Sad little hen

We have a little hen (about 1 1/2 yrs). She is a little banty x silkie. She was happy and healthy until our rooster (banty, the now freezer variety) started picking on her. He would chase her away from the food and go after her to keep her away from the others, ostracizing her from the flock. When he would do this we would put him in isolation, finally in the freezer. We have noticed that she is standoffish with the girls and is off of her food. She is a sad little thing. Wes, my husband brought her in to give her a treat on her own, so the others wouldn't take it from her. She wouldn't eat cracked corn, brown date bread in tiny pieces, or My coronation grapes! What she did pick at was cheese, good Italian cheese but yikes, this is a chicken! I think she is healthy enough although underweight. She seems sad, like the rooster has broken her spirit. What can we do to get her back to her old self? The rooster has been gone for about 2 weeks.

Do you think she might be protein deficient? If she was not allowed to eat for a while, she may not have had any protein, hence the preference for the cheese over carbohydrates. If you would consider feeding meat, you could give her a good bone with lots of meat bits, raw or cooked, on it, or some form of protein...Just a thought.

Thanks for responding and for the advice. We will give her some protein tomorrow. She is one of our first birds and is a dear little thing. I would hate to lose her.
Thanks again. nancy

maybe give her a friend? I gave one of my loner chickens a 4 week old chick and now she is no longer a loner

Thanks for the advice Sultan. If it were warmer I would let her sit on 2 or 3 eggs if she were able. Hopefully we can spoil her and she will put on weight...or she won't. She is a real special little hen and I hope that she will be ok. Thanks again. Nancy

Ya, its got cold here latly but in the afternoon its hot

I think Sultan has a good idea. She needs a friend. Could you find another hen, preferably a small and rather shy one and put them alone together for a while. If they can form a bond, this may be just what your sad little hen needs.

We have the injured Cuckoo Maran in a cage in the house (she is missing a lot of feathers) and DH brought little sad hen in the house for breakfast. The seemed to be happy to see each other and after Mattie's honey treatment we let them both out on the deck to eat. They seemed to encourage each other. BB (big bird, is not such a big bird) went outside with a full crop. It was so nice to see her eat without backing away from the other birds. I think a few weeks of this will do the trick.

thats great!!!!!!!!! im so happy for the lil hen. maybe we should change her name to the happy lil hen

ah, now if that isn't just cute. Have a beautiful day, CynthiaM.