Hen singled out?

[graymm]

At night my 2 roosters and 4 hens normally will go into their shelter around dusk. Lately I have one hen that isnt with the other when I go to shut the doors. Lately she is coward in the corner at the top of my garage steps. I have to pick her up and bring her to her shelter. When i open their door in the morning always in the corner closest to the door and aways the last one out.
Is she being bullied by the others? I Dont notice that shes being picked on.

 

[dalkeithowner]

I had a similar case, kept out of the coop and roosted on a raised stand I have for them to get to the feeder.

I placed her in the nest box for a few nights and hung the water in the coop so that the other's would have to duck under the drinker to get to her.

She's become the second in the pecking order and after a while just started sleeping in the coop again.

 

[graymm]

We are having a larger coop given to us sometime this week. I am in hopes that with the larger area it will be better for her if not Then i will try something different.

 

[Katcynth]

I had the same thing happen tonight... I've noticed one getting picked on more then others and tonight she was way across the room.. (coop is still being built so they are in the garage right now.... ) She was over on the deep freezer so I made her her own roost... Maybe once they are in the coop it will be better but I'm going to make sure they have plenty of places to roost so she has a chance to get away from them if they are being mean...

 

[chooks4life]

Sounds to me like she is sick or injured, not bullied. I would catch her and check her over, personally. I consider it a serious symptom of something being wrong when a chook's staying in the coop when the flock is elsewhere, (or in a corner or on a perch when usually they would be with the flock) because any chook that behaves that out of sorts is often close to death.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

Sounds to me like she is sick or injured, not bullied. I would catch her and check her over, personally. I consider it a serious symptom of something being wrong when a chook's staying in the coop when the flock is elsewhere, (or in a corner or on a perch when usually they would be with the flock) because any chook that behaves that out of sorts is often close to death.

This! I had one like that that I didn't realize until it was way, way too late. Often the healthy birds will also quite violently attack the sick bird, at least that happened to mine, and contributes to the sick one wanting to be alone.

 

[Eggsoteric]

Sounds to me like she is sick or injured, not bullied. I would catch her and check her over, personally. I consider it a serious symptom of something being wrong when a chook's staying in the coop when the flock is elsewhere, (or in a corner or on a perch when usually they would be with the flock) because any chook that behaves that out of sorts is often close to death.

In addition to this, another thing you might consider is that 2 roosters to 4 hens might be a bit much and, perhaps she's a favorite of the roosters and they're over-mounting her.

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: If she were injured and they kept at it, not only would she probably avoid them but they'd be culled if they were mine.

But I doubt this would cause her to stand in a corner of the steps alone and avoid the flock. Even when a rooster is so rough with his favorite hen that she's got no feathers and spur wounds, she tends to remain with the flock.

Since I keep all my poultry together and breed many cockerels to eat every year, my ratio of hens to roosters gets 50:50 at times. Kelp in their diet and only breeding roosters with careful behavior with hens means I never have 'overmated' or 'overmounted' hens. I believe that happens due to careless or cruel roosters and a diet lacking in some ways that's causing loose and weak feathering.

A rough rooster is just a bad rooster. Good roosters do not harm hens, not even when going through the cockerel 'teenage' stages. A lot of it is inherited behaviors. A good rooster will back off if a hen isn't interested. Many roosters are just vicious to hens and that's a behavior passed onto their sons in turn if they're bred on with.

If she's not unwell, she might be the random sort of hen who disdains the whole flock when working on a clutch. Is she laying in the cage? Illness is still my best bet though.

 

[graymm]

During the day she is with the flock just at night she distances herself. She also has no injuries or signs of over mating.

 

[chooks4life]

Strange. Does sound like something's up. Are her poops normal? Does she seem normal during the day?