, illness, age, etc. are at risk of the same damages of excess calcium as those birds who are not yet old enough to lay such as your young pullets). If you want to use layer, transition the flock back to it once the youngest birds are all at least 18 weeks and/or have begun to lay.

 

[mistyfyed]

They've been living together for approximately 6 weeks, although they don't act as one flock. They all come back to the coop in the evenings, but once everyone leaves in the morning there are the three hens on their own and the chicks on their own. I was not a witness to the dog attack. I just knew something was wrong when I couldn't find my girls and I discovered the dead chick. The others wouldn't come out of hiding until I walked up and allowed them to gather at my feet. It was a slow walk back to the coop. Anyway, that happened Saturday morning. My husband and I were outside with them all day on Sunday doing work around the property and they kept up with us and seemed curious and generally okay. When I went back to collect them all for the evening, she had sequestered herself in a corner and wouldn't move. She was panting. It just came on so quickly! I didn't see any evidence of injury to the rest of the girls. And I looked. Thoughts I had: Maybe she injured herself? We had just put up some chicken wire along the property line to keep them from wandering into the neighbors pasture for their safety and I did catch a couple trying to test that out by flying over it. We cut a lot of brush while putting it up, so I considered maybe she ate something she wasn't supposed to. Snakes. I didn't see any bite marks, but that doesn't mean I missed it. The other girl who was having an issue this morning finally made it out of the coop and is cavorting with her sisters, eating and being her feisty self, now, but I just don't know. I have also considered parasites and am taking steps to mitigate that.