Our little Easter Egger

[jemagsy]

I got home today and immediately started tearing up as soon as I got out of the car because I could see my favorite chicken hanging upside down off the roost dead. I ran down to the run and swung open the door and gently lifted her up and she turned her head to the side to look at me. Her legs were a little stiff so I took her up to the barn to examine her. As soon as I set her down on the planting table she stood up shook herself off and started inspecting me!

She walked around good and like nothing was wrong so I took her back outside and immediately all three of our roosters tried to jump on her and one of them started mating her. Her feathers were flying everywhere so I kept nudging him with my shoes until he got off of her and then she circled me and jumped up and perched on my shoulder. She would not get back down with the other chickens... once I got her back in the barn she hopped back on my planting table and pecked up some food I had dropped their at some point this week. I put some food out for her on a paper towel and ran into the house to get her some water. When I got back out to the barn she was roosting on the weed-eater... I took her down from there and got one of the little roosts for her and put it up high (evidently not high enough though because she flew from my planting table up to ceiling height and roosted on the very top rung of a ladder that was hanging from the wall.

I had tried to put her in our quarantine/brooder box with another chicken that is about to go back outside (the chicken already on the box had gotten scratched up on her back several weeks ago we were letting all her feathers grow back), but the current resident was not welcoming and tried to grab her around the neck and force her out of the box.

My husband and I are guessing that she got startled or else just slipped and her talon got caught and she just stayed still for however long until I got home. I had always heard that you should hang them upside down to butcher, but I had no idea they pretty much became catatonic.... Also do you all think the other roosters went after her because they had thought she was dead and assumed she was some strange chicken? She is fairly young and just about to start laying (her comb has gotten much bigger this week).

 

[Cetawin]

Oh my how fortunate she was okay. I have no idea about the roos other than mounting her because that is what they do. My EEs are very docile and get picked on a lot by others so maybe she is just low man on the totem pole, so to speak.

Maybe a house chicken? If she seems to be content with you and the picking on her continues, try her in a diaper in the house and see how she does. One of our EEs would prefer to live in my DDs room than anywhere else, including the coop. She is perfectly content being a TV watching lounging bed hog.


PS: She is a beautiful girl.

 

[chookchick]

Very pretty EE. Sounds like she is trying to get away from the roosters! Please make sure she is getting enough to eat and drink. The other hen also may be getting over-mated. I'm just going by the few clues you have, but you may want to consider cutting back on your roos if your hens are spending a lot of time trying to get away from them.

 

[sillybirds]

That's a remarkable story! How frightening that must have been for you (and her). I'm glad she's ok. When you took her off the roost initially, did it seem like her foot/toe was caught in some way? Bizarre!

 

[EllyMae]

Ok, here is my theory...you have an extremely brilliant chicken that has come up with a plan to avoid the rowdy roosters...you know, the same as "I have a headache" ...only she is playing dead!!

 

[msgenie516]

Hi,

I'm amazed! Your EE is the first one that I've seen that looks so much like mine, except yours is in tones of brown and mine is black and white. She lays green eggs. Here is a picture of my girl:

As far as hanging upside down, I found one of my Silkies just like that one day and I was mortified, so I know how you must have felt. But, just like yours, she was fine. I did think I noticed a slight limp for a few days afterward, but nothing serious.

I'ms so glad your EE is okay, she looks like a wonderful hen.

Happy New Year! Genie

Edited to say: My Silkie also looked what you could call "catatonic", she just hung there looking lifeless. It was awful!

 

[jossanne]

We drove up one day to find our buff-laced polish hanging by a broken toe from the wire dog kennel that I had in the henhouse. She was still as could be and looked dead, and I was so relieved and excited to find her alive.

I'm glad yours was alive too. I think I would thin down the roosters, as well.

As far as house chickens go - it works pretty well to have one diapered in the house. They seem to like it fine. I've had a polish whose head was picked bald in the house for the last month. The only problem was when I put her back outside, she didn't know how to be a chicken anymore. She was very frightened and timid, and on the 2nd day, they started to pick her head again because she just stands there with her beak practically on the ground while they pick at her. She seems to want and need to be separated from the rest of the girls, darn it. Yours may be the same.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Oh my.....I am so glad your little girl is alright. She looks pretty much identical to my little EE, Dexter....pretty black beard and everything.

 

[jemagsy]

Thanks guys. Yeah my husband and I rediscussed the rooster situation last night and are we are going to build a bachelor coop over the next week and keep two of the roos in there (possibly rotating them out) and see how that works out. If necessary we will give them away, but we are going to try a different housing situation first.


We've been out there pretty much for the past two hours supervising to make sure there were no blood baths or any other such situations and we're happy to report everything seems to be on the right track. Our little EE and our White Leghorn mix that were in the barn we reintegrated them both into the flock this morning with no issues. We waited until everyone was out free ranging and just slipped them in. One of them is perching in the house preening with another hen and checking on the girls that are already laying and the other is out digging through the grass/hay.

And sillybirds it did look like one of her toes was stuck, but when I went to pry it loose it just came straight up, no resistance, and nothing broke off, so I don't know if it was initially stuck and just with the way I lifted her it shifted. Kind of like when a cat gets their head "stuck" between the bars on the back of some chairs and they panic and can't get their head out but once they calm down and just pull it straight back they have no problems. At least I imagine that's like what happened.

 

[chookchick]

So glad to hear everyone is doing okay!

Now you can name her after a trapeze artist (can't think of names...)

Genie--that is the coolest looking EE--where did you get it? I want one like that!! What color eggs does she have? Duh--green....