MeatyCluckers
Songster
- May 22, 2022
- 99
- 141
- 123
Two days ago, our three year old leghorn laid an egg in the morning. It was a normal looking egg for her, not overly large but definitely a large egg. After laying it, rather than leave the nest, she just stood over it. Not nesting on it, but standing over it. Almost in a stupor. She left the nest after an hour or so, and then essentially just withdrew completely from normal chicken-ing. She sort of alternated between standing or lying down (usually next to the watering bar).
I noticed she was withdrawn, so we inspected her, and she did have a poop-y butt, but all dried, and not horrific. No unusual smell or active discharge. No visible signs of mites or lice eggs. We put her in a quarantine coop (which is inside our regular run with the other hens), and offered her an egg and some mealworms and some regular food, and she ate the egg and seemed to peck a bit at the food, but was really pretty unhappy to be separated. Despite seeming unwell on her own, she is a SUPER flighty bird and she does not like being approached or handled or anything new, so she alternated between lying down and pacing. After she had eaten the egg and some food, and seemed to be active in there, I let her out to go to see if she'd roost normally, and she did.
The next day, she didn't leave the roost for an hour and a half after the others did, and then spent the entire day either standing or sitting around without engaging in any chicken activities. She drank a lot of water, and pecked a little at food that was right in front of her (I moved a food container near to where she was hanging out because she wasn't seeking it out), but otherwise she generally just was bleh. She went to bed earlier than the other hens, and left the coop later this morning. Under her roosting area this morning was some clear/mucusy and white/coated liquid stool. I watched her poop a little later on and it was clear/white and dangling almost like egg white consistency. She remains lethargic and unengaged.
It might seem obvious to just collect her and try to separate and try some treatments (vent gleet? broken egg inside?), but she is the most skittish of our hens and truly STRESSES out when she is handled or separated from her happy place, and I am nervous to try any treatments or separate her because of this. Even while she's unwell, if I try to go pick her up she sprints away and it takes several attempts (and usually two people). I'm worried with her seeming unwell, her running around and panicking will make things worse.
That being said I will definitely /attempt/ a soak at minimum to clean off her bottom and try to get a better look at it. I am more looking for advice on what to do *after*. If it's vent gleet (is that something that could just get bad super suddenly?), is there any way to treat without regular topical? If it's a broken egg, is there anything that I can do other than just hope it all passes after a soak? Are there any other illnesses that could cause these sorts of symptoms? It's just so odd because even the night before that egg she was completely fine and active and normal. She's a high energy, typical leghorn type chicken normally.
I live in Massachusetts, and we had an extreme heat wave last week, but she didn't get ill until a few days afterward, so I don't think it's related, but I suppose it could be.
Additional notes: her comb is still bright red, but it is more flopped over than it usually is, and she has no respiratory or crop issues (other than having an empty one from barely eating).
Apologies that this post is a bit lengthy and windy, I just want to make sure I'm doing the best that I can by her and balancing her preferred handling/lifestyle with necessary intervention.
I noticed she was withdrawn, so we inspected her, and she did have a poop-y butt, but all dried, and not horrific. No unusual smell or active discharge. No visible signs of mites or lice eggs. We put her in a quarantine coop (which is inside our regular run with the other hens), and offered her an egg and some mealworms and some regular food, and she ate the egg and seemed to peck a bit at the food, but was really pretty unhappy to be separated. Despite seeming unwell on her own, she is a SUPER flighty bird and she does not like being approached or handled or anything new, so she alternated between lying down and pacing. After she had eaten the egg and some food, and seemed to be active in there, I let her out to go to see if she'd roost normally, and she did.
The next day, she didn't leave the roost for an hour and a half after the others did, and then spent the entire day either standing or sitting around without engaging in any chicken activities. She drank a lot of water, and pecked a little at food that was right in front of her (I moved a food container near to where she was hanging out because she wasn't seeking it out), but otherwise she generally just was bleh. She went to bed earlier than the other hens, and left the coop later this morning. Under her roosting area this morning was some clear/mucusy and white/coated liquid stool. I watched her poop a little later on and it was clear/white and dangling almost like egg white consistency. She remains lethargic and unengaged.
It might seem obvious to just collect her and try to separate and try some treatments (vent gleet? broken egg inside?), but she is the most skittish of our hens and truly STRESSES out when she is handled or separated from her happy place, and I am nervous to try any treatments or separate her because of this. Even while she's unwell, if I try to go pick her up she sprints away and it takes several attempts (and usually two people). I'm worried with her seeming unwell, her running around and panicking will make things worse.
That being said I will definitely /attempt/ a soak at minimum to clean off her bottom and try to get a better look at it. I am more looking for advice on what to do *after*. If it's vent gleet (is that something that could just get bad super suddenly?), is there any way to treat without regular topical? If it's a broken egg, is there anything that I can do other than just hope it all passes after a soak? Are there any other illnesses that could cause these sorts of symptoms? It's just so odd because even the night before that egg she was completely fine and active and normal. She's a high energy, typical leghorn type chicken normally.
I live in Massachusetts, and we had an extreme heat wave last week, but she didn't get ill until a few days afterward, so I don't think it's related, but I suppose it could be.
Additional notes: her comb is still bright red, but it is more flopped over than it usually is, and she has no respiratory or crop issues (other than having an empty one from barely eating).
Apologies that this post is a bit lengthy and windy, I just want to make sure I'm doing the best that I can by her and balancing her preferred handling/lifestyle with necessary intervention.
