Hi all,
We've had this white leghorn hen for about a year. We bought her from a guy who turned out to be somewhat dishonest so we have idea how old she is. Anyway, when we first brought her home she was very perky and skitish, wouldn't let us get anywhere near her. Early on she was a very consistant layer too, a huge white egg every day.
About 6 months ago she stopped laying. At first that was the only change in her behavior. But in the last few months we've noticed that she has been getting more and more docile and weak to the point where now she just sits there and doesn't really move much. We can pretty much just walk right up and pick her up without any fuss. She also doesn't hold her head up at all. The other symptoms we've noticed are that her comb lays flat instead of perked up like it used to and her skin is dry and flakey.
I picked her up and felt around to see if she is egg bound but I didn't find any indication of that. Her eyes and nose aren't wet and she doesn't seem to have any respritory issues. Is it possible that the guy just sold us an old chicken? I wouldn't think that she would all of a sudden just be old in a matter of months.
Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Thank you...
We've had this white leghorn hen for about a year. We bought her from a guy who turned out to be somewhat dishonest so we have idea how old she is. Anyway, when we first brought her home she was very perky and skitish, wouldn't let us get anywhere near her. Early on she was a very consistant layer too, a huge white egg every day.
About 6 months ago she stopped laying. At first that was the only change in her behavior. But in the last few months we've noticed that she has been getting more and more docile and weak to the point where now she just sits there and doesn't really move much. We can pretty much just walk right up and pick her up without any fuss. She also doesn't hold her head up at all. The other symptoms we've noticed are that her comb lays flat instead of perked up like it used to and her skin is dry and flakey.
I picked her up and felt around to see if she is egg bound but I didn't find any indication of that. Her eyes and nose aren't wet and she doesn't seem to have any respritory issues. Is it possible that the guy just sold us an old chicken? I wouldn't think that she would all of a sudden just be old in a matter of months.
Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. Thank you...
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