- Oct 13, 2011
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Hi all. I am new to the forum and to chicken keeping. I have recently adopted an ex battery hen (approx. 4 weeks ago) and up until today she has been very active.
She is on her own (soon to be rectified) has a coop that measures approx. 2 1/2 feet x 3 feet by 4 feet. Her bedding is dust free wood chipping bought from a pet store. We feed her with layers pellets (in a feeder available all day) with some grit mixed in and a handful of corn at the start/end of each day.
She has been laying every day since we got her, and laid this morning but the egg was quite pale and had a rough shell. She spends most of the day in a four foot x four foot run, but we let her out for an hour at the end of the day and she has a good run around the garden. She is normally very active and runs around alot, but today she has been very lethargic and doesn't seem to want to come out of her coop. I lifted her out the coop to check her over and she pretty much just stayed where I put her and then wandered back into her coop. She has eaten some corn from my hand and had some water, but isn't showing her normal level of activity.
Her eyes are clear and I cannot see any discharge from her beak. Her poo is a bit runnier than normal as well.
Am I doing the "new parent" thing and panicking over something insignificant or is there something wrong. I have searched on the internet and the symptoms seem to suggest anything between being broody and death being imminent.
Please can someone offer some advice?
Thanks in advance. Chris.
She is on her own (soon to be rectified) has a coop that measures approx. 2 1/2 feet x 3 feet by 4 feet. Her bedding is dust free wood chipping bought from a pet store. We feed her with layers pellets (in a feeder available all day) with some grit mixed in and a handful of corn at the start/end of each day.
She has been laying every day since we got her, and laid this morning but the egg was quite pale and had a rough shell. She spends most of the day in a four foot x four foot run, but we let her out for an hour at the end of the day and she has a good run around the garden. She is normally very active and runs around alot, but today she has been very lethargic and doesn't seem to want to come out of her coop. I lifted her out the coop to check her over and she pretty much just stayed where I put her and then wandered back into her coop. She has eaten some corn from my hand and had some water, but isn't showing her normal level of activity.
Her eyes are clear and I cannot see any discharge from her beak. Her poo is a bit runnier than normal as well.
Am I doing the "new parent" thing and panicking over something insignificant or is there something wrong. I have searched on the internet and the symptoms seem to suggest anything between being broody and death being imminent.
Please can someone offer some advice?
Thanks in advance. Chris.