Hens can have extremely goofy chicken demeanor and do some of the nuts things . This is in all probability part of the appeal of backyard wad ! If you ’ve ever wondered if your poulet ’s wacky conduct was normal or there ’s something wrong with it , you ’re probably not alone .
New Gallus gallus - keeper may be especially confused by some of the gonzo behavior of these funny poultry . Some birds roleplay even wackier than others and stump seasoned crybaby tenders and expert alike .
Here are some coarse wacky chicken behavior interrogative sentence and advice on what , if anything , you should do about it .
I’m Not Dead!
You ’ve just found your favorite hen lay over on its side with one wing stretched out , bet nearly catatonic . Do n’t interest . It ’s probably not utter or even injured . Iit ’s really just sunbathing .
Although it looks strange , this is whole normal behaviour and just one of the fruity things that chickens do .
“ A normal behaviour that scares a lot of multitude is sunbathe , ” says Richard Blatchford , an assistant professor of extension , small to large - scale domestic fowl , for thedepartment of animal skill at the University of California , Davis . Blatchford specialize in the farming , conduct and welfare of poultry and often talks with fowl manufacturer and backyard mass - keepers about behavioral issues and how to change or accost nuisance behaviors .
Moira McGhee
“ The birds will just go down on their side , diffuse a wing out and become motionless on the primer , ” he order . “ If people do n’t realize that chickens sunbathe , they kind of see numb .
“ Chickens tend to kind of zona out when they ’re sunbathing , so you could get really close to them before they get up or move . I conceive this adds to the concern there ’s something wrong with the bird because they never just sit there when you walk up to them .
“ However , it ’s wholly normal . The razzing is okay . They ’ll terminate their sunbath , get up and do their normal clobber . ”
Moira McGhee
scan more : Care is central to comfort when wimp are molting .
Chickens Gone Bald
If you remember when your first wimp went through its first molt , you may have earnestly panicked over your bird go denuded . Not necessarily a chicken behavior issue , the first ecdysis can be freaky . But molt is all normal .
However , there are a span of reasons why birds lose plumage outside of moulting that are n’t “ normal ” but may or may not be concerning . And some of the associated chicken behavior can be bad , even dangerous .
“ The most rough-cut scenario is aggressiveness , ” Blatchford says . “ If there ’s hostility in a flock , boo show [ it ] by hen-peck . If they ’re really strong-growing , they finish up pulling plumage out in particular parts of the consistence . You may notice a chicken miss feathers on the back of the head and neck , around the vent and sometimes the back . Feather loss due to aggression is n’t of necessity an issuance for the razz themselves . They should turn the feathers back in the next ecdysis .
Moira McGhee
“ However , if it ’s in the midriff of wintertime and they ’ve recede a lot of feathers , it might be an issue because they ca n’t thermoregulate as well . The swelled issuing is it establish them susceptible to peel injury because their skin is really thin . If there ’s continued aggressiveness , a Bronx cheer pecking in the same area may break the pelt . Anytime there ’s any injury , then get going to worry . If there ’s blood , you could end up getting some flesh of cannibalism happening , and you do n’t want that . ”
Blatchford advises cleaning up any stock quickly and insure there is n’t any left . He also urge getting an ointment to put on the wounds or an antipeck spray or app , which assist heal the lesion and keep other birds from pecking at it .
Cold weather and open wounds are the only times he read you should concern about a shuttle not having feathers in an surface area . Otherwise , they ’re o.k. , and the feathers should grow back .
“ Because feather personnel casualty is often a sign of aggressiveness , you want to look into it in your flock , particularly if it leave in injury , ” he says . “ You must attempt to reckon out who ’s the one being belligerent . It could be one or multiple raspberry . You may have to do something with an aggressive hoot , such as remove it from the mountain or attempt to do some interference to reduce the aggression . ”
“ The 2nd vulgar rationality for feather loss outside of molt could be a health issue , ” Blatchford adds . “ unremarkably , you do n’t see feathering loss associated with a special disease , but it could be something like mites or lice . They ’re going to damage the feathers . mite less so because they ’re really blood drinkers , while louse are feather chewers . ”
A crybaby with lice might not mislay their plumage , but the feathers may become such poor quality that it looks like it has gaps . You should always check the snort over visually if you comment plume loss . Do this by break up the feathers and looking for minuscule disastrous or browned spots that may be running along the hide . These are bugs and you should treat the bird to get free of them .
Birds Like to Bathe
If you see your birds writhing and wallow in the stain , cast dust up everywhere , they ’re not having a seizure . This particular wimp conduct ? They ’re just give themselves a dust bath . The antecedently cite bugs are a big part of the reason wimp do dust baths . detritus helps remove excess oil color from plumage and makes them less suitable for parasites such as lice and mites .
Dust baths are a born cleaner and insect repellant rolled into one . And crybaby seem to have playfulness doing it .
Do n’t be surprised if they stretch out on the ground and spread their annex for an enjoyable round of drinks of catatonic sunbathing when they finish their junk bathing tub . It ’s this loony demeanor is pretty normal when you ’re a chicken . Moira McGhee
Hide & Seek
Some chickens care to work hide and seek . And some are really good at it , particularly if they ’re hide out a nest of eggs somewhere .
However , a chicken that hides from its flock mates may be ill or injure and does n’t need to be pick on . Chickens often peck at injured shuttlecock due to the social gild of the flock and their rude wonder . Worse , a bleeding injury could lead to cannibalism , an extremely unadulterated behavior you in spades do n’t want to see . You should quickly remove wound or dead snort from the flock to prevent it .
