Acting weird

[WiddleChix]

Hi,
I have an EE who is about 5-5 and a half months old and today she's acting kinda weird. She was the last out of the coop this morning and when I opened the coop looking for eggs( I'm waiting for the first one!) she went in and sat in the corner of the coop. She's walking around really slowly and isn't really too interested with food except when I tried to hand feed her some she wanted it. She also seems scared maybe of the others as I saw her get pecked in the coop when she was laying down and when a turkey came over while I was hand feeding her she became uninterested. I added some electrolytes to the water and she's been drinking. It's a warm 85-90 degree day here in SoCal. I'm wondering if she's acting weird because she's sick, going to lay an egg, or something else but I'd really appreciate anyone's advice or what they think the problem is. This is my second attempt at raising chickens after my first flock got wiped out over about a year and a half or so ago by the flu and I'm really paranoid with my babies.

I have 6 pullets,a cockerel, and two turkeys ( unsure of gender). They are in a fully enclosed chain link/chicken wire run with a roof and they do not free range. I feed them purina flock raiser and they always have water( I added electrolytes to one watered today) and I give them scraps and fruits and veggies daily. I'm adding this in case it has something to do with her behavior. I also read that pullets can lay soft shelled eggs for a while when they first start laying and they act kinda funny but I'm not exactly sure what to look for.

Thanks for any advice it would really help.

PS: she's taking a nap with the rest of the flock atm.

 

[WiddleChix]

I'm not sure if I'm in the right section but any advice helps.

 

[Dmontgomery]

I'm not sure if I can help or not, but at least I'll respond. Is the whole flock about the same age? It does kinda sound like she is scared of something to me. I've never had a full grown hen act that way before laying eggs. Actually mine act very normal when the first egg falls out. They don't even know it's about to happen, I think. My soft shell eggs from new layers are never in the nesting boxes. They are either in the run or under the roosting bars, like they fell out during the night. I usually find them first thing in the morning. Everybody else lays later in the day.

 

[WiddleChix]

The whole flocks the same age, she's a few days older than the rest I believe. I've noticed my Cochin acting kind of the same way just not as distant and she was sitting with her butt in the air. I did some reading and some people say their chickens acted kinda sick before they laid their first egg and others said they didn't act any differently. I tried to give them some shredded cheese and at first my EE wasn't interested then she started to eat some. My Cochin wasn't really interested. I just really hope they're not sick im trying my best to watch for any signs somethings wrong and not get too frantic but it's just not who I am I'm a worrier

Thank so much for atleast responding and they're a little over 5 months old so I don't think that's full grown but she's just being more sluggish and not herself today

 

[Dmontgomery]

By full grown I meant laying age. I've got 4 EE ladies that have been laying for a few weeks now. They are just a little older than yours. The only change in behavior they showed was that got much friendlier towards us. Our favorite, Stella, actually came up on the back porch one morning and perched on my shoulder. The next day she gave us our first blue/green egg. I hope yours aren't getting sick.
Since they don't get to free range, do they have anything in the run to play with? Maybe she's bored and depressed.

 

[WiddleChix]

They have several roosts in the run and I make sure I give them some type of treat daily whether it's something they can eat for a while like cantaloupe or a head of lettuce or something small like cooked rice from dinner the night before. I wouldn't know what else to put out there if they're bored. Thank you again for your input.

 

[WiddleChix]

So I just checked on her and she ran up to the door of the run along with the others and seemed very alert and normal. She seemed to be walking around somewhat faster. I went into the coop and she went in and was looking around. She jumped onto the roost and walked back and forth a few times like she was looking for a spot to lay maybe? She then sat down on the roost and did some more looking. I really hope she's going to lay and isn't sick. Has anyone ever had a pullet with this behavior?? She was talking to me more like she usually does, earlier she was a little quieter than normal. The rest seem fine but I did observe my Orpington squatting when I tried to pick her up!! I've been waiting to see squatting cuz the. I know the eggs are coming soon!

 

[henny1129]

I'm not sure if I can help either because I don't know a lot about chicken sicknesses. Some of the things you are saying make me believe that she is maybe going to lay soon, especially if she's laying down with her butt in the air. That's normally a sign that she wants to be mated and has matured meaning she will probably lay soon. Your last post makes me feel that she's acting pretty normal and I see our chickens walking along the roosting poles before they lay too. I can't tell you exactly what's wrong, but I hope that I've at least comforted you a bit.

 

[chickens really]

Just a tip....Cut back on your daily treat giving...Also Chickens can not process dairy products...Can cause stomach upset...
All Chickens need is a balanced diet in the form of Age appropriate feed...Once or twice a week treats are fine at 5% of daily ration..

Good luck

Cheers!

 

[Dmontgomery]

I'm glad she was doing better by last night. Hopefully it's just the egg laying thing and you'll be getting a beautiful new egg soon!

Chickens Really, isn't yogurt considered a dairy product? I can understand cheese upsetting their stomachs though. Is yogurt a treat for them or just something given to settle a specific ailment?