Silkie acting strange

[Whitey_75]

We brought that brooder box in there and laid it on its side. It does go in there about 90% of the time. It feels ok in there but the chickens try to coax it out. It stays in there most of the time.

 

[AmyJane725]

We brought that brooder box in there and laid it on its side. It does go in there about 90% of the time. It feels ok in there but the chickens try to coax it out. It stays in there most of the time.

Hm.
Did you interact much with it when it was a chick? Maybe try spending time with it and the other chickens. Bridge the gap?

 

[Whitey_75]

We did interact with it a lot. Held it. My son was the one that kept bringing it out to introduce it. It's just strange. I'm stumped

 

[AmyJane725]

Yeah, that's pretty bizarre. I'm not sure if it had something wrong with it from birth, or if being raised alone did something to it, but it appears you've got a special bird on your hands...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We did interact with it a lot. Held it. My son was the one that kept bringing it out to introduce it. It's just strange. I'm stumped

I have no idea
Will it eat/drink on it's own?

 

[Whitey_75]

I have no idea
Will it eat/drink on it's own?

It does eat and drink on its own. I think if we left it in the coop without food and water, it would stay there forever. It would never come out. But when it’s out, it finds the food and water and eats/drinks normally, just kind of hiding in its box.

 

[EggWalrus]

How old is the chick again?
I think what you have on your hands could be a case of the chick imprinting on humans, so it may just be frightened of anything else. The only home is ever had is the brooder box where it has been by its self. Usually chickens are very social creatures, but given how it has spent its whole life till now, it could be antisocial. I'd put the little rascal in with the others and leave it there if temps are warm enough at night. You might need to put it on the roost or in the house each evening and in a week's time it could be acting like a regular chicken.
Good luck!

 

[Whitey_75]

He/she is about 4 months. It’s been with the others for about a month. We are still waiting for it to feel comfortable and act normal. I don’t know anything else we can try. I didn’t know if it was normal to take this long, or if these behaviors were normal for a chicken being introduced, lr one that was alone for the first 2 months, or if there was something wrong.

 

[EggWalrus]

He/she is about 4 months. It’s been with the others for about a month. We are still waiting for it to feel comfortable and act normal. I don’t know anything else we can try. I didn’t know if it was normal to take this long, or if these behaviors were normal for a chicken being introduced, lr one that was alone for the first 2 months, or if there was something wrong.

I guess it could be just scared of its own shadow, or it might just be a loner. I had a chick that it's Momma died when it was about 2 weeks old. Luckily it was summer and he didn't freeze to death but other than roosting, it wanted nothing to do with any other chickens till it got older and got the urge to mate.

 

[Verbon30]

I guess any anmale can be a bit slow mentally. But my best bet is it is just imprinted on people. I got 2 6 week old silkies from someone that was moving and needed to rehome them. They where a kids pet and spent a lot of time with the kids. The did well with us and each other but took month to take to the rest of the flock.