Please help, my chicken is acting strange

[roxy2007]

Please help me you guys (the chicken experts) , my chicken Dopey has been acting strange. For some reason, her feathers on her neck are spread out and she makes weird noises. I really want to know what's wrong, but I'm not a chicken expert. I don't know if this will help, but she gets picked on a lot by the two top ranked chickens. Her comb has been pecked soo much.

I feel so bad but I love her she's so sweet, so I don't want to give her up. I also want to add that she has been more skittish than usual. Please help me guys I want to find out what's wrong with my Dopey

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Sounds like she is broody! Hens will raise their hackle feathers, (neck feathers) growl at you when you try to pic them up or remove them from the nest boxes, they will cluck cluck cluck all over the place when away from the box, and yes, others will pick on lower ranking broodies. Here is an article about broodies you can read and see if she falls into this category....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/broody-hens

If she wants to set on eggs, make sure she has enough privacy and the others are not bothering her.

I would make sure you have enough room in your coop and run so your birds are not picking on each other and put out a couple feeding and water stations so the lowest ranking birds don't have to compete for water or food. They can get sick if they don't get enough nourishment.

Good luck with your flock and welcome to ours!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! TwoCrows has a good suggestion, she could be broody. She could be trying to brood in a nest box and being chased out of it all the time, they would upset her ... If she is being picked on that much you may need to separate her anyhow or deal with the bullys before she gets seriously hurt... .
After reading the broody article if you think it is something else, you might want to go over her really carefully to see if you can find anything wrong.

 

[Duckopolis]

Good luck with your poultry raising adventures,and I hope you find everything you need to know. Don't forget to take a look at BYC's very useful learning center (If you haven't already)! The learning center as well as the forum should answer your questions! Glad to have you here! Does she have any eggs under her? She may be protecting them.

 

[drumstick diva]

If only one chicken is bothering or attacking her, separate THAT bird from the flock. You might put blu kote on her wherever they may have wounded her.

If she is broody, I would separate her from the flock and give her privacy and a secure place to brood. I'm sure she won't miss the others.

 

[gander007]

 

[roxy2007]

Ok thanks guys and there is two chickens bullying her constantly so I don't know if I should seperate her or not . If this is any help whenever anyone goes into the chicken coop she clucks and raises her hackle feathers and runs around the coop

. I'll respond as soon as possible and try to update on if she got worse but I'm pretty sure by what u guys are telling me (that she's broody) is what's going on.

 

[chickie farmer]

Good advice from above. Separate the bullies, when introduced back into the flock, they have a good chance of going down in rank. but separate them so they can see each other but not touch. Very good chance of her being broody.

 

[roxy2007]

Ok thank you I will have to do that this weekend