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Behavioural problems are unfortunately fairly common in backyard chickens because they are often kept in conditions that aren’t allowing them to express their normal behaviours or are causing them to feel stressed out. This section will do a quick review of normal bird behaviours that may seem abnormal to you before diving into some of the more common signs that your birds are under stress.
Your birds need to see a vet if you see any of the following signs:
These may be signs that your flock has a medical condition like Marek’s disease or a toxicity that will need medical treatment.
Chickens naturally have some weird and wonderful behaviours that all add to their charm as backyard companions. If your bird seems bright, alert, and otherwise healthy, it is possible that the unusual or problematic behaviours you are seeing may actually just be a normal part of what makes a chicken a chicken.
Some common normal things you may notice are:
For more information on what is normal behaviour for backyard poultry, check out our Behaviour & Routines section.
Most behavioural problems in birds that otherwise appear active and physically healthy with a good appetite are caused by stress from not having the right environment and set-up for their needs.
If you haven’t already done so, check out our Preventive Care guides to make sure your birds have the right conditions and care to prevent things from going wrong as much as you possibly can.
Broody hens refuse to leave the nest box, try to save their eggs, and refuse to lay more eggs. This is a natural instinct of hens in preparation for wanting to incubate a clutch of eggs caused by a release of a hormone (prolactin) from the brain after she lays a certain number of eggs Some breeds are more likely to be broody than others. Not removing eggs frequently enough may help trigger it.
The best ways to manage broody hens are:
Check out this video from Sez the Vet on How to Manage Broody Hens.
This is a sign of aggression where hens will usually peck at the neck or vent of other birds causing feather loss, cuts, and bruising. While hens will normally lightly peck at each other to establish the pecking order or as part of grooming, if they are causing damage then it is a sign that there is something wrong.
The most common causes are:
This requires some troubleshooting to work through those different potential causes.
This is where you may notice hens repetitively pecking at empty feeders, containers, walls, or other objects in their enclosure.
The most common causes of repetitive pecking are:
It can definitely be annoying when you have hide-and-seek to find out where your hens have laid their eggs when they have decided they don’t want to use the nest boxes.
The most common reasons are:
Here are some things you can try for troubleshooting:
All it takes is one broken egg and one curious hen before birds learn that eating eggs can be tasty. This can lead to problems with hens destroying all their eggs before you have a chance to collect them for yourself.
The two main options for managing this are: