Broody hen won't eat or drink

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rebrascora said:
I'm afraid I think your young pullet may be sick and is seeking sanctuary in the nest box rather than wanting to brood. This occurred to me, as well.
You say that she is unsteady on her feet and that rings alarm bells with me as she is the right age to be vulnerable to Marek's disease.She did eat medicated feed til she started laying. Isn't the medicated for Mareks? (sorry these are my first chickens) Another possibility is that she is egg bound although you have checked for that. Has she actually started laying eggs yet and if so, how many? She has been laying beautiful blue eggs for about three months, about 3 a week I'd estimate. It's unlikely she would go broody if she has only laid one or two eggs or hasn't actually started yet. It's also not a good time of year if you are in the northern hemisphere and a novice broody hen of that tender an age is unlikely to be very successful in winter, so might be worth breaking her and hoping that she will become broody at a more appropriate time of year

Another possibility is that she has been kept from the food and water for some time by a bully hen and her system is shutting down,,,,I have three feeding stations for 11 chickens, so they all get to eat. I also scatter food and treats so they don't have to compete for food. that would also make her wobbly on her feet. Has she pooped and if so, what is it like. Broody poops are huge disgustingly smelly dollops. If you get one of those I will be very pleased to hear it, but my concern is that you will get a thin watery poop, possibly white or green. Her poops have been scant, green, with a little white at the edges.
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I've had hens that were at deaths door fight me with amazing strength when trying to feed and treat them, so don't let that in itself fool you into thinking she is well. Check her condition. Can you feel her keel bone and is it sharp or reasonably well covered? If sharp, that's another indication that she's ill rather than just broody. I will have to check on that. Her crop is empty. But I'll have to find a diagram so I know where to feel for a keel bone.

Really hope I'm wrong, but there's something in your post that just doesn't sound right to me.

Good luck with her either way.

Watching a broody hen raise chicks is the best chicken entertainment there is, so I hope you get to experience it.

Best wishes

Barbara
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donrae said:
I'm also thinking you might post in the Emergencies/Diseases section. This really does not sound like a broody hen to me. My broodies are always voracious eaters when they're off the nest. If I take them off, it does take them a few minutes to come out of their broody trance, but then their behavior is normal or more aggressive than their baseline, not lethargic and uninterested in food or water. This does not sound like typical broody behavior to me.
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Oh dear. thank you.
 
Green droppings are not normal for healthy chickens. I have to say I am another one that thinks this is not broodiness. Every broody hen I have ever had has been very crabby. If you are handling her and she seems submissive, this hen is sick.

To tell if her keel bone is normal, catch one of your other hens and feel her breast bone. Then compare the breast on your sick hen. Do you have a way you could weigh her?
 
enola said:
Green droppings are not normal for healthy chickens. I have to say I am another one that thinks this is not broodiness. Every broody hen I have ever had has been very crabby. If you are handling her and she seems submissive, this hen is sick.

To tell if her keel bone is normal, catch one of your other hens and feel her breast bone. Then compare the breast on your sick hen. Do you have a way you could weigh her?
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She is not crabby at all. She's not a crabby hen normally, she's docile. But for two days she's been beyond docile, all the way to pathetic. Her crop/breast area is empty. I will weigh her in the morning. I also have a picture of the little bit of poop she made since yesterday. (small spot, for perspective, that's a TOWEL, not a shag rug) The color is a bit off-- it's hunter green and white. My understanding is that much white stuff is related to her being dehydrated.



Since it was mild weather today, I fixed up a 2x2 wire caged area for her in the coop. She was not interested in her food, her water, or the rest of the flock, even when I threw scratch around. But around dusk, after she had slept all day, and the flock came in to eat before roosting, she seemed to improve. I was texting back and forth with the vet, and had just said she would not eat and drink. Well Agnes stood up and took one single bite of food, looked around-- pretty alert-- looking at the other hens then drank quite a bit of water. She was on her feet, and sort of pacing, like she wanted to come out and be with them. I take this as a good sign. It's only dropping to 60 overnight, so she is spending the night out. My hope is that in the morning I can get her to eat a little egg yolk and see her drink some more.
 
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Merry Christmas Eve Eve. Last night Agnes had started to drink a little, so I was encouraged. This morning she was standing up, eating and drinking. Not 100%, but a vast improvement.
I let the rest of the flock out, and picked her up to feel her crop-- it was not stuffed full like an end of day crop, but it was not empty either. I closed the coop door to keep the others out, and gave her freedom within the coop (10x11) so I could see whether she could move well, or was wobbly. She moved normally, and decided to indulge in a dirt bath. She did NOT attempt to go back to a nesting box. She felt well enough that once the coop was cleaned, and her confinement area enlarged to 2x4-- I could not catch her. She was too quick/active. I had to use the net to catch her and put her back in her little pen.

I carefully observed the other 10 and they have no symptoms of anything other than being perky, happy chickens. I put electrolytes and vitamins in everyone's water. I have Corid on hand-- a few weeks ago I had a suspected case of coccidiosis after heavy rains/muddy conditions so treated the entire flock. Thoughts on whether I should treat again "just in case"? Would it hurt anything, to do another round just in case?
 

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