Do your chickens still talk/roost/dustbathe when they are sick?

[ManueB]

Hello everyone,

I've been keeping chickens for 27 months now. Two of my hens have been unwell quite a few times (laying problems / parasites/ unidentified sickness) and both went completely silent, stopped dustbathing, and at the worse were not able to perch.
However I now have an other hen being sick, and she still talks a lot (doesn't dustbathe but due to the rain).

I am wondering if this is a difference due to the hen's personality (like different humans will react differently to pain) or to the degree of seriousness of the illness / suffering ?

If some of you have been keeping chickens for years, did they mostly stop doing those things when sick, or would you say it depends ?
Thanks for your feedback and a nice day to all.

 

[azygous]

Generally, no, sick chickens do not engage in the niceties of chicken life when they are feeling sick. This abrupt and distinct behavior change is the best way to tell when a chicken is feeling sick. The one exception is preening. Sick chickens will continue to preen, sometimes excessively.