Chicken has nervous breakdowns

[ellendietz]

Hi there!

I have a Pullet buckeye, who, since a baby chick has had many nervous breakdowns where she runs around uncontrollably, flings herself into the walls of the pen, swings herself out into the run, runs back into the coop, squawks, puffs her feathers. It lasts about three or four minutes. If I can get a hold of her, she calms down in my arms. Wondering what this is and how to help her.

Thanks for your help.

 

[MidtexChikChik]

I'm just a newbie. We don't even have our chickens yet but if it were me, I"d think about if she starts doing this in the same place very time or if something that happens frequently has just occurred. Is she frightened of something that just happened among the flock?
I did a search to find out if anyone else had chickens that act this way and there are a few reports that link the chicken's behavior to a particular thing that happened first. It sounds like she's inside the hen house when she does it. Maybe there is something there she got frightened of when a chick and now she just reacts hysterically?
Has she just laid an egg or somebody else laid an egg? There's an interesting article on this site about how the crackling a hen does when an egg is laid is actually a call to the rooster to come escort the hen back to the safety of the flock. Maybe she's overreacting to the call that another hen does? If shes now laying, and she gives out the escort call after laying an egg, you might go to her and help her get out to the flock, like the rooster would do.....see if she calms down.
I don't know, that's for sure. Hope someone else with knowledge hops on here and helps you out. That poor little girl. It sounds like life is very scary for her.