I have a hen who has been acting 'off' the last couple of days. She hasn't laid in a bout 3 days, where as before she was an every day layer. She did take a couple of days off during mid winter, but I can usually count on her to give me an egg every day.
She has been acting a bit slow for about 2 days. Not her usual chipper self. Her crop was hard and definitely had food in it this morning, but not overly extended. I didn't get out to check on her today until around 930 am so she'd had time to eat. It is much harder though than her buddies crops today. I have seen her eat and drink this morning while I was out there also. I added some Poultry Cell to their one waterer & she drank some of that. She went after the clump of grass I threw to her buddies before I could hold her back too. I checked to see if she had a bad odor from her beak and she doesn't.
She does hang out with the flock although from time to time she lets them leave her sight for a bit which isn't normal for her. She's the top hen and likes to be in control of EVERYTHING. lol Yesterday I found her alone in the coop on the floor in the pine shavings under the poop board. She was awake, just still and puffed up a bit. When she's outside, she will stand still, puff up/shake and kind of lower her tail for a short period of time, but when she starts moving around again she puts it back upright. She doesn't stay still for long and does still move around more than not. She just has never had the bouts of stillness.
I checked her for lice/mites & she's clear. Her vent isn't abnormal or inflamed though she does have some urates on her butt feathers but not a lot. There is no bad smell from her. I felt her belly and it doesn't feel like a water balloon. I didn't feel any hard mass like she could be egg bound either. She's not standing upright when she walks so if she was I would think she'd be doing that by now or worse.
Her eyes are bright and clear, comb color is normal, feet/legs look good. She does vocalize, and will assert herself to the subordinates. I did notice she has a few feathers falling off here and there, but nothing extreme. She does send some flying when she does her shaking/ruffling/puffing up.
Nobody is picking on her. Could she just be going through a slight molt? None of my girls really seemed to go through a very bad molt and the oldest are 2 years old now. She did just get over a slight case of Bumblefoot a month ago. She is walking fine on that foot now.
Is there anything I should do preventative wise in case she's got something else going on? I am going to put her and her bestie in the old coop tonight that doesn't have the auto door on it. That way I can get out there and check her in the morning before she eats because I have to open the door on that one.
She has been acting a bit slow for about 2 days. Not her usual chipper self. Her crop was hard and definitely had food in it this morning, but not overly extended. I didn't get out to check on her today until around 930 am so she'd had time to eat. It is much harder though than her buddies crops today. I have seen her eat and drink this morning while I was out there also. I added some Poultry Cell to their one waterer & she drank some of that. She went after the clump of grass I threw to her buddies before I could hold her back too. I checked to see if she had a bad odor from her beak and she doesn't.
She does hang out with the flock although from time to time she lets them leave her sight for a bit which isn't normal for her. She's the top hen and likes to be in control of EVERYTHING. lol Yesterday I found her alone in the coop on the floor in the pine shavings under the poop board. She was awake, just still and puffed up a bit. When she's outside, she will stand still, puff up/shake and kind of lower her tail for a short period of time, but when she starts moving around again she puts it back upright. She doesn't stay still for long and does still move around more than not. She just has never had the bouts of stillness.
I checked her for lice/mites & she's clear. Her vent isn't abnormal or inflamed though she does have some urates on her butt feathers but not a lot. There is no bad smell from her. I felt her belly and it doesn't feel like a water balloon. I didn't feel any hard mass like she could be egg bound either. She's not standing upright when she walks so if she was I would think she'd be doing that by now or worse.
Her eyes are bright and clear, comb color is normal, feet/legs look good. She does vocalize, and will assert herself to the subordinates. I did notice she has a few feathers falling off here and there, but nothing extreme. She does send some flying when she does her shaking/ruffling/puffing up.
Nobody is picking on her. Could she just be going through a slight molt? None of my girls really seemed to go through a very bad molt and the oldest are 2 years old now. She did just get over a slight case of Bumblefoot a month ago. She is walking fine on that foot now.
Is there anything I should do preventative wise in case she's got something else going on? I am going to put her and her bestie in the old coop tonight that doesn't have the auto door on it. That way I can get out there and check her in the morning before she eats because I have to open the door on that one.