Black Silkie wont leave the coop

[plumgold1]

I have two silkies. One white and one black. As far as i know, they are both hens. Both have laid eggs. I am not an expert, these were given to me for easter as chicks and they have been hanging out in my backyard since then. She stays inside the coop I built and only comes out when i take her out.

I give them chicken feed from the feedstore. She eats and drinks but will not leave the coop. I take her eggs away and put her downstairs but she always runs right back up to the coop. She also does this weird stride with her wings spread out whenever I get near her. I have also notice her feathers on her chest are gone. Her craw is also very hard, I can feel the stuff inside it and squish it but its like silly putty.

She eats and drinks and seems to be in good health but is not acting like the chicken she used to be. The two of them used to be inseperable so I dont know whats going on. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

[joebryant]

"Silkie hen" is synonymous with "broodie hen" 95% of the time.

 

[plumgold1]

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Regardless of what kind of chicken do you have anything helpful to tell me?

 

[joebryant]

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Regardless of what kind of chicken do you have anything helpful to tell me?

Silkies become broodie if you sneeze too loudly. I'm betting that your silkie goes back into the coop because she wants to set.

 

[2dream]

Amen to the Silkie = broodie. I have a black Silkie hen that I can't seem to keep off the nest. I finally just said to heck with it and put 5 eggs under her. Only problem was I forgot to mark the eggs. Now everytime another hen lays close to her she pulls the egg under. She now has 8 eggs and I have no clue which ones are which. So today, I marked the eggs.
This is her second time to go broodie in 2 months. I am thinking that because I kept taking the eggs the first time she just did not get it out of her system.
We will see in about 17 more days if my roosters are doing their job.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

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Regardless of what kind of chicken do you have anything helpful to tell me?

It sounds like your birds are going broody. The feathers on the chest are missing because its commonly called the "broody patch." Hens will shed their feathers on the breast area in preparation to sit on the eggs. They transfer heat from their skin directly to the eggs to incubate them.

When you get close to her and she comes towards you with her wings sort of spread in the "stride" you describe, she's probably just trying to keep you from her "nest" whether she actually has eggs in it or not.

She will be broody for a few weeks, typically 21 days (3 weeks) which is the normal time it takes to hatch an egg. Sometimes they will remain broody longer, other times they'll come out of it a little earlier.

As for the crop feeling like it has silly putty in it, she may just be full. However I would feed her some grit if you aren't already doing so. Extra grit will help her digest her food better, and probably a little faster too.

 

[plumgold1]

Ive been researching and I think its an impacted crop. Shes really skinny and when I think about it she doesnt really eat that much and her scat is green with white and her breath is really sour smelling. She may be broody but have an impacted crop at the same time? Her crop is really tough like the consistency of playdoo. I first noticed it a week or so ago. Im at work all day and never really see her eat.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

It can certainly be impacted.

 

[plumgold1]

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I Just gave her some olive oil and massaged the hard lump but its not breaking up at all. It wont break up just smushes into whatever shape i mold it into.

 

[bheila]

Sounds like she's broody to me. She'll snap out of it in a few weeks. I had a Gold Laced Wyandotte go broody on me for 2 months.