Hen tucks head under other chickens

[maryn7]

Maybe this is a common thing, but I haven't been able to find it searching (lots of posts about chicks going under moms, so maybe lost in the results).

Last year, we got my LB as a 12-week-old replacement friend for a lone hen. After a long intro period, they finally started roosting together - by then, it was winter. And I noticed that the first couple nights, the LB would shuffle the hen all the way to the wall and then put her head under the skirts of the hen. Exactly like a chick trying to get under her mom. I saw her one night really trying to put the *whole bird* under there, but the hen fell off the roost (and was also dominant enough to tell her to knock it off after that indignity).

We got four chicks in the spring and the original hen died in the summer. The LB is now sort of head of the pecking order in this flock of five; she seems to share duties with the RIR pullet.

Recently, I've seen the LB do the head tuck thing with the pullets a few times during bed check. But after our big cold snap week before last, she seems to be doing it most nights.

It seems like whichever bird makes the mistake of getting to her left at bedtime, she's got them up on their claws with her head underneath between their legs. It seems to happen most to the RIR and her Australorp bestie (and third in the order) - but that may be because the LB won't let the other two settle near her; she doesn't like them much.

It is *very* silly looking. You walk into the coop in the dark and there's this enormous white head between the legs of a grumpy looking pullet. And they may work it out after I leave; we don't have cams.

But my only concern is that the impacted bird might not be able to warm her feet adequately. The LB is tenacious about it - anyone to the left is getting smushed against the wall until her head is under someone.

Is this a thing? Should it not be a thing (and if so, how do I break her of this habit?)?

 

[alinas2010]

Do you think she wants to be the one next to the wall? I see 2 of my 4 hens do what you’re describing, but it is only when they want to be closer in, not the one on the end. If the hen they’re doing it to moves, and they get her spot, they seem fine. Only my 2 red ones do this. I always thought it was to try to take the ones spot that they’re ducking under. Not for sure, but I know it stops and everyone settles down when the light goes out.

 

[maryn7]

Hmm. That makes sense, but I don't *think* that's what she's doing. I just watched the whole going to bed process, and when the one on the left wouldn't let her settle under her, she turned to the one on the right.

The Australorp was so irritated, she jumped down to a lower perch and went around to the LB other side.

Tomorrow night I'll try putting her all the way at the end and see what happens. What you say makes sense. But I get the feeling she wants a warm head and doesn't care how she gets it.

Every one of these birds is weirder than the last - except for the Australorp, who is just the most easygoing girl. She was fully like, "This sucks, I'm off" this evening.

 

[alinas2010]

Lol that is strange. Chickens are so funny. I have no idea. Maybe it is a pecking order thing, or maybe she does want the cuddles. As if bedtime isn’t chaotic enough!

 

[maryn7]

Absolutely. We do not need this extra level of chaos every evening.

 

[maryn7]

Well... it's not her wanting to be along the wall. I put her on the roost next to the wall on the left during the bedtime ruckus, and she tracked my EE four feet down the roost to the right. Like a big, white heat seeking missile.

Then the EE got into it with the pullet she doesn't like. Everyone was mad.

The wannabe chick is finishing up her molt (not a bad one). Maybe she'll knock it off when she's feeling warmer all around.

They're chaotic - I'm just going to leave them to it. And hope that the pullets will protect their feet if it comes to it.

(the related posts below are also showing me that I've written a couple times about this specific bird demonstrating strange behaviors. She was a rescue, was in a cage on her own at a feed shop for a while, and has had a lot of change in her little life; I think she just has some poor boundaries. But I'm not investing in bird therapy, so the pullets will have to manage.)

 

[FC16]

Well... it's not her wanting to be along the wall. I put her on the roost next to the wall on the left during the bedtime ruckus, and she tracked my EE four feet down the roost to the right. Like a big, white heat seeking missile.

Then the EE got into it with the pullet she doesn't like. Everyone was mad.

The wannabe chick is finishing up her molt (not a bad one). Maybe she'll knock it off when she's feeling warmer all around.

They're chaotic - I'm just going to leave them to it. And hope that the pullets will protect their feet if it comes to it.

(the related posts below are also showing me that I've written a couple times about this specific bird demonstrating strange behaviors. She was a rescue, was in a cage on her own at a feed shop for a while, and has had a lot of change in her little life; I think she just has some poor boundaries. But I'm not investing in bird therapy, so the pullets will have to manage.)

I think it probably was due to her being cold as I had the same thing with a bantam I had, she had an awful molt and also was picked on by a few hens which left her very bald and cold.
one night when I went to lock them away I noticed her trying to bury her head underneath my leghorn, I took a picture.

 

[maryn7]

Yup - that's the position, all right! Your leghorn looks as annoyed and baffled as my pullets.

Ready for this molt to be over (though she's at least done it in two stages, so she doesn't have any bald patches like your poor bantam). Hopefully she knocks it off once it warms up a bit. Thanks, all!

 

[Jenbirdee]

time to wake up this thread! one of my hens tucks her head under the other hen’s feathers at night and I’m wondering why? Could her head be cold? They both are just finishing up their molt.

 

[K0k0shka]

I have two hens that do this to some degree, and none of the others do. They are my two Barnevelders. One is very low in the pecking order (second to last), the other is pretty high, so that doesn't seem to be a factor. I haven't really been able to figure out why they do it. They both have extremely tiny combs, which are great for winter, so not like they have a lot of exposed flesh that gets cold... Plus they do it in warmer weather, too. To me it looks like they are trying to get to the other side of the chicken they're tucking under. I have a camera in the coop and always check on them before I go to bed (which is WAY past their bedtime), and they are always neatly roosted, without anybody being under anybody else, so whatever that drama is, it seems to be temporary and only during the settling down stage - they don't stay like that for the night.

One especially prominent and adorable context in which I've seen this from one of the Barnevelders is when she shared mothering duties with one of the other hens. They went broody at the same time and I gave each a handful of day-old chicks. They decided to merge their broods and raise them together as a parenting team, which was amazing to watch. So when they were settling down for bed in the evening, they'd sit next to each other with the chicks under them, and the Barnevelder would try to shove herself under her partner as well! The other hen was quite the enabler, she never protested and just let it happen. In that context, it really did look like the Barnevelder was trying to get under the other hen, not just around or to the other side, though I'm not really sure why. The two are hatch-mates of the same age, they hatched together almost 4 years ago and grew up together, so they see each other as peers, not like one was significantly older and helped raise the other, and they have that dynamic left over... Even during that brooding stage though, eventually they'd settle down and sleep normally for the night, the Barnevelder didn't remain under the other hen for very long. It was adorable!