coryleslie
In the Brooder
- Oct 25, 2022
- 16
- 14
- 31
Hi All! First off, thanks for the community. I've been stalking posts for a bit before finally joining today, and the forum has been so helpful in decoding the behavior of our chickens. In particular, the tips in other posts have helped us break two broody hens. Now, we have a hen in our flock who has a skittish personality. I would dare to say that she is not the brightest crayon in our box, though she is very sweet. However, she tended to get bullied by the flock. Then, she started bullying other hens for a couple of weeks, which seemed to upset our rooster. He almost seemed to discipline her.
Now, for the last two weeks, she has been staying in the roost while the others are out of the coop. When we let them out in the yard, she will come out to eat or drink. When she does venture out in the coop with the others present, she ends up upset and flying about squawking or hiding behind the water. We noticed that the rooster also seems to be targeting her for breeding whenever she comes around, and we wondered if this is why she's staying separate. Any ideas on how to help her? She seems so nervous and upset, but not missing feathers. Note: we have one rooster and four hens in a 6x8 coop with 8 laying boxes. Others here helped identify that they are all just barnyard mixes.
ETA: two hens are laying (down from all four, but we're attributing that to weather changes), and we're based in Southern California. We also have two 8-week old chicks, but we haven't introduced them to the flock yet. The hens and rooster are on premium feed.
Now, for the last two weeks, she has been staying in the roost while the others are out of the coop. When we let them out in the yard, she will come out to eat or drink. When she does venture out in the coop with the others present, she ends up upset and flying about squawking or hiding behind the water. We noticed that the rooster also seems to be targeting her for breeding whenever she comes around, and we wondered if this is why she's staying separate. Any ideas on how to help her? She seems so nervous and upset, but not missing feathers. Note: we have one rooster and four hens in a 6x8 coop with 8 laying boxes. Others here helped identify that they are all just barnyard mixes.
ETA: two hens are laying (down from all four, but we're attributing that to weather changes), and we're based in Southern California. We also have two 8-week old chicks, but we haven't introduced them to the flock yet. The hens and rooster are on premium feed.
