Unusual behaviour my one of my flock

[AnonymousBird]

We have 6 girls, all the same age, got the all at the same time. Always stick together, no obvious top hen which we have had before so I don't think there is any bullying.

Just the last few days, one of the girls has often been on her own, all puffed up and sitting still in the middle of the grass, almost as if she is going to lay, but she definitely is still laying in the nesting box. Definitely apart from the rest of the flock most of the time.

Having said that, she does trot over when you come down with the treats etc. The first time I saw it, I thought perhaps she was a bit cold. But it's been a few days now, she is the only one doing it and it seems out of character.

Should I worry?

Puffed up sounds like she could be unwell. Could you get a vet to check her over?

If she is choosing to be by herself then there is likely to be a cause for this. Interesting that you say she is puffed up because in the past my chickens have done this when they are broody. Broody chickens sit on the eggs and will not budge! Have you checked for mites? Sounds as though she is still interested in her food which is a good sign. Hope she gets better soon.

Hello. Just came back to say that there is no change in my chicken, still alive, but still behaving a bit out of sorts. We have had a good look over, could not see mites. She feels very thin when you pick her up - feathers puffed up are deceptive. We brought her in yesterday, just to warm her up and give her a break from the utterly foul weather.

Seems odd that she has been like this for the best part of two weeks, not getting better, not worsening.

You can send off a poo sample and a description of her behaviour to Retfords Poultry (you can google address) to get a possible diagnosis.

Have you wormed them with flubenvet recently?

Aww, poor chook. I'd do the following:

Make sure she is eating - give her a little dish with her own food in it if need be. One of mine loves the pellets to be mixed with warm water to create a mash. She goes crazy for it.

Mix poultry spice in with the mash, it's a great "pick me up"

Worm them. You can get flubenvet from www.animeddirect.co.uk

Cider vinegar in the water and make sure she's drinking.

Feel her crop - if it's fluidy rather than solid, she could have sour crop which will need treating

Check her poo - chat.allotment.org/index.php?topic=17568.0 is a good indication of what's normal and what's not.

Sadly, she is no more. She didn't eat despite much encouragement and help from us, wouldn't take on water either so ended up starved and dehydrated. We tried every trick in the book but she was beyond help.

We were very sad indeed. Thanks for your support though.

Oh no so sorry to hear this Anony

Very sorry to hear this.