Chicken isolating herself at night

[Frindizzle]

from Washington! I call us a flock, but do not worry, no pecking order here.

 

[gander007]

Alright

great to have you joining the BYC flock

BYC has a very useful learning center

This is not normal behavior at all as most chickens will fight for a spot and chickens are social animals and would rather not be alone at all unless something is wrong and a little pecking on the head should not be the problem and Two Crows is correct you need to check that chicken over beak to tail including sniffing it's head to check for sour crop ..... I am thinking you caught the problem at the very start and just got lucky in noticing early ...

 

[Ann N]

Well, I've checked from top to bottom several times over no sign of anything untoward. This morning she's up and about with the others, eating and drinking fine . was quite feisty when I was checking her over so no signs of lethargy etc.,

Can only put it down to the hot weather unsettled her a bit, I'll keep an eye on her and see how she goes but thanks for the advice, if she tries it again tonight I'll pop her back in big coop with the others.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Glad your hen seems OK, like other people said, that she is low on the pecking order and being bullied away from the roosting spots in the evening could be what is happening... you might want to see if adding another roosting bar or two in the coop helps.

 

[drumstick diva]

Some chickens just dance to a different drummer. She sounds independent and content with her chicken lifestyle. If the other birds aren't picking on her, I would leave things they way they are. Just be sure she is safe from predators at night - securely closed into any coop she happens to fancy. The secure closure applies to the other girls too. Predators are around all the day but, the worse seem to ply their craft at night.

 

[Hanna8]

What drumstick diva said. One of my girls just likes doing her own thing. If the other birds hang around where she is, great. If not, whatever. When we get chicks they tend to latch on to her and follow her around until they grow up and claim places in the pecking order. She doesn't care a bit about any of it. It works well for her so we let her just do her thing. She gets more tasty bugs, too, since half the time nobody is even around to see the ones she finds and snatch them up. She has the sense to run to the flock of good cover if a predatory bird flies overhead, so we don't really worry much about her. She seems happy.

 

[Ann N]

Sadly poor chicken took a turn for the worse after 3 weeks or so of being fine. Suddenly was just standing in one spot for ages and wasn't eating and drinking well, took her to vets where she had a anti inflammatory jab and some antibiotics. But sadly a couple of days later she was unable to weight bare and seem to have no power in her left hand side although she was alert. Took her back to vets who thought she had some type of neurological problem , so sadly we made decision to send her to the chicken coop in the sky- very sad .

 

[TwoCrows]

Sadly poor chicken took a turn for the worse after 3 weeks or so of being fine. Suddenly was just standing in one spot for ages and wasn't eating and drinking well, took her to vets where she had a anti inflammatory jab and some antibiotics. But sadly a couple of days later she was unable to weight bare and seem to have no power in her left hand side although she was alert. Took her back to vets who thought she had some type of neurological problem , so sadly we made decision to send her to the chicken coop in the sky- very sad .

I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[HugHess]

A happy welcome from Ohio.

I hope your singlet is alright and just doing her thing.
Either way, you come to the right site to find great ways to help her
and the rest of your bevy.
Best wishes for a healthy, happy poult...