Vitamin deficiency or some sort of psychological issue?

[Cloverr39]

I have this silkie hen that occasionally does a really weird movement. She tucks her head as close to her as possible and walks backwards for a couple of seconds and then goes back to normal. I always thought it was some kind of normal thing she did or a vitamin deficiency, but her 5 month old daughter started doing it, which makes me think it's genetic. That's a shame because her daughter is the first chicken of a color I've been trying to breed for and I wanted to use her as a breeder. I suppose both her and her daughter will have to be demoted to broodies only.
She doesn't do it every day, so I haven't been able to catch it on camera.

 

[LaFleche]

I have this silkie hen that occasionally does a really weird movement. She tucks her head as close to her as possible and walks backwards for a couple of seconds and then goes back to normal. I always thought it was some kind of normal thing she did or a vitamin deficiency, but her 5 month old daughter started doing it, which makes me think it's genetic. That's a shame because her daughter is the first chicken of a color I've been trying to breed for and I wanted to use her as a breeder. I suppose both her and her daughter will have to be demoted to broodies only.
She doesn't do it every day, so I haven't been able to catch it on camera.

Do you have a rooster with them?

Take a closer at their necks. Do you see pin feathers coming in? If so, the movements you see are their attempt to escape the hurt these pin feathers cause them when they move their heads/necks to certain positions.
While the adult hen could be moulting, the younger pullet will be going through her last juvenile moult at the age of 5 month, and then start to lay soon.

Adding some poultry vitamins containing B complex and E could help as well.

 

[Cloverr39]

Do you have a rooster with them?

Take a closer at their necks. Do you see pin feathers coming in? If so, the movements you see are their attempt to escape the hurt these pin feathers cause them when they move their heads/necks to certain positions.
While the adult hen could be moulting, the younger pullet will be going through her last juvenile moult at the age of 5 month, and then start to lay soon.

Adding some poultry vitamins containing B complex and E could help as well.

Yes, I have one main rooster that is about 1.5 years old and I have 4 cockerels that are 5 months old. Two of those cockerels have started attempting to mount hens.
The hen's problem started when she was around a year old (when I got her) and there was one rooster in the flock at the time.

I didn't see any pin feathers on the hen. She has been broody for the last two weeks or so. Since she's sitting on the nest all the time, I haven't seen her do that movement recently.
The pullet is about 5.5 months old and I did find a few longer pin feathers in her neck, but not very many.

I'll buy them some vitamins as soon as I can.

 

[LaFleche]

Since she's sitting on the nest all the time, I

Is she on a clutch of eggs?
In any case she should be taken off the nest daily for about 15 minutes to defecate, eat, drink, dustbathe and preen.

While you pick her up, inspect her closely for lice and poultry mites as they can suck the life out of a broody hen within a few days

one main rooster that is about 1.5 years old and I have 4 cockerels that are 5 months old. Two of those cockerels have started attempting to mount hens.

Adds up to 5 males trying to constantly mate your how many hens?
I would separate the 4 cockerels as they can easily hurt the females and stress them to the point of exhaustion and emaciation.

Silkies and other crested breeds often have vaulted skulls leaving them more susceptible to serious head and brain injuries from pecking on their heads.

 

[Cloverr39]

Is she on a clutch of eggs?
In any case she should be taken off the nest daily for about 15 minutes to defecate, eat, drink, dustbathe and preen.

She is not sitting on eggs. I constantly have 2-3 broody hens and I'm tired of trying to break them every week. Because they're so stubborn that they go back to being broody a week later anyway.
I always take my broody hens off their nest every morning and sometimes again in the afternoon when I collect eggs.

While you pick her up, inspect her closely for lice and poultry mites as they can suck the life out of a broody hen within a few days

I'm aware that I've got a bit of a lice and mite problem. I'm not sure what to do about it though. I've tried DE both in their dust baths and directly on the birds. My coop is fairly big and made of wood, so I'm not even sure how to go about completely getting rid of all bugs. To be fair I'm a bit intimidated by the idea of getting rid of all the bugs out of each pice of wood and each nest box. Any suggestions on how to go about it would be much appreciated.

Adds up to 5 males trying to constantly mate your how many hens?
I would separate the 4 cockerels as they can easily hurt the females and stress them to the point of exhaustion and emaciation.

Silkies and other crested breeds often have vaulted skulls leaving them more susceptible to serious head and brain injuries from pecking on their heads.

Yes, I know the cockerels are a problem. I'm planning to cull one, sell one and separate the remaining three. I've got about 15 females (both hens and pullets) that are old enough to breed. 5 of my pullets are vaulted and the rest aren't.

 

[LaFleche]

mite problem. I'm not sure what to do about it though. I've tried DE both in their dust baths and directly on the birds. My coop is fairly big and made of wood, so I'm not even sure how to go about completely getting rid of all bugs. To be fair I'm a bit intimidated by the idea of getting rid of all the bugs out of each pice of wood and each nest box. Any suggestions on how to go about it would be much appreciated

DE is nice in their dust bath but won't help with the mites.

Heating up your coop to at least 60-70 ° Celsius for the duration of 1,5 - 2 hours will kill them. And if you still find that some come crawling back from the outer roof, just use a blow torch or hot air gun to kill them.
You can also use doublesided adhesive tape underneath and around the ends of their roosting bar so any mites they might bring into the coop themselves will get stuck to the adhesive tape.