- Oct 23, 2010
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My dark Brahma hen, Zoe, suddenly seems to be acting strange. She's hiding out under a small tree, with her tail tucked downwards, and she's been sitting or standing with her mouth open sort of panting. She's about a year and a half years old, and was acting normal up until the past 20 minutes or so. She gave a couple of loud bawks, and I thought perhaps she saw a predator, because a couple of other chickens started making these soft clucking noises. I didn't see anything though and I went about some chicken chores, and then found her breathing strangely. The breathing seems faster at times with her throat moving rapidly, but sometimes she does seem to be breathing more slowly, but still struggling somewhat. She continues to hold her tail down, and occasionally preen a little bit, but for the most part she's just been staying in one spot. As far as I know she's been eating and drinking normally, and there's been nothing obviously wrong with her until today. Any ideas as to what might be wrong?
