Advice on lathargic chicken

[cooki2581]

My chicken is acting weird and I'm worried about her. I've had her about 2 months. I'm not sure how old she is, maybe 6 months.She has been laying eggs. the last 3 days she's been acting weird. She's hanging out in the egg laying box most of the day and at night. she's not roosting on her perch at night with my other chicken. When she is let out to run around the garden, she dug in the ground where we put her (normally she walks out of the coop and dust bathes and all that good stuff). we had to pick her up and put her in the garden and she just dug in that spot. She seemed to let out a big fart and started moving around more, but now she's back to laying in the egg box. She hasn't laid an egg in a few days. Does anyone know what's wrong with my girl?

Thanks in advance- rachel

 

[Teila]

Howdy Rachel

What breed of chicken is she? Any chance she could be broody?

 

[Lisa202]

Sounds like she's broody.

 

[csneville]

Ive got a hen acting the same way. my other hen is fine. Im not sure what broody means, but seems to perfectly describe her actions. What is the solution for this?

 

[Lisa202]

There is no solution for broodiness other than letting her hatch some eggs and become a mommy. I always have at least 2 hens that are broody at any given time. Some times they'll be broody for weeks, other times they give up after 1 week (but that's rare). I've read that there are ways to break a broody hen but I just let them have they're way. I'll frequently take them out of the nest to "join the living", but it doesn't have any impact on them other than pissing them off...and maybe getting them to eat a little and stretch their legs. Certain breeds go broody more than others. My constant brooders are my cochins, silkies and EE's. I also have all bantams and I just read that bantams tend to brood more, but I don't know if this is true. People don't like broody chickens because they stop laying when they are broody so they try to break them out of it, but like I said, I don't even try. I don't mind broody chickens because I get to pick them up and hug them more when they're like that. Yes they hate it, but that's okay.

 

[cooki2581]

I have 2 chickens and no rooster, so my girl won't have babies. Is being broody something she will get over given time? Does it mean she is in heat, like a cat or dog?

She was a rescue (she was running around an apt complex) so I don't know what breed she is. I tried to upload a photo once but I couldn't figure out how.

 

[chica01]

I think I am having the same problem. I have a Rhode Island Red that has started behaving oddly. She laid her first egg for us and now she is acting odd. She came out of her coop this morning but she is just squatting in one spot in the yard while the other chicken is out happily scratching the ground and all. The Red seems droopy too. She didn't show a real interest in the greens and goodies I brought out for them this morning. And I notice she keeps opening her beak wide every so often. Does this sound like she is being broody?

 

[Teila]

Hey cooki2581

Chickens do not technically come into heat like dogs and cats. Not having a rooster does not stop your chickens from going broody.

A chicken’s hormones tell her that it is time to sit on some eggs and hatch out some babies. Determined broodie’s will sit on golf balls and rocks etc once the broodiness hits her.

What they normally do is lay a clutch of eggs (fertile or not) over a period of 10 days or so and then they sit on them. They may become cranky and puff up, warn you and other chickens when you go near the nest.

Even if you take the eggs away from her each day when she lays them, she can still go broody. I have had broodie’s sit on an empty nest for a week.

Some breeds never go broody and others are prone to broodiness. Broodie’s do not lay eggs while broody.

While a chicken is broody, on average, she will only leave the nest once or twice a day (anywhere from 5-30 minutes on average) for something to eat, drink and a leg stretch and a very large, smelly broody poop then back to the nest.

For this reason, if you do not ‘break the broodiness’ and she is not sitting on eggs which will hatch in 21 days, she may continue to sit on the nest and loose condition until she becomes unwell and possibly dies. Some people 'break' their broodie's, others leave them to just let the broodiness run it's course and hope that she gives up.

There is lots and lots of information on ‘how to break a broody’ but probably the most popular is to put them in a broody-breaker which is a wire cage with lots of air flow to cool the chicken down. If she is snug and warm on a nest, the broody hormones continue whereas if she is not on a nest and has cool air the drop in temperature drops the broody hormones.

I will not go into all the details as it would take forever, but a quick search will definitely answer any questions you have on breaking a broody.

chica01 in my opinion, your hen does not sound broody.

You mention she laid her first egg. Any more after this? I have not heard of a hen going broody when laying her first egg but then I guess anything is possible.

When broody hens are in the yard they usually eat as much as they can and have a bit of a run around before going back to the nest. A broodie's wattles and comb will fade in colour which is her way of letting a rooster know she is 'not available' but none of my broodie's combs have gone droopy.

Your hen might actually be unwell. The opening of the beak and general lethargy could be an indication of sour crop or impacted crop. Gape worm can also cause a chicken to open their mouth wide and stretch their neck. How long ago did she lay the first egg and has she laid since? Does she appear to be straining at all? She could be egg bound.

A good indicator that your chicken is unwell is their poop. A broody will not poop while on the nest so when she takes a break she lays a huge, smelly poop. If your hen is unwell she may have very watery poops.

I am not an expert on what ails chickens but I have had to deal with sour/impacted crops and egg bound gals in the past. Some of the things your chicken is doing is similar to those my chickens have done when unwell, not when broody.

 

[csneville]

Im not sure what broody looks like. Mine is starving herself to death i fear. She laid her last egg three days ago so this was quite sudden. the other hen is happy as a clam