Hi, i have a speckeld sussex approx. 8 months old. She has always been a little weird, always by herself. Then a couple of weeks ago when all of our chickens were free ranging. The speckled sussex out of nowhere grabbed one of our buff silkies with her beak and killed it my snapping its neck. We immediately took her away and separated her by putting her in a crate in the shed. After 2 weeks we tryed introducing them again and she again ran directly for the other silkie. Thankfully we stopped her. She walks funny too, leading with her shoulder/crop area and waking almost diagonally. Right now she free ranges all day and we keep our other hens in the chicken run. We are going to cull her soon if we cant fix it. Could she have just snapped? Let me know what you think, thanks.
Wow...I am so sorry for your loss. Birds can have a screw loose from hatch, or become damaged from brain swelling or disease. Sick birds often do become aggressive. First thing you might do is give her an over all exam, from beak to tail to make sure nothing is obviously wrong with her. If I had this issue in my flock, and wanted to save her, I would try separating her for a while and use vitamin and mineral supplements to her diet. I know that in humans, some mental conditions are as simple as a mineral imbalance in the brain. I would keep her separated for a few months and see if the supplements help her. Also the isolation might help tame her down a bit as well. If this didn't fix her, I would either keep her separate or cull her. Definitely never breed her and hatch her eggs. You never know what genes you might pass on to the off spring. Good luck!
