Hen wants to perch all day....

[wallace707]

I have a 5 month old Americana mix that has been raised from day one with two siblings that might both be roos, one for sure is. They are bigger than her.... When I go out to coop she is usually perched (just couple inches off ground) and I have to pick her up and put her outside of coop and then she runs around with her friends for a bit, pecking and clucking... But then she will get on a log and usually stay perched there for awhile. I put food and water in front of her and she always goes for it, which makes me think shed not eating/drinking BC she is perched. Seems OK otherwise, they ate on starter/grower but I need to change to layer feed now? They were given corrid when chicks and haven't been around others. I can't see any mites but she's very hard to hold, if she isn't perched on my hand she's flapping her wings and going nuts. And she seems to loose a lot of feathers. Other two are very active and act kinda like Siamese twins!! Is she depressed? Or just special and will need more care to make sure she eats/drinks?

 

[KYTinpusher]

Your girl is probably getting close to laying eggs (POL - point-of-lay). If so, any boys are sure to notice and are probably harassing her. This might be keeping her from getting enough to eat and drink because cockerels like to use that opportunity to jump her. Ameraucanas tend to be very mild mannered and the pullets are easily overwhelmed by over aggressive boys, so they will hide or roost out of their reach. If the other two are indeed cockerels, you need to re-home at least one of them ASAP and look for some more pullets to take the breeding pressure off your girl.

If you post pictures of them, I can help you decide if the other 2 are indeed cockerels. Try to get a good side head shot, a front head shot showing the comb, a close up of the saddle area, and a full body side shot of each bird.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you post photos we can probably tell you if those two are male or female. A head shot showing comb and wattles are helpful but even of more benefit to me would be a shot showing general size and posture plus the legs. At that age a shot of the saddle and hackle feathers and tail feathers can be really helpful.

There could be different things going on. Chicks go through two juvenile molts before they reach adult size. They outgrow their feathers and need to replace them. That could explain the feather loss. Molting usually doesn’t affect their behavior that much but some can be grouchier or avoid the others at this time. Each chicken can react differently.

At that age she is very low in the pecking order. She could simply be avoiding the other flock members. It’s not unusual for adolescent chickens to form their own sub-flock because they are uncomfortable around the adults. Even though they are fully integrated the older ones might still peck the immature ones if the younger invade their personal space.

She might be avoiding the two cockerels. Males normally mature faster than females. Their hormones can be running pretty wild and she is so immature she doesn’t have a clue what’s going on. At that age mating is more about dominance than fertilizing the eggs. She doesn’t know anything about fertilizing the eggs anyway at her age but she understands she does not want to be dominated. So she tries to avoid them.

Keep observing her. If she really starts to look lethargic and fluffs up her feathers so she looks miserable then she may have a problem, but from what you describe it sounds fairly normal.

 

[wallace707]

She is never perched out of their reach.... She won't get higher. And she does seem to have alot of white dander on her back when I see her. Hope pics help... Last pic has the hen inside coop and other two outside

 

[Ridgerunner]

Those are both males.

 

[wallace707]

So I gotta ditch one. Will the other pay more attention to the hen when hisbrither is gone?

 

[wallace707]

Correction!!!!! They are only 3 months old and barnyard mixes.... Father is Americana