How to care for hunchback pullet

[goats-n-oats]

Hi, this is a 4-month old mixed breed hunchback pullet. She is very quiet and timid. She was very easy going with the next batch of chicks in the 2x4 water trough. She is able to hop onto a 3"-tall training roost, and she even roosted on her own once this week, by climbing up a little ladder I made for the chickens, where the rungs are about 6" apart, to roost at a height of 2'. However, I always find her during the day cowering in a corner, or hiding under the coop (a converted pony trailer). I don't want her sleeping on the floor because of rats (I am using traps to control them.). What kind of setup does she need so she is able to eat, drink, and feel safe? Will she be able to lay eggs?

 

[aart]

Why is she "hunchbacked"?
Is she being bullied?

 

[3KillerBs]

I hate to say it, but there is a significant chance that if she does have laying potential she might not be able to actually pass an egg.

My hunchbacked, wry-tailed cockerel had a pelvic opening so tiny that I was almost unable to gut him after harvest. Had he been female he'd never have been able to pass an egg through there.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/slowpoke-a-reality-check-after-an-assisted-hatch.77702/

Be prepared for the possibility of having to cull this girl at short notice if she gets an egg stuck or broken inside her.

 

[goats-n-oats]

I hate to say it, but there is a significant chance that if she does have laying potential she might not be able to actually pass an egg.

My hunchbacked, wry-tailed cockerel had a pelvic opening so tiny that I was almost unable to gut him after harvest. Had he been female he'd never have been able to pass an egg through there.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/slowpoke-a-reality-check-after-an-assisted-hatch.77702/

Be prepared for the possibility of having to cull this girl at short notice if she gets an egg stuck or broken inside her.

Actually, after looking again at 'her' this morning I suspect it is a cockerel, due to the long thin brightly-colored neck feathers.
Thanks for the notice.

 

[goats-n-oats]

Why is she "hunchbacked"?
Is she being bullied?

You can see in the picture, the hump between the neck and the rump. It's like she has scoliosis or something.
She is probably being bullied, if she ends up hiding the corner a lot.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

@Overo Mare some sexpert assistance, pretty please

 

[goats-n-oats]

That photo is from a couple of weeks ago. I will post an updated one showing the neck feathers later today.

 

[Painted Calls]

@Overo Mare some sexpert assistance, pretty please

Cockerel. Male saddles are present.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

That photo is from a couple of weeks ago. I will post an updated one showing the neck feathers later today.

Yes please do. Mare is phenomenal at identifying the sex of birds

 

[Painted Calls]

OP, do you have any other cockerels or roosters?