A chicken that faints??

[PrincessSweetChick]

My hen was being chased by a neighbor dog and while I was racing to her rescue she suddenly fell down apparently dead .... completely limp. I cradled her for a minute or so and she just popped right up, healthy as can be!! Strange . . . anyone else have a chicken play possum in the presence of a predator?

I usually battle hawks and dogs ..

 

[kidzmom5]

Oh wow thats pretty intersting and funny.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

Yes, we heard a noise one night and went down to the coops and a opossum was on top of a hen killing her. Well, we thought the hen was dead. SHe was totally limp and while we were killing the possum and disposing of it she came right back to life.

 

[CMV]

WriterofWords has fainting chickens. You should read that story sometime. It's a riot. You can search through the archives for it.

ETA- Found it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=93831

 

[insiderart]

LOL! I wonder if you can breed for it!

 

[gottalovemychickens]

i have 3 goats that faint and tip over , they are limp for about 10-20 sec then good as good LOL i love my goats HAHAH

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Does your hen wear a corset?

 

[LilDucky85]

I had the same thing happen to me...but with my duck! Although I dont think it got scared of anything, it just passed out one day. It continued, and every time I thought the duck was dead! It eventually even got the name Zombie (Resurrection Mary, and Jesus also crossed our minds when deciding the name for this duck). In my mind I'd start planning it's funeral then suddenly it would hop right back up to its feet. I think the duck was having seizures. After the first false death I witnessed it seemed to happen everyday after that. Sadly the duck withered away, stopped eating, and died about a month after the first passing out episode. I tried to save it but there was nothing I could do. All of my other ducks from the same hatch are fine, and have had no signs of this illness. Its really scary though because it came out of no where. Zombie was around 3 or 4 months old when this happened and had no signs of it beforehand.

Here is my BYC thread to Zombie's story....
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum

 

[rhodiegal]

Yes! My silkie hen does the same exact thing! Like a possum - she plays dead and will stay that way even after the threat has lost interest. The second I go in and touch her, she pops up and goes on her merry way. Smart chicken.

 

[yellowchickensmomma]

What breed of chicken is it????