Chicken isn't drinking and is getting dehydrated!

[Egg_cited]

Last night I found one of my 4 year old easter eggers acting very slow and lethargic. Head down not much movement. I gave her some water and electrolytes and it boosted her up. In a couple hours she was fine! She has done this before and I'm worried that she's just not drinking in her own. This morning she is completely normal. I let all the girls out everyone but her went to drink. She eats fine and crop is good. They have been in this coop for over a year now so she obviously knows where the water is. I forgot to mention that she tends to get this at the end of the day. Any tips are appreciated.

 

[Egg_cited]

@azygous @Eggcessive

 

[azygous]

What is your location? Environmental factors have a lot to do with chicken behavior and health.

Has it been very hot?

What are you feeding your chickens? Including treats and scraps and scratch.

How do the others treat this hen? Have you watched how she interacts with them?

 

[Egg_cited]

What is your location? Environmental factors have a lot to do with chicken behavior and health.

Has it been very hot?

What are you feeding your chickens? Including treats and scraps and scratch.

How do the others treat this hen? Have you watched how she interacts with them?

It actually has been fairly cool this week. In the °70 -°80
I stopped giving them as much treats but have gave them mealworms before. She is the highest in the pecking order so she doesn't get pecked away from the water or anything.

 

[azygous]

She may have something else going on then, such as a reproductive issue. Is she laying regularly? Are any of her eggs coming out with thin shells or shell-less? Does she spend long periods on the nest to get an egg laid or coming off the nest without producing an egg?

If you do not know the answers to those questions, try observing her laying habits for a few days. This could be what's behind her strange behavior.

 

[Egg_cited]

She may have something else going on then, such as a reproductive issue. Is she laying regularly? Are any of her eggs coming out with thin shells or shell-less? Does she spend long periods on the nest to get an egg laid or coming off the nest without producing an egg?

If you do not know the answers to those questions, try observing her laying habits for a few days. This could be what's behind her strange behavior.

Oh I think that's exactly what she has. She sits for a long time without laying an egg. How do I treat that and how does that happen?

If she is eating and acting normally should I be to concerned?

 

[azygous]

She can be eating and acting normally and still be developing a reproductive problem. These are usually caused by a calcium absorption deficiency, sometimes by tumors. The former is easily treated, the latter, not.

Get some of this if you're in the US. I find it at Walmart.

Give her one whole tablet directly into her beak (no crushing or dissolving, once a day for the next three or four days. Then keep a close eye on her behavior. When you see her pulling the slow and lethargic act, pop one calcium citrate tablet into her beak immediately. This will urge the egg on out and she should then feel her normal self right after.

This is something everyone who keeps layng hens needs to keep handy in their run. One tablet immediately in the beak when you see a hen spending way too long on a nest or behaving as if she were drugged instead of her usual behavior can prevent much worse problems from developing. This doesn't take the place of oyster shell. It's just for brief periods when a hen is struggling with her egg laying.

 

[Egg_cited]

She can be eating and acting normally and still be developing a reproductive problem. These are usually caused by a calcium absorption deficiency, sometimes by tumors. The former is easily treated, the latter, not.

Get some of this if you're in the US. I find it at Walmart.View attachment 3234378Give her one whole tablet directly into her beak (no crushing or dissolving, once a day for the next three or four days. Then keep a close eye on her behavior. When you see her pulling the slow and lethargic act, pop one calcium citrate tablet into her beak immediately. This will urge the egg on out and she should then feel her normal self right after.

This is something everyone who keeps layng hens needs to keep handy in their run. One tablet immediately in the beak when you see a hen spending way too long on a nest or behaving as if she were drugged instead of her usual behavior can prevent much worse problems from developing. This doesn't take the place of oyster shell. It's just for brief periods when a hen is struggling with her egg laying.

Got it thank you! I hope it isn't to late to give it her since it been going on for a couple of months. But I'll go to Walmart today and get it asap. Also will she not choke on it? Will crushing it not be necessary?

 

[Egg_cited]

Got it thank you! I hope it isn't to late to give it her since it been going on for a couple of months. But I'll go to Walmart today and get it asap. Also will she not choke on it? Will crushing it not be necessary?

Adding to that is there any vitamins or supplements I can give her? Or is that not necessary

 

[azygous]

Chickens have no teeth because they do not need them. They are used to swallowing large things whole, such as mice and lizards. Large pills are a problem to some of us humans because we rely on our digestion beginning as we chew and before we swallow. Chickens' digestion begins after they swallow.