Laying pullet sits down when I approach

[maryn7]

My Light Brahma pullet (she's about to be a hen; she's probably 11 months) is now the only grown member of my flock - my head hen died of a heart attack the other week (literally dropped dead in front of her) and we've also got four 10-week pullets.

LB was a really a good #2, and was not prepared for the sudden duties of integrating with the chicks and being in charge. They'd been look-don't-touch for two weeks, and we opened up the run with escape hatches the day after the head hen died. The chicks are very chill, but are terrified by her because she's being kind of a menace, even though she's clearly very lonely.

There's a lot about the integration that's not going well (chases them (though the acceptable chick radius is getting smaller), is furious when they're in the coop, won't let them roost with her - she's gotta get her act together because she's very lonely and they're sweet chicks), but I'm interested in one behavior she's got going on with me.

Ever since the head hen died, when I walk to the run from the house (probably 40ft away), the LB sits down when she sees me. Not a squat. She sits down on the ground, almost like she's in the egg box. Tail pointed high, pecks gently about at the ground. And sometimes I hear her making a weird noise as I approach, but I'm always a little too far away to really hear/describe what she's doing. Doesn't do any dust bathing behaviors, but it's similar with the little gentle pecking around her. (Oh and she is laying fine. She took a couple days off when the head hen died, but is back to her schedule.)

When I get within about 2 feet of the run and it's clear I'm coming in, she stands up and runs over to the door, per usual. Usual bup bups, etc. But she does this behavior at all times of the day, at least 90% of the time I walk up.

Any ideas? I don't know if this is related to the chick integration, but it's certainly new since her buddy/boss died.

 

[azygous]

What she's doing is "nesting". I don't mean nesting in a nest box to lay an egg. She's acting as leader of the flock and inviting YOU to nest. Roosters usually do this with hens. Just a bit ago, I found my younger roo in a corner of his coop where there are no nest boxes trying to entice a hen who happened to be in the coop with him. The roo, or your hen, sits in a nesting posture and issues a rapid but quiet vocals that sound a bit like tid-bitting, but much more inaudible.

I think your hen has notions she will be leader of the flock, and you will serve as her flock. She's not considering the chicks yet to be her flock. You need to encourage that while discouraging her of the notion you are replacing her dead hen pal.

 

[maryn7]

sound a bit like tid-bitting, but much more inaudible

Yep - that exactly describes the noise. Bless her tiny, silly heart. I really can't tell you how much she is a silly little flibbertigibbet; my old hen would be horrified to know she's even trying to lead (let alone trying to flock with us, the idiots who bring the food).

The chicks are now totally integrated with the LB in the run, though I've set up a second roost on the other side of a chicken wire barrier in the coop so that they have some level of confidence they aren't going to be flung like bowling pins in the night.

We've likely encouraged the LB since we've been giving her solo free range time with us in the yard - mostly to give the littles a break. We've been putting them in a big bug tent all together when it's nice, too, so it's not all one-on-one time.

Do you have any recommendations apart from doing more to make sure we aren't singling her out for food, etc?

I'd been following the advice to try to feed everyone together and have multiple stations, but make sure your existing flock gets fed first so they don't get resource aggro (notably, this has not worked - the chicks eat fine, but she runs to any station a little is eating from).

It's like she gets pretty used to having them in the run by the end of the day, but waking up and seeing them is an affront, as is going to bed. (I should also note, she was HORRIFIED by the chicks even before the head hen died. It's a little weird because she was integrated into this mini-flock when the head hen's sister died; so it's not like she hasn't done an integration before. She was the chick!)

 

[azygous]

Chicken psychology is tricky. You'll just need to be aware of her perverted mind set and try not to encourage it by treating her as special. She needs to learn the chicks are her flock, and you are the flock manager. When I have a chicken that demands one on one attention from me, and I have four of them that are intense about it, I try to show attention to all of them, not just one. They need to know that they aren't the only chicken that has bonded with me.

Chickens do notice when you single one out for attention, and it can cause problems.

 

[maryn7]

So basically I have to be dismissive until she's so lonely she turns to the other birds. Very cool.

I already ignored her egg song this morning (usually we give an attaboy out the door). And I just tried a big display of feeding mealworms to the chicks first. But they don't actually like mealworms (they're really a very weird, mellow set of chicks), so LB just got double serve. The plan is working already!

Some days I wonder why I didn't just keep buying eggs from the store. (But I very much appreciate this advice and perspective on the psychology. Thank you!)

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

How is everyone getting along?

 

[maryn7]

Well - mostly pretty good. Things were pretty rough for a while (you know it's not going well when you're calling around to processors, just in case), but she's gotten a bit of a handle on herself.

We've had a couple milestones that seem to have helped each time:

Firstly, I was out of town for a couple days - she's definitely more attached to me - so that helped her cleave to them a little. My partner also invested in a bunch of lavender plants for the run at that time, which honestly seem to have chilled everybody out a bit.

She was pecking them a lot at bed and not letting the little ones roost. We took down the barrier and added more roosts and more ways up to the top roost so that she doesn't have a chokepoint as they head to bed. She also always roosts first, and we've just been putting a lavender plant to the side of her after she hops up. She doesn't know how to get around it in the dark, so she just grumbles. They're all up on the main roost at night, but bedtime is still a real chore.

We let everybody free range for an hour or so each night now, and that seems to have helped too. She'll bop around with them a bit, hang with us a bit. One time the pullets all decided to fly across the yard and she did, too - so she is taking some cues from them. (And let me tell you, seeing a 1yo Light Brahma try to get all that bulk up off the runway was hilarious; she cleared maybe 2 feet vertically.) She's actually really helpful acting as a sheepdog when the pullets get too far away - I swear she's coordinating with me to round them up and send them in the right direction. I'm sure it's not the best in terms of them integrating - but tbh it's too useful for me to discourage it (pullets are so fast!).

She also got very mild bumblefoot on both feet (probably careening around chasing chicks). We had to bandage her up on Friday. And having to be in the booties really seems to have changed her mind about how useful it is to be in a flock! She's fully hanging out with them during the day now.

She's still grumpiest with them first thing in the morning and at bedtime. But seeing little bits of progress helped me chill out about about 'if this was ever going to work?!,' which has likely helped. And we've also kind of met her where she's at. She's definitely a pet, and I don't think she's ever going to cleave to the group of four as much as to us (she still tidbits me a couple times a week). But if we can get a bedtime routine that is self-managed, I'll be happy with this level of integration. The pullets are 14 weeks now, so guessing hormones are also about to change up the dynamic, too.

So.... work in progress? But she's definitely not headed to the processor; I've got the time to do a bit of extra work and she is a very sweet, funny bird. Thanks for asking!