How do I help this hen?

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

Last Friday, we had a cold snap come through, so we added a red light heat lamp (only on during the hours we were awake to watch). Well, this red light made the hens go absolutely BONKERS. I had never seen them act this way before, attacking one hen in particular, which they never done before, and all she was doing was roosting on the bar. We went out there and turned it off, and they immediately stopped, and I got the hen who was bullied out of the nesting box and put her on the roost bar. Since then, she's been completely off. She isn't roosting anymore, goes into the nesting box, then into her "corner" she has always slept in by the middle of the night, she had always jumped off the roosting bar and went to this corner. She isn't eating from any of the feeders, and we have 1 main feeder, 1 in the henhouse, and 1 on the other side of the runner behind some clutter. I had to literally hand-feed her 3 handfuls tonight because I was worried I hadn't seen her eat all day. When she does eat from the bowl, she kind of pushes it out and pecks it off the ground. She still has energy, she jumped up on the roost bar earlier, forages, alert and responsive, eats mealworms, and feeds from my hand/ground and drinks water. Her comb is red/pink, no signs of any sickness. She hasn't laid an egg since the incident. And she is not the bottom bird, and still tries to reinforce the pecking order because we saw that she chased the bottom girl away from her prized mealworms yesterday.

So what can I do? Any tips or tricks? I just worry about the extreme cold and her not eating enough. As far as I can see on the camera, nobody is bullying her. I do not see anyone pinning her down, excessively pecking, etc. I might be overthinking this, and she's fine, but her not laying an egg in almost a week and acting standoffish worries me. Maybe she has PTSD/anxiety/depression? She is a golden lace (although mixed because she has a single comb and smaller bodies - 4.4lbs) and always has a poopy booty too, and I noticed today she has a white mark on her feathers that I need to clean tomorrow, if this adds any details. I am rambling now.. sorry!

TIA!

 

[thecatumbrella]

Look into getting a Sweeter Heater or panel heater (Cozy Coop is a popular brand). They are much, much safer than a heat lamp as their output isn't nearly as high. They're meant to take the edge off on cold nights vs heating the space.

Your girl is probably a bit tilted from the whole experience. If she is acting normally otherwise and taking treats, stop the treats. Chickens will reject their regular food and hold out for the good stuff. As for the egg thing, she may have stopped between the cold and the stress of the experience.

Please update if you notice her acting off, but between jumping around, pecking her underlings, and devouring mealworms, I would call her bluff.

 

[RootedTogetherHomestead]

Look into getting a Sweeter Heater or panel heater (Cozy Coop is a popular brand). They are much, much safer than a heat lamp as their output isn't nearly as high. They're meant to take the edge off on cold nights vs heating the space.

Your girl is probably a bit tilted from the whole experience. If she is acting normally otherwise and taking treats, stop the treats. Chickens will reject their regular food and hold out for the good stuff. As for the egg thing, she may have stopped between the cold and the stress of the experience.

Please update if you notice her acting off, but between jumping around, pecking her underlings, and devouring mealworms, I would call her bluff.

Thank you for the reassurance! I will cut the treats, although I am giving them some evening scratch due to the cold at the moment. The only thing off about her is a "clicking" sound when she shakes her head, but we might be dealing with mycoplasma (nobody has progressed past runny noses, which could be from their dusty coop, so unsure atm).

Lavender was trying to eat from the same bowl as her, and she pecked her away from her bowl.. and she was curious about a mouse the other day.. I did give the whole flock some chamomile tea today, as they decided to drink some of mine from my mug while I was visiting them.. so I assumed they wanted their own. Thanks again!