Chicken Lethargy

[FirstTimeBYC]

Hi,
One of my hens ~17 weeks had started yesterday evening to go lethargic.
this morning she drank a bit, ate a bit but nothing compare to the rest of her flock who has the same age.
There is no visible signs of disease (combs, eye, wings, cloaca all look fine).
Any idea what should we do?
Best,

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi,
One of my hens ~17 weeks had started yesterday evening to go lethargic.
this morning she drank a bit, ate a bit but nothing compare to the rest of her flock who has the same age.
There is no visible signs of disease (combs, eye, wings, cloaca all look fine).
Any idea what should we do?
Best,

Is she pooping? Can you get some photos of her and her poop?

I'm sorry your pullet is not well. Check her crop to make sure it's emptying overnight.
How long have you had her?

 

[FirstTimeBYC]

We've had her since hatch.
The crop emptied overnight.
I'll isolate her to have a picture of her poop.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Get some photos of her too if you can please.

Has she started laying eggs yet?

 

[FirstTimeBYC]

I will. None of them is laying eggs yet. Could it be a pre-laying behavior?

We try to diagnostic her for egg-bound, but there is nothing obvious when compared to her "sisters".

Here is a pict. The two in back are behaving normally. The one in the front stays static, but can still perch, runs away from us. It is mainly her feeding/drinking/foraging behavior that have severely reduced. Also she is not following her flock. Obviously not easy to see in picture, but we are trying to identify whats wrong asap.

 

[CHlCKEN]

I will. None of them is laying eggs yet. Could it be a pre-laying behavior?

We try to diagnostic her for egg-bound, but there is nothing obvious when compared to her "sisters".

Here is a pict. The two in back are behaving normally. The one in the front stays static, but can still perch, runs away from us. It is mainly her feeding/drinking/foraging behavior that have severely reduced. Also she is not following her flock. Obviously not easy to see in picture, but we are trying to identify whats wrong asap.

I had a hen who suddenly started to act that way. I thought she was egg-bound, however when I took her to the vet we found that she was ill from a genetic disorder that showed up later in life. This is unlikely, I’d your bird sneezing? One of mine was very sick recently and I missed to cleanings on the run bc the isolation cag that my sick bird was in, was very difficult to clean. This made one of my other girls sick because of the ammonia. Since,we have cleaned the coop weekly and replaced the ,mulch as that was much needed. What other symptoms does she have? I don’t assume a crop sickness since you said it was empty- there is a possibility she is egg bound with her first egg but you say she doesn’t seem like that is the case.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The one in the front stays static, but can still perch, runs away from us. It is mainly her feeding/drinking/foraging behavior that have severely reduced. Also she is not following her flock. Obviously not easy to see in picture, but we are trying to identify whats wrong asap.

What do you feed?
You only have one that is acting "off" right?

Hard to know what's going on with her.
I was unsure of laying status, some breeds can begin laying quite early, but with her being an EE, it's unlikely.
Generally even when coming into lay they are active, usually they are more noisy than, maybe go in/out of nesting boxes, etc. but they don't stand around.

I think I would gather her up, direct dose her with poultry vitamins. Watch to see she's drinking well, that she's not getting picked on. Look her over for lice/mites and check to make sure her crop is emptying (again).

If you can get a fecal float to see if Coccidiosis is a problem that would be good.

 

[FirstTimeBYC]

I had a hen who suddenly started to act that way. I thought she was egg-bound, however when I took her to the vet we found that she was ill from a genetic disorder that showed up later in life. This is unlikely, I’d your bird sneezing? One of mine was very sick recently and I missed to cleanings on the run bc the isolation cag that my sick bird was in, was very difficult to clean. This made one of my other girls sick because of the ammonia. Since,we have cleaned the coop weekly and replaced the ,mulch as that was much needed. What other symptoms does she have? I don’t assume a crop sickness since you said it was empty- there is a possibility she is egg bound with her first egg but you say she doesn’t seem like that is the case.

crop was full yesterday. Empty today. No other symptoms (no sneezing, etc...)
The coop is cleaned every other day at worse.

 

[FirstTimeBYC]

What do you feed?
You only have one that is acting "off" right?

Hard to know what's going on with her.
I was unsure of laying status, some breeds can begin laying quite early, but with her being an EE, it's unlikely.
Generally even when coming into lay they are active, usually they are more noisy than, maybe go in/out of nesting boxes, etc. but they don't stand around.

I think I would gather her up, direct dose her with poultry vitamins. Watch to see she's drinking well, that she's not getting picked on. Look her over for lice/mites and check to make sure her crop is emptying (again).

If you can get a fecal float to see if Coccidiosis is a problem that would be good.

We were feeding starter pullet pellet 16% protein + treats like cottage cheese, seeds, corn. Because we were concern she was an early layer and might not have enough calcium, we mix the pellet with leying hen pellet + oyster shell.

She is not being picked on.

We already added vitamin in the water, but did not force her to drink yet.

We will check for fecal float.

 

[CHlCKEN]

What do you feed?
You only have one that is acting "off" right?

Hard to know what's going on with her.
I was unsure of laying status, some breeds can begin laying quite early, but with her being an EE, it's unlikely.
Generally even when coming into lay they are active, usually they are more noisy than, maybe go in/out of nesting boxes, etc. but they don't stand around.

I think I would gather her up, direct dose her with poultry vitamins. Watch to see she's drinking well, that she's not getting picked on. Look her over for lice/mites and check to make sure her crop is emptying (again).

If you can get a fecal float to see if Coccidiosis is a problem that would be good.

I agree, EEs don’t start laying until about 30 weeks, my comment about her being eggbound is wrong, I didn’t check the breed (or look at the photos lol) I think if it where lice or mites that more than one bird would be acting up, but it’s good to look. The fecal float would be good- not everyone’s favorite thing but it could help you determine what the problem is. Could it be worms?