Sad Chicken

[Mtnboomer]

This past week I introduced my 4 month old Brahma chicks (all female) to the free range adult flock. I cooped them up for 3 days. Upon release it has taken 2 nights for all the youngsters to understand where to go but tonight when I locked up, they were all in the coop. All but one.
This lone chick appears to be at the bottom of the pecking order. Even from very early on it was always the last to eat, last to drink, and pushed away from the heat lamp.
This continued as she grew and when they were moved from the brooder to the run, she was always stand offish or alone. And again, always the last to eat or drink.
Now that she is free, she roams alone, feeds alone, and drinks alone. She doesn't even attempt to enter the coop at night. Instead i find her in a small pocket of the wood shed each night and have to pick her up and place her in the coop.
She seems to be physically healthy otherwise. I feel bad for her as she just seems to be so sad and unliked or unwanted by the rest of the flock.
Is it possible she is just a Debbie Downer or do yall think she is sick?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

If she eats, drinks, and scratches about generally they are okay physically. Many times a bottom bird is a loner. They do okay.

 

[hysop]

Aww sorry to hear that. I had one Black Jersey Giant who was at the bottom of the pecking order. So bad no one would let her eat, she even developed her comb late, she was comb-less for a long time! Like well after she started laying. Unfortunately she got killed by a predator.

And now I have a BJG & White Leghorn mix who is at the bottom as well and she is stand offish too. She eats by herself, is a lone ranger, I almost wanna introduce her to my confined flock instead of leaving her with the free range flock. But who knows.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Is there plenty of room for everybody in the coop? If crowding is a problem, the low chicken in the pecking order can get kicked out completely. If you have too many hens for the available space, you might want to consider re-homing your "leftover" bird.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Is there plenty of room for everybody in the coop? If crowding is a problem, the low chicken in the pecking order can get kicked out completely. If you have too many hens for the available space, you might want to consider re-homing your "leftover" bird.

I have roosting space for up to 24 birds. At the moment there are 11 birds (5 adults and 6 poults). The main coop is 4x 8' not including 14 nesting boxes adjacent to the main floor.
Crowding has never been an issue before, even when i had as many as 22 adults in there. They free range all day and are only in the coop to sleep. All the birds are very docile and share space well with other 5 poults. There is a hierarchy for who eats first and who roosts where but when i place her in the coop there is no squabbling because of her presence.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Is there plenty of room for everybody in the coop? If crowding is a problem, the low chicken in the pecking order can get kicked out completely. If you have too many hens for the available space, you might want to consider re-homing your "leftover" bird.

The only rehoming will be into my belly and there will be no leftovers.

 

[ValerieJ]

I have roosting space for up to 24 birds. At the moment there are 11 birds (5 adults and 6 poults). The main coop is 4x 8' not including 14 nesting boxes adjacent to the main floor.
Crowding has never been an issue before, even when i had as many as 22 adults in there. They free range all day and are only in the coop to sleep. All the birds are very docile and share space well with other 5 poults. There is a hierarchy for who eats first and who roosts where but when i place her in the coop there is no squabbling because of her presence.

You need 4 sq ft per chicken in the coop. Your coop is big enough for 8 birds. You are asking why one is not going in and we're telling you if there isn't enough space this sort of thing happens. How many feet of roosting space do you have in this little coop?

 

[Mtnboomer]

You need 4 sq ft per chicken in the coop. Your coop is big enough for 8 birds. You are asking why one is not going in and we're telling you if there isn't enough space this sort of thing happens. How many feet of roosting space do you have in this little coop?

We have covered this subject before. 4sf may be a good rule of thumb but I have successfully kept happy healthy chickens for 3 yrs now. These birds come inside to roost and are out the door at sunrise. They are never all in the coop at the same time except to sleep. This is the first bird that has ever behaved this way.
The coop was designed with open rafters for roosting plus 3 roosting rods. There are 44 linear feet of roosting space.

 

[ValerieJ]

Oh sorry. I don't remember talking to you about it before. I'm always telling everyone to build bigger because chickens don't get along well in small spaces. But, you know your chickens and situation better than anyone. Just trying to help.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Oh sorry. I don't remember talking to you about it before. I'm always telling everyone to build bigger because chickens don't get along well in small spaces. But, you know your chickens and situation better than anyone. Just trying to help.

Absolutely, and I always appreciate advice from everyone here. Bigger is better but nothing in this world is absolute. The amount of space each bird needs is dependent upon many things from breed, to overall set up, to individual personality. Their health is my main concern. If they appear to be stressed, we are happy to downsize but so far everyone has always seemed happy and healthy.
I would probably agree with you in this case if this chick had not acted this way since day one.