My chicken just stands under a shelter in the run!

JanPaulchicks

Chirping
Apr 7, 2015
61
4
89
This hen, a Rhode Island cross, is not looking good! She gave me an egg 2 days ago. Now she just stands and hunches her head into her body.
I'm not sure if she has eaten.
The temperature sored to 30,s centigrade over last 2 days here in UK and now it's a cool 20 C.
What could be wrong?
Jan
 
Offer some vitamins and electrolytes in her water on very warm days. She could be dehydrated or be suffering heat stress. Check her crop to see that it is emptying normally by early morning. Feel of her breastbone and lower abdomen for loss of weight or any fullness. Has she been wormed recently? Flubendazole is a very good dewormer in the UK. Also check her skin for signs of mites and lice.
 
She was wormed a few months ago and no sign of mite bits, have mite powder all over inside of coop and nesting boxes last week.
I'll try to feel her crop but it does look larger than normal, usually she doesn't let me pick her up
Have bought Vit boost + by net tex today for extra water containers. Both flocks have it now, 4 hens and 6 12 wk chicks.
Thanks
 
I massaged her a few times today and she seemed to really enjoy it as she was leaning towards my arm. I managed to take a photo and her crop is really distended, a real hard lump!
She may not last the night.....
700


She didn't drink that I could see or eat when I was around.
:-(
 
Try to get her to drink water by dipping her beak or holding up a small container to her beak. Water to flush out the crop is best for her now, not food. Check her crop in the morning when it should be empty. Sometimes a large clump of long grass can get stuck in the crop or they can swallow something too large that gets stuck. Here is some information about treating crop problems:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/impacted-slow-and-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments
 
Thanks
She died overnight. RIP Missy

Still can't work out what she ate.
We another hen die last month. They were both 3 years old (not 2)
 
Sorry for your loss. Sometimes it may be good to perform a necropsy on your dead chicken to look for any blockage in the crop, proventriculous, gizzard, or in the intestines. It's not that difficult to do, and it helps you learn the cause of death. Sometimes there can be blockage farther down than the crop. I once found a lockage of sunflower shells in the gizzard of my hen who died after 2 days of illness. Grass or foreign objects can also be a problem.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom