Chicken has become shy, reclusive, & stopped laying

[Anonymous]

Dear all,

I have two chickens who live in a 25"x20" fenced off area with a hutch (sic.). I've had them for about six weeks. They started laying after only about a week, and soon were laying one egg a day on average. They have very different personalities, with one being very adventurous, happily following me around and eating from my hand, and thrilled to explore the rest of the garden when I let her out. The other has always been very shy; I've only once managed to hold her, she only a couple of weeks ago started eating out of my hand--she's always load though, if these were smaller eggs and less frequent.

That was the case last week. Whitey, my more outgoing chicken, remains the same, but Blacky, my shy chicken has changed. She is even more reclusive now, and spends most of her day sat under a long and tall and dense evergreen hidden away; she won't come near me now, let alone feed from my hand. I've not seen her feeding much, actually, or scratching for food. As I type this now (I've let them out into the garden proper) she is stood motionless and was just sat doing nothing earlier. It is a hot day, and Blacky is (obviously) a dark colour, so I thought maybe she was overheating at first, so staying still to cool off, but it's pretty consistent & happens in the evenings too. She seems to feel safer with Whitey, and still follows her around but not as closely as before. She's also stopped laying: she last laid four days ago and this was very pale in colour. I don't know if she's ill or just moody or more scared for some reason, but I am more than a little concerned.

Dearest chicken people, please help me with this.

Thank you!

(I apologise for their names--we have kids who think these are hilarious!)

 

[chrismahon]

Blacky will always be the nervous type but plenty of handling will improve matters. I mean as in picking her up and taking her alone into the kitchen for treats and a cuddle. Our nervous birds improve dramatically when they are isolated with us for half an hour or so once a day for a week. Bit concerned it may be a bit more than that though. Check her for lice and the coop for red mite. She may be being attacked at night and not resting properly. We've got a mite problem and they attack the bird nearest them so some birds are more affected initially than others.
Is she pooing OK? Is she talking?

 

[Anonymous]

I might completely clean out her coop today, start from scratch as it were. She seems to be pooing fine, but she's never chatted away much. It's so difficult to tell because she's always been so quiet.

I'm going to go shopping and see a vet today, and hopefully we can sort her out. Thank for the advice--I've made notes and I'll ask the vet about what you've suggested. Thanks.

 

[Marigold]

Also if you are a bit concerend about whether she's eating, when you take her in for some TLC, try giving her very nourishing treats, such as scrambled or chopped-up hard-boiled egg, maybe mixed in to a warm mash made from pellets soaked in hot water until crumbly, then add a teaspoon of cod liver oil and a few hulled sunflower seeds. Other high-protein ideas include sardines and minced beef or lamb. Best of all is live mealworms, any chicken will come to life when offered these! Make sure she's never stuck out there in the sun with no option to get into shade, and maybe place extra drinkers around the place as well.