Possible silly question... why is one of our silkies such an awkward chicken?

[jillianjo]

We have 6 13-week old silkies, as well as a flock of other hens. One of the silkies, who I’m pretty sure is a pullet (I believe at least 3 are roosters) is, for lack of a better word, derpy. She is always last to come out of the coop, and when she does she tends to stand away from the other chicks and stare off into space. The others will be pecking around, doing normal chicken things, and she’ll be standing there not moving like a weirdo. She will occasionally join them in their foraging and will always be in the silkie pile at night, but during the day she’ll often be alone (for example, if the other silkies are out in the run, she will often be inside the coop). She is not bullied or picked on by any of her siblings, nor by any of the other chickens in the flock. She doesn’t seem to be “on guard” while the other chickens graze, but rather just in her own special world. We thought maybe she couldn’t see we’ll because of her crest so we trimmed it a bit for her.... but nope, she still stands around looking like the awkward smelly kid who can’t fit in with the cool kids in high school. She’s been like this for as long as they’ve been outside full time, so it isn’t a new behavior change.

Is she just shy? Am I overthinking this?!? Lol she just seems like such a dork. Like is it possible for chickens to have developmental delays or be intellectually disabled? She’s adorable, sweet, friendly, and very easy to catch and hold because of how slow she is, but I can’t help but get the feeling that she’s not “all there”. I’ll add a video so you can see what I mean. She almost looks like she has narcolepsy, is that a thing in chickens? Don’t get me wrong, she’s wonderful and we love her, but eventually the silkies will be integrated with the rest of the flock and I don’t want them to end up picking on her.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Does she have a vaulted skull? Sometimes they can be different. Sometimes it can be because they got pecked in the head and have a bit of brain injury. Sometimes it's because they can't see well, trimming the crest may help.

 

[chickens really]

Does she have a vaulted skull? Sometimes they can be different. Sometimes it can be because they got pecked in the head and have a bit of brain injury. Sometimes it's because they can't see well, trimming the crest may help.

....

 

[JurassicBawk]

I was going to ask about her being able to see until you addressed that. I rescued 6 Polish from a teenage grow out pen where the other birds were attacking their heads. One girl in particular was the worst off, and I thought she was an idiot because she did like yours... just laid there and let them attack her head, would hang out by herself in her own little world, barely foraged around and would just stand there. I finally realized that she just couldn't see anything with her crest feathers completely covering her eyes, so her only range of vision was straight down. And I was worried about possible brain damage because her little head seems to stand so high up. After trimming up her entire crest she's turned into a whole new confident bird. She stands up for herself even to the 8 pound EEs, became the leader of the Polish, and now runs up to me wanting to be picked up so she can ride around on my shoulder or head.

Good luck with yours, and hopefully she's just got a different personality but will be fine. Being "not all there" isn't a bad thing as long as they can still function and the others allow them to function.

 

[JurassicBawk]

It wouldn't let me edit and add these so adding here. This is my little 'special' girl, Pearl.

 

[SueT]

I have a yr old D'Uccle hen that acts like that. None of the 9 other chickens like her even the 4 she grew up with. They don't peck her, but they mutter something and she moves away. She is not allowed to participate in any of the chicken activities. She stays off to the side even when free ranging. When it's time to go in to roost, she waits until everyone else is quiet, and then peeks in the door to make sure the coast is clear. She's our only D'Uccle, and as far as I know she has never laid an egg. She's a quiet little oddball....