BCM resting often

[Zwillingsmama]

I have 5 chicken, they are 18week old. 1 BCM, 1 SS, 1 BR, 1 EE, 1 OE. My BCM is the biggest of my girls, probably about 1# heavier than my smallest. For the last couple of weeks I see her much more than the others resting, while the others forage. Otherwise she appears totally healthy, uninjured... Just wondering if this is normal behavior or if I should worry.

 

[aart]

An inactive bird can be a sign of illness.
Is she eating(crop full on roost at night)?
Poops look normal?

Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?
-Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.
-Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.
Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.
-Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

 

[Zwillingsmama]

An inactive bird can be a sign of illness.
Is she eating(crop full on roost at night)?
Poops look normal?

Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?
-Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.
-Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.
Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.
-Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Thanks for your response. She eats, poops normal walks normal no limp or anything. I checked for lice/ mites and she is clear, I can’t see anything physically wrong with her other that she is sitting down a lot. Yesterday she was sitting in the middle of the lawn pecking grass while the others did the typical chicken foraging. While checking for mites I picked her up and she is significantly heavier than the others but I don’t know if that is her breed or maybe the reason for her sitting so often. I attached a picture of her maybe that helps.

 

[aart]

Well, they are big bodied birds.
The couple Marans I have had were fairly active, tho maybe a bit slower than others.
Have you checked her belly(from below vent and down between legs) for any swelling?
Her activity level may just be different.

If I have a bird that I am concerned about...
I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so you can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

You can do this just at night for a few days, take them off roost just after full dark, check crop, put them in crate with water available, check crop in morning, observe overnight poops....then let them range during the day. Repeat a few times.