Chicken acting strangely, not her usual self

[seminolewind]

An egg!

 

[Avalon1984]

That is great news and will help us narrow down the problem.

So you are saying she is eating and drinking.
He laid an egg.
He did a big poop.

She doesn't want to come out of the crate.


Could chickens have a fever, or some sort of infection? That would be my next guess. Is she drinking unusually more?

 

[LestersFlat]

She doesn't seem to be drinking too much, but then I never actually paid close enough attention to see how much is normal to drink.

If you go back to my initial post, I still think that she was either attacked by something, or handled roughly by the roo who still doesn't know what he's doing. I hate to say it, but he's a little slow, poor boy. Today was the first time we heard him crow, although he still has some practicing to do before it's a real cock-a-doodle-doo! He is still very much henpecked by all the girls, including Sweetie, and maybe now that the hormones are kicking in he is trying to establish himself as the man about the house.

I guess my real question is: should I leave her in the crate until she wants to come out, or should I take her back to be with the others and see how she does?

UPDATE: ABout a half hour after this post, I went out to check on her and she was on her way back to the coop. She was almost there, but confused by the fence and couldn't seem to get in. So I brought her in, and she was poking around looking pretty normal. The other girls and roo came running when they heard me in there, and Roo promptly mounted her. Not in the coop for more than a minute or 2 and he was on top of her. Hard to tell if he was successful, he was only on there for about 5 seconds, but he is definitely a clumsy boy. She didn't seem much worse than before, but she did hide in the nesting box when he jumped off.

I think I am just going to have to keep an eye on the "love birds". It's a tough combination, she is sweet and docile, he is a teenage boy...

I'll keep you all posted on her progress.

 

[Featherland26]

She could have egg pertinitus which can be caused by stress so the normal egg making process has gone wrong so the egg moves into the tummy instead of out the hen this leads to infection which could be why she is ill, signs are swollen, hard tummy

 

[seminolewind]

Could it be possible to lock him up until she's fully recovered?

 

[LestersFlat]

Probably easier to lock her up again, but that is definitely a possibility. I can't even catch him to pick him up...but I suspect that I will win if I try hard enough. I could catch him tomorrow night when I put them to bed.

As for the egg peritonitis, her belly isn't swollen, so I don't think that is the problem.

I'll keep an eye on things and report back tomorrow.

 

[welasharon]

Can you use something like plastic stepstool or something else low that she can get under to get away from him? That he can't get under with her?

 

[LestersFlat]

I don't have a stepstool, but that is a very good idea.

When I went out there tonight to close up the coop, all of them were in their favorite places, roosting and ready to go to bed. Except for my poor Sweetie—she was on the floor, in the corner, under where they were roosting. I was afraid to leave her and come back in the morning to find her covered in poo, so I brought her back to the garage for the night.

I think she will be fine in time, but I feel more comfortable stealing her away at night and allowing her to return when she is ready during the day. If this becomes an ongoing problem, I may try to rehome the roo. There is a farm across the road who may be willing to take him.

 

[LestersFlat]

I think Sweetie is going to be separated for awhile. She has a limp, favoring one foot. There isn't any visible injury, but she won't put the one foot on the ground. I'm guessing that's the reason that she couldn't make it up to the roost last night.

Can a chicken have a sprained ankle? Broken toe? Anything I can do to make her more comfortable?

For now, she is out in the coop but confined to the crate. The husband doesn't want to keep her separate from the rest, doesn't like her being in the garage. First thing Roo did when we brought her back this morning was to jump on top of the crate. Seems he considers her his little woman. I will wait to see what he does without her to pick on. I really don't want to get rid of him, but if he is going to hurt my girls, I might have to...

 

[LestersFlat]

I think my poor Sweetie either has a broken leg, or sprained/strained something. There are ways to make a splint, but I can't even find if there is a break, so I am going with the other option which is to let her heal on her own. She may end up with a limp, or a crooked leg, but I think that's better than making her suffer more with me trying to play doctor.

I was going to try to keep her in the crate, which is in the coop now, but today when I went out to check on her, she made it clear she wanted to come out. She is walking on the bad foot/leg, and ventured outside even though Roo was out there, close by. She promptly went under the "awning" (part of a car roof propped up on cinder blocks) and settled down with the other 3 hens in there. By the time Roo realized she was out, she was protected enough that he couldn't get to her. So he settled down right next to her, waiting (I think) for an opportunity.

All but Sweetie eventually got bored and wandered off (they free range during the day). I thought she was going to stay in her safe spot, but when I finally left, she followed me out of the fence and made her way across the driveway to the usual hangout, the barn next door. She is actually walking pretty good compared to before, but definitely with a slight limp and a slower gait. I thought about following to see how she does when and if she finds the rest of them, but I can only supervise for so long. I either have to lock her up, or let her go. For today I am letting her go.

The real issue is going to be what to do with Roo? I am pretty sure Sweetie is the only one he has tried to mate with, probably because she is the sweetie and the easiest to approach. Now that she is gimpy, it will be even easier. But if he hurts her again, or one of the others, I am afraid I will have to send him to auction.