BO Hen acting different - no visible injuries

[mcjessen]

On Saturday the neighbors little yappy lap dog dug under our fence and chased my three chickens. Luckily, hubby was home and caught the dog in time. Total damage: 4 feathers lost on Nelly (BO).

My other BO, Beatrice is now acting weird. Hubby didn't think the dog got to her at all - other than chasing her. She didn't free range most of the day yesterday but slept on the ground under a bush in our yard. Normally, I never see them sleeping anywhere in the yard. They like to sleep on the patio step. Beatrice was slow to come for treats yesterday too. No limping and nothing visibly out of the ordinary. This morning, she wouldn't come off the roost in the coop and was still there when I left. She's about seven months old and has been laying normally for two months. I did get an egg from her yesterday. And I did see watery poops on the patio yesterday and saw her poop watery once so I'm assuming the watery ones are hers.

The other two girls are acting as they normally do and I got eggs from them yesterday as well.

Does anyone have any thoughts on Beatrice's behavior? Could she just be exhausted from being chased? What are your thoughts on the watery poops?

 

[binders]

Have you looked her over for any obvious wounds? She may have been hurt by the dog before your husband was able to get in there. I would look her over carefully and see if I can find anything. If I don't see anything I would keep an eye on her. It might just be thr fright from what happened. Sorry I don't have any better suggestions. Hopefully someone else will see this post and give you some better advise.

 

[anderson8505]

Hmm. Maybe she's scared. Eating & drinking? BTW, is the neighbor's dog situation under control? Mine grew up with yappers in the yard and out, so dogs don't affect them much, but she could just feel insecure about being outdoors. Good luck.

 

[mcjessen]

Will look her over well tonight. I did a quick scan of her yesterday and she was acting ok in the morning. Normal behavior and not a feather out of place. I noticed the different behavior in the afternoon when she was sleeping on the ground.

I gave the girls some scratch last night as a treat and although she was slow moving into the run, she did eat it. I'm assuming she's drinking fine too.

Yes, the dog situation is hopefully taken care of. More rocks propped up on her side of the fence and boards will be place horizontally on our side. The neighbor felt awful and had actually come over a couple weeks ago and told us she noticed her dog digging and had taken precautions. On a side note, the chickens do antagonize the dog as they "bark" back at it and don't move away from that side of the yard.

Just talked to hubby and he said Beatrice was out of the coop and in the run with the other two. He said she looks normal. Hmmm.... will continue to watch her.

Thanks for the input.

 

[sourland]

For some reason she was probably just stressed more than the others. Just keep an eye on her.

 

[mcjessen]

Update on Beatrice.

Noticed this evening that her tail is not sitting as erect as normal. Her comb has fallen to one side. She's puffed up a bit and is moving pretty slowly. I picked her up and sat her in my lap to exam her. She sat quietly. She has never sat in my lap, even as a baby. Her crop feels empty and I didn't feel that she was egg bound. I did notice that when I was feeling around the area below her vent she pretty much leaned into my hand and laid down - kind of like maybe what I was doing felt good. I didn't find any injuries from the dog that got in our yard last Saturday - I think he just chased her. Her poops are somewhat runny with lumps of solid. She is not scratching around in the flower beds like the other two. I don't know if she drinking anything.

I'm not sure what is going on with her. I did feed her some scrambled eggs earlier this evening and she was very gentle when taking the pieces. The other two girls practically ate my hand along with the eggs. I had to lock them in the run so Beatrice could eat in peace. I put all the girls in their run at dusk and Beatrice went right into the coop and straight to the roost. I stood and watched through the window and she was trying to sleep right in front of me - something she never does. She hung her head to sleep and I had to knock on the window to make sure she was ok.

I have been giving a small amount of scratch as treats on a daily basis at bedtime. Their morning treats consist of a rotation of raw sunflower seeds, scratch, lettuce, banana, spinach and apple. I've noticed that their pellets are not being as quickly as they have been in the past week.

I'm worried that I'm going to go out in the morning and find that she's fallen off the roost and died in the middle of the night. I don't want her to suffer if she's in pain.

Anybody have any thoughts??

 

[shelleen]

Wow, I hope she's OK. I have only had some hens get "lost" last winter for several days & they were cold, frostbit & hungry. I also had a roo attack a banty roo--bit his comb, pulled feathers out & messed up his eye. All I did for him was isolate him in a kennel for several days. Trauma is easier to deal with than a mystery illness, I think. I'm sorry I don't have any advice, you have done all that I would have.

Good luck & keep us posted.

 

[egglicious]

My dog attacked my chickens a couple weeks ago. Two eventually died. They went into shock and though they were not badly hurt that I could tell, they just "gave up". The rest of the flock acted pretty weary for about a week. Finally a couple days ago they are active and back to normal. They were spending a lot of time resting/hiding.

I would not leave her outside in the coop, but bring her in and put her under the heat lamp with some really good treats and water with electrolytes and vitamins. Make sure she gets lots of protein. Baby her a lot. Maybe bring a friend in too to keep her company.

Good luck!