Mad Chicken

[beckybee]

I was very excited to get our ex battery hens last week and they seemed to settle in quite quickly, getting the hang of the ladder, laying in the nest boxes and a couple even perching at night. But as the week's worn on they've stopped being polite to each other and have started to work on the pecking order. Three seem to have settled down into a heirachy, but the other one is just not settling in. She spends lot of time in the coop hiding and banging her beak against the window. When she does venture down into the run she panics as soon as any of the other hens move towards her, rears up, flaps her wings and screeches. I've even seen her throw herself at the wire mesh round the run. She seems healthy enough at the moment but I'm worried that she'll end up doing herself an injury. Should I just give it more time? Has anyone else seen behaviour like this?

[julesapple]

Hmmm...I'm no chook expert especially ex-batts, but could this be a panic attack with possible agorophobia?

Your ex-batt has always been next to other chooks, but they are caged and therefore present no threat. All of a sudden, your chook is face to face with other birds on the loose. And she has the added threat of an open space, which is a new experience for her too.

I guess it's a lot to cope with so she might need patience and time. Maureen will know for definite what's wrong and how to help her.

Jules