Not just low hen, but ostracized!

[yogamebird]

So we are worried that our favorite chicken Dixie doesn't roost with the others, nor lay her eggs in the nest boxes .

We have 4 hens. Trixie and Dixie preceeded the other 2 in order of arrival to our flock. All the girls roosted together after becoming acquainted. They all lay eggs in the nest boxes. Then they went through a pretty rough molting and Dixie's was the most extreme. She lost a lot of weight and her comb became very pale. The other girls pushed her aside. After a couple of visits to the vet and a special high calorie diet which we fed her via a syringe, plus a couple days separated from the flock where we fed her high calorie food, we put her back in the coop and she started to gain weight and get her color back. she's eating well and the other girls dont peck her or deny her acces to food. But! She wont stand on the roost with the other chickens! For a while, she stood on the ramp under the roost ...on the receiving end of their nightly droppings. Then she relocated to a small raised section on the other end of the coop on the floor. (At the vet we tested her ability to balance on a roost and she was fine.) Also she lays her eggs on the floor of the coop in a little corner she hollowed out...not in the nest boxes. So we are worried that she doesn't roost with the others, nor lay her eggs in the nest boxes .

The other day we put her on the roost with the other girls. She sort of crouched down and the other girls moved away...They didn't peck. We watched for a while and nobody moved. She's our favorite chicken and it worries us that come winter, she'll freeze not being able to snuggle up with the others. Is this behavior normal? Is there something we can do?I

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sounds like she's now bottom bird. It will take some time for them all to adjust to the new pecking order especially her. Winter is a long way off, so I wouldn't worry about that just yet.

My experiences are if a chicken begins to have health problems they will continue to have them. If she's not right it would be another reason the other birds are instinctually avoiding her.

 

[yogamebird]

it just seems extreme. We've had chickens for about 6 years now - we have observed changing pecking orders as chickens come and go, but this notion that she can't share the roost or lay her eggs with the others is something we've never seen. And she seems to be getting healthier by the day which makes it more confusing as she more and more moves away from them. In the run and outside they seem very social with her....rubbing up against her and there is no pecking!