Chickens acting odd for months now

[Adalida]

At 2.5 years old, it seems like they should be well established, so the change in behavior is even more puzzling. Are you and your husband away from home all day? If so, is there any way you can put up a camera to watch what is going on around your house? It just seems the most likely that something changed as far as their environment. Aerial predators, as suggested above, or maybe there's somebody walking by with an aggressive dog, something like that. It might seem unlikely, given your location, but it seems the only logical explanation. We live at the end of a quarter-mile long driveway, which is marked with five different "Private drive- No Trespassing" and "Not a County Road" signs, and people still come wandering up to our place. I only found out by accident when my schedule changed and I started being home during the day.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

The chickens are not afraid of us. I've seen skittish chickens like the neighbor's, who squack and run when people approach. TThey just seem to be afraid to be out in the open I haven't changed any behaviors since the molt.

They stopped laying in November for the winter. Usually they will resume around April, so it's too soon to know if they'll lay or not.

None of the various types of feed available here have any information about protein, fat, etc.

They have never wanted any food other than the egg laying chicken food, but before the molt they were way more into food.

Sounds like they might have been spooked by a hawk, owl or some other flying predator. Maybe even a close call. One day our flock was frightened by the shadow of a low-flying plane.

 

[siptea]

At 2.5 years old, it seems like they should be well established, so the change in behavior is even more puzzling. Are you and your husband away from home all day? If so, is there any way you can put up a camera to watch what is going on around your house? It just seems the most likely that something changed as far as their environment. Aerial predators, as suggested above, or maybe there's somebody walking by with an aggressive dog, something like that. It might seem unlikely, given your location, but it seems the only logical explanation. We live at the end of a quarter-mile long driveway, which is marked with five different "Private drive- No Trespassing" and "Not a County Road" signs, and people still come wandering up to our place. I only found out by accident when my schedule changed and I started being home during the day.

Hi Adalida,

My husband and I work from home and we visit our chickens a few times a day, to feed and say hello. I've never seen anything out of the ordinary. Nobody in our commune has an aggressive dog. They do seem spooked but you'd think if they saw a hawk they'd be over it by now. Also, the first couple of years they were fine in the same environment.

 

[siptea]

Aerial predator scare?

It seems five months is a long time to be scared, that's what's odd.