Strange hen behaviour

[Mark_and_Nicole]

I'm not sure what's going on with my one hen, Huggies. *She's been very moody. *I thought maybe she was sick after the cold rain storm we had, so I brought her inside. *After a couple of days, she was starting to perk up again, so I put her back outside. *Now her and our other hen either stay huddled up in the coop, or find some place and cram themselves away inside. *It's not cold here, about eighty degrees yesterday. The coop is clean and dry, plenty of food and clean water. *I thought they had disappeared yesterday evening, but I found both hens tucked up under the tiller. *I had to pull Huggies out and put her in the coop for the night. *I've looked her over, she seems fine. *This morning I had to pick her up and put her in the sun, even though she can walk just fine. *Of course, no eggs for a week now. *She's just in some kind of funk, and the other hen seems to be protecting her. What's going on?

Nicole

[bee_pipes]

No expert here, we are just starting with chickens. Could she be molting? Or getting ready to? Maybe eating well and conserving energy?

Just a guess...

Regards,
Pat

[Mark_and_Nicole]

Yeh, she must be molting. *If there's anything different about her, it would be that she's a little bit less glossy. *All the chickens have had a tough week in general. *Cookie's gone, killed by dogs, and she was so friendly, too. *I miss her. *We didn't eat her, just buried her. And my little dog had a stroke, so we buried him, too. *These animals have *had a *hard week, I tell you.

Nicole * * * * * *

[pancho]

She might be going broody. They will act that way some time.

[Mark_and_Nicole]

Well, Huggies is dead. *She spent all day yesterday under the shed. *We finally had to take a board off and take her out. *The first thing I noticed was a horrible smell. *I looked her over, and under one wing she had a massive infection. *She was obviously very sick. *I talked to her and petted her, that calmed her down, while Mark got a big knife and a little rag to cover her head. *We put her on the chopping block, me holding her. She was calm and ready, and Mark choped her head off. *It was quick and painless. *Then we buried her in her favorite feeding ground. *I don't know what happened to do this injury. She was not a pretty hen, but such a shy and gentle bird. I miss her already. It's been a bad couple of weeks for my pets. Bye, bye, Huggies. *You were a fine hen.

Nicole