Why would she do this?

[Lisa202]

Last week I went to close up the coop for the night and saw that one of my silkies was in the nest box alone. They usually huddle together so this looked weird. So I looked more closely and saw that she had stuck her head in between the wooden slats that separate the nest boxes where they meet the outside wall. There is only a 3/4 inch open slit at most, but she managed to stick her head through it. Why????? We had such a hard time getting her out. Even my DH couldn't easily free her with a bunch of different tools. She had to have been stuck there for hours and it was hot that day. When we finally got her out, her neck was crooked for a while. The poor thing was so thirsty.

If it weren't for Ginger wanting a late day snack, I wouldn't have looked closely in the coop (while putting in a treat) and she would have been like that the whole night. It's funny, but the 4 silkies usually huddle together in front of that nest box and this night the other 3 were up on the roost. If I had seen them all huddled in a pile, I would have though nothing of it. It's like the other 3 didn't want to be near her?

Why in the world would she have done that? Now I'm all paranoid and constantly count the chickens just in case one of them has gotten themselves in trouble.

Has anyone ever seen a chicken do something this stupid?...or is this a silkie thing?

 

[chicmom]

I think it was just a random accident. Who knows, maybe she saw a bug or something over on the other side of that wooden slat and she was trying to get at it........

Maybe your husband can put some hardware cloth over those wooden slats so that she can't do it again. She probably won't, but you never know......

 

[bt03]

She did it because she is a chicken

I don't have silkies but I hear they aren't the brightest crayons in the box, and there are some pretty dull crayons in the chicken box already

 

[LarryPQ]

My silkies are the stupidest creatures in the Universe. They have a ribbon and everything. It says, "Winner of the Dumbest Ways to Die."

It's true.

 

[Elite Silkies]

I'm trying to breed them smarter but I don't think it's working

 

[sourland]

There has never been a silky that was flock valedictorian.

 

[Nicole01]

I'd fix that gap. My SS got her foot caught in a gap and was stuck for hours. She tried to wiggle it out, but ended up tearing her skin and her foot and leg swelled up. I felt horrible and gave her aspirin. We fixed the gap immediately after. I'm glad your hen is okay.

 

[TrystInn]

Dear Gods, I have a Silkie that cannot seem to figure out where the coop is. Most nights I go out to close up the coop and she's in the pen wandering around or huddling miserably by the waterer.

Smart, they ain't.

 

[Housefull]

I'm sorry your little lady was stuck. I lol'd on some of the responses about the silkies.

 

[Pele]

I assume silkies do it for the same reason that sheep do : "duuur, what's that round thing? Will my head fit in it? Gosh it does! Uh.... what do I do now?"

Let's just say that they're beautiful crayons, but not the brightest in the box and tend towards scribbling.