Blatchford says another reason razz might enshroud is if they ’re being pick on a lot by the rife bird . “ They may be hesitant to descend out around certain individual , ” he enounce . “ It kind of count on how big your flock is . If you have a larger flock , oftentimes , the really prevalent individuals and really subordinate individual do n’t mix very much . They rest separate from each other .
“ So , you may see a grouping of snort that are always doing stuff together or they ’re the first birds to come and eat on , ” he says . “ If you ’re giving goody , they ’re the one that come up first . Then , you have other ones that kind of appease away until the prevalent birds go away . The 2nd group of birds knows they ’re going to get pecked at , picked on or chased away if they hail too close to the more prevalent person . detain out is one of the ways they annul aggression . ”
However , if you have a smaller muckle , the lower - order birds might not always be capable to get forth from the more dominant ones . Worse , if you materialise to have one of those very predominant , somewhat belligerent doll in your flock , some lower - ranking raspberry may assay to hide from them .
“ You may also see a lot of pacing or stress behaviors because they ’re not really capable to escape from them , ” Blatchford says . “ They ’re doing their best to get off from them , but they ca n’t quite do it . ”
There ’s also a possibility that a bird is broody , and she require to ride on eggs . If a hen has a fortune to cover a nest , she ordinarily will . You might mark that some of your birds disappear , then pop back up with some chicks in tow .
“ That ’s in reality happened to me before , ” Blatchford says . “ A hen that I really liked disappeared . My flock was loose - place and I ’d had a mortarboard take some before . I just visualize she must have been a injured party . About three weeks later , out she came with a match of little bird . ”Moira McGhee
Mean Mama Hens
Some hen love being a mama and will actually go around adopting the chicks from other hen . Blatchford read some breeds , such as Orpingtons , are known for being really good mom . Then , you have the opposite word .
“ Some hens are just bad mama , ” he says . “ Like most animal , birds that are novel moms tend not to be as unspoilt at it . They ’re learning and figure out what they ’re hypothesize to do .
“ If it ’s the bird ’s first hatch , peradventure even her 2nd hatch , she may be meaner to the chicks because she does n’t really know precisely what she ’s doing . Hopefully , that gets good with time . However , some birds just are n’t skilful momma ever . I ’m not exactly certain why some Bronx cheer are a bit more aggressive with their bird than others . ”
It ’s belike normal to see a hen give her chick a little peck here and there as a signaling that whatever the chick is doing is n’t right . However , constant picking goes beyond silly behavior and into high-risk behavior .
“ Some birds will in reality defeat chicks , ” Blatchford say . “ It could also be tenseness in the mess . Stress makes chicken do really unearthly things , like us . If she ’s under stress , she may be rerouting that stress into aggression toward her chicks . ”
If the aggression and pecking look uncollectible , Blatchford recommend taking the chicks away . Youcan rear the chicks the same elbow room you would if you ’d gotten them from a hatchery , and they ’ll be just fine .
“ This sounds horrible , ” he say , “ but they do n’t need their mom . They ’re precocial individuals . They can find nutrient . You just have to show them where it is and then put up artificial heat for them . We can take the role of mom over if need be . ”
record more : Some wimp demeanor become bad habits , but you’re able to help oneself .
The next time your bird acts strange , do some enquiry and talk to experienced Gallus gallus attender to see if it ’s something relate or if your bird is just being a Gallus gallus . As Blatchford like to say , “ We spell account book about them , but they do n’t know how to read , so they never do what they ’re supposed to do . ”
More Information
It ’s not just hen that can show crybaby behavior a soul might consider whacky . The male of the metal money may appear more upstage but also do funny things . One of the most frequent enquiry Richard Blatchford , an extension help prof at the University of California , Davis , beat about roosters is why it ’s crowing all day long or in the eye of the nighttime .
“ We ’re check to think rooster crowing in the morning because we ’ve seen movies and sketch all our lives where the sun comes up and the rooster crow , ” he says . “ They do gloat a lot in the morning because the aviation quality help the acoustics , so their Corvus travels further at that sentence of day . However , bragging is really a territorial behavior . basically , what ’s happening is the birds crow to tell their neighbor that they ’re still there and that they ’re still holding their territory , so do n’t come in and endeavor to invade me . ”
Anytime a cock feels like their district is getting threatened , they will typically gloat . It ’s one of the first gloomy - volume aggressive behaviour they do in that billet .
“ It could be something like you ’re in an urban domain and a car goes by with a tatty radio that they ’re not used to,”Blatchfordsays . “ That could touch off ( him ) to crow because there ’s something different in the environment and so he ’s alarm , ‘ I ’m here and this is my territory . ’ ”
Crowing in the centre of the night can be attributed to several thing . A predator could be sniffing around the coop . outside lights issue forth on or railway car headlights go by could also spark a cock to sound off . Anything that trouble the male can get a round of rowdy crowing your neighbors might not appreciate , hence the distinctive prescript in urban area banning roosters .
normally , something is cuing him or stimulating him to triumph at weird hours . If it go on on a even groundwork , there ’s credibly something in the environs touch him .
It ’s just a issue of figuring out what ’s ca-ca that disturbance . If you have the ability to block it , the crowingshould go away .
This article originally come out in the September / October 2022 issue ofChickensmagazine .
