Need advice re abnormal behavior

[Retired LE]

Greetings from a new member residing in the Pacific Northwest.

We have four five week old Barred Rock hens that have started acting strangely beginning this evening. Three of the four are repeatedly flying up and throwing themselves against the screen of their enclosure. The coop is inside our sun room and they have been living in it for the past three weeks. Nothing has been added or changed since we obtained the coop and we are scratching our heads as to what could be making them act up.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

 

[loveourbirds]

a few things can cause this. if they are still in the brooder, they might be getting to hot or to cramped. they are a little young for this, but if you have all cockerels that could be causing the problem too.

im going to lean towards they are just cramped and want to explore. barred rocks love to scratch and play. at 4 weeks old they should have at least 1 square foot per bird. after 2 months I usually allow about 3-5 square feet per bird.

good luck,
brian

 

[Retired LE]

Thanks for the reply. I think we figured out what the problem was. We were inadvertently poisoning our birds....

We brought a butcher block table we are building inside to hasten the drying time for the polyurethane coat I had applied earlier in the day. It appears the fumes from the polyurethane found their way into the sun room (about 20 feet away) and affected the birds. Once the table was moved back into the shop, the birds settled down. Live and learn.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Mike

 

[loveourbirds]

your welcome, glad you figured it out.