Depressed Sex link!!??

[chickenwoods]

Today when i came back home to my hens i noticed my black sex link standing there with her eyes closed about to fall asleep.

So i went over to pick her up and she didnt want to move or nothing just set there....Usually when i pick her up she responds somehow,(trys to get away,or wants me to pet or scratch her chin)

I went into the barn and all of the rest of my hens followed me in there running,not her, she stays where she is all ruffled up with this expresionless face!

She doesnt have any energy at all, she isnt acting like a chicken any more,more like a Fat old nueterd cat!!(mine)
She doesnt want to move at all just stand there looking like she is in pain,her craw (howere you spell that), was empty by feeling of it,compared to the others thiers was overly full...
I noticed no cuts,scrapes,missing feathers, peck marks or anything like that on her.
What do i do??,what could it be?? She is one of my favorites

 

[SandraChick]

it sounds similar to my sister's chicken who turned out to be egg bound. Feel her abdoment and see if you can feel an egg inside...not too hard...don't want to break it.

Sandra

 

[chickenwoods]

She been laying for about a month now :|

I will feel her abdomen. I hope she is ok,she is one of a kind!

 

[n1st]

Sounds like egg bound to me. I would take her in, massage her abdomen in warm water, then put some oil ( mineral or olive) in and around her vent. Hope she feels better!

 

[chickenwoods]

Do you think she just needs to lay an oversized egg??Shes been laying for bout month.

Iv never noticed this sort a behavior from any of my hens.

 

[n1st]

I still think she's egg bound. An egg with a shell or no shell broken inside of her. I think thats what egg bound is. Have you tried the oil and massaging thing?? A few of our girls (sex-links too) have acted like your girl before and when I did the whole olive oil and massaging thing they felt better. If she still doesn't act normal, feel inside her vent for any pieces of broken egg shell.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Before you start groping around inside your bird, take her inside and set her in the sink with some warm water in it...That will relax her muscles and make it easier for her to lay if she's having a problem.

 

[KrisRose]

I just went through this with my Red Sex Link on Sunday. It did resolve by itself, but poor Splash layed 3 eggs in 4 hours

. Then, as she painfully walked out to free range with the rest of the girls, my Roo Earl jumped her bones . Bad day, I gave her extra grapes.

 

[jag]

What happens if there is an egg broken inside? Wondering if this is happening with one of my hens right now too. She hasn't started laying but could be anytime.

 

[SpottedCrow]

You'd have to get the broken shell out, because she could get an infection if the shell cut her inside.
Usually it's a soft shelled egg that the hen can't push out easily. That's why the warm bath is a good thing...
The most common feature of an eggbound hen is that she stands like she's a penguin, sort of upright. Most of the time they stand parallel to the ground.
If she ploops and it looks like yolk, then an egg may have broken inside her.
If she's eggbound, you can also feel it if you touch her belly.