A few chooks not able to get up

bwokbwarrk

In the Brooder
Apr 20, 2017
4
0
15
Golden bay , west Australia
Hi backyard chicken gang, i just have a quick question...
I have 16 hyline browns all just starting to lay, everything's been great so far, lots of yard to run in, a nice coop to lay in and always plenty of water and food, a shade house and perches galore, it's really a chooks paradise! But lately 2 of them have just layed down (with their legs hanging out to the side) and wont move, kind of like me when the wife and kids aren't home! Ive asked my mum and she says its nothing to worry about and they'll come good in a few day's but im still curious why and is this common with anyone else?
 
When mine sunbath they are moving all over the place kicking dust up over them and using their heads wings and legs . Then they lay down in it as they make a shallow hole that their body fits in. This I think is part of the way they cool off. Almost like a dog in a mud puddle, they love taking dirt baths as I call them.
 
Can you get pics? How long have they been like that? Do they not get up at all? What's their movement like? How are the other chickens, in general, and toward the two that are down? Where are they laying down at?
 
When mine sunbath they are moving all over the place kicking dust up over them and using their heads wings and legs . Then they lay down in it as they make a shallow hole that their body fits in. This I think is part of the way they cool off. Almost like a dog in a mud puddle, they love taking dirt baths as I call them.
That's a dust bath, which is a different behavior than sun bathing.
 
Hi everyone, Thank you so much for your replies and im sorry I didn't get back to anyone, it's been a rough week and ive had some login issues..
It's not sunbathing, they do that quite often, these 2 girls just wouldn't move, that night we waited till after dark and we had to pick them up to move them into the coop with the rest of them.
The next morning they were a little sluggish but by the afternoon you couldn't tell which 2 were sick.. very strange.
We still don't know what it was, i guess they were just sick? I thought they were gonnas! But there's nothing else I could do, they already get the best of everything, they live better than me!
 
Some of mine do this during molting.

I'll think they're dying, only to be ok the next day.

Ive nicknamed one of mine Lazarus because for the last 2 years she's "died" during molting.

My rooster molts VERY hard, especially his first year. He gets really sluggish, won't move, lies in one spot, usually the coop, I've found that feeding them sweetened yogurt and boiled eggs helps perk them up a bit.

I'm hoping it's something as simple as that.
 

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