Do chickens nap?

[Ajb1952]

I have a Cinnamon Queen hen that has been “napping”. She doesn’t lay eggs, I’m not sure if it’s because she was malnourished when we got her or if she is older than the previous owners told us. I was told she was between 1.5 - 2 years old. I do see my other Rhode Island Red hens nap occasionally when doing their dust baths.

Do chickens nap?

Seeing the picture that you attached, your hen is definitely sick! When a chicken is ruffled, standing alone, tail and wings drooped, head down and eyes closed, she is quite sick. Chickens tend to hide illnesses as long as possible, so by the time you see these symptoms, they are well into advanced stages of disease. If you can, you might want to take her to an avian vet, as there are a number of illnesses that these symptoms are associated with. If you are not able to take her to an avian vet, perhaps you could get a fecal sample and take it to any vet for analysis. If it is coccidiosis, try to treat her with Ivomec or some black walnut hull extract which you would give her twice a day. I wish you good luck with this, and hope your hen gets better with treatment.

 

[PurpleCArTires]

She looks sick to me also. I had a "rescued" 6 older ladies from a butcher farm, and one (we called sleepy) would just sit in the corner like that and "nap" for days. She ate a little too, We only had her for abut a week, when she was "napping" and she got attacked because she didn't run. We ended up putting her down. She had next to no meat on her bones, she was soo thin. We gave her to the dogs after butchering her. Makes me wonder what sort of meat this "butcher farm" we got her from is selling .

I would have tried some ACV or Grape Seed Oil. That's what I usually give me chickens when they are feeling "down" or "sniffly". Haven't really had this problem with the other girls we rescued, although its been 6 months or so, and they still don't produce well and are pretty skinny, so this is now their retirement home.

 

[MsSueT]

She looks sick to me—that hunched over posture isn't a sign of a healthy hen, especially with the ongoing diarrhea. I've had girls behave that way for quite a long time before they got too sick to get better. She may be eating, but if you can feel her breastbone poking out at all, that's not a good sign, either. Couldn't find a comment here that said whether she was coughing or had a runny nose or eyes.....

She may well have internal issues, as mentioned—reproductive problems or even cancer. It happens, sadly, and not much you can do. External parasites are also a possibility—mites or lice will suck the life out of a hen. (There are a number of excellent articles on this site that will help you find, identify, and treat for these bugs.)

I would like to offer another (random) possibility. This poor hen may well be suffering the (possibly fatal) ill-effects of being a solitary hen in the company of TWO roosters. One, she was probably very lonely for female company and inspiration, and two, she was probably the object of the alpha roo's attentions multiple times a day. I get the feeling the previous owners might have given up on caring for their chickens, as there is really no need to have ANY roosters, much less two; bumblefoot (and parasites) is easily preventable with good habitat maintenance; and a single hen is simply a sad and terrible mistake. It's good that you got more hens. If she is still alive, I would keep her with the other hens. Unless she is failing badly, she might actually be at the top of the pecking order. Good luck—it sounds like you are well on your way to becoming a great chicken keeper.

 

[WyncoopFlockMom]

I also have lost some to ovarian cancer. One had such a blockage it caused sour crop. Poor thing was miserable. Took to vet & they put her to sleep. I then took her to WA research bird center & they did a necropsy to make sure it was not something contagious. Hate to see anything suffer. Yes it was costly but I don't mind paying. They bring us such joy

That’s horrible! I’m so sorry for your loss. I’m just at my wits end with worrying over her. She looks fine one day and then hunched over another day. I try not to get too upset with myself because I’m new at this. Takes time to gain knowledge.

 

[WyncoopFlockMom]

You might (if you are interested) see if the vet would let you watch the procedure. My chicken vet (who does home visits) taught me several things and will even have me do some things on my own (like administering medications or how to hold them to examine them). It did a lot to boost my confidence as a chicken newbie.

I hope the best for your one who is not feeling well. I have a laboratory relatively close to me where I can take poop samples and they will do a parasite check for like $12. But I'm sure your vet can advise you.

I never thought of that! Those are some good ideas, I will look into a place like that or maybe my vet can send off her poop to see what’s going on and ask my vet if he does home visits.

 

[WyncoopFlockMom]

Honestly there are so many explicit, step by step, easy to understand videos out there on how to do the surgery for the bumblefoot. Personally, I would do it myself. A vet is going to charge a LOT. I know we couldn't afford a vet, and after seeing multiple videos, if you have the right supplies all at the ready like someone here advised, you and hubby can do this! Lots of help here too.

Update on Pimp:
My vet was going to charge around $60-$100 for the bumblefoot surgery. My husband decided to try it himself. He has watched a ton of YouTube videos on bumblefoot surgeries and I bought the supplies. iodine, chlorohexadine, epsom salt, tweezers, triple antibiotic ointment, gauze, rubber gloves and surgical pliers (found in the fishing section).

We are expecting a really bad storm this week and have been prepping his coop area and the main flocks pen and coop to weather the storm. Hoping to do the surgery this Friday. I know that seems like a long ways away but we want Pimp to recover in his own area to reduce his stress level. I did get some Melaxacam for pain and an antibiotic in case his foot doesn’t heal and it’s worse than expected. I plan on holding him while my husband does the surgery part. We are going to ask a friend if they can assist my husband since none of my girls are willing to help (even though they all watch Greys Anatomy ). I’m terrified because I could only read the article sent to me by Eggsentric. I don’t do well with the site of blood and injuries of any type. I feel like Pimps bumblefoot is pretty extensive and not just a fresh cut. I’m sure everything will go fine. I’m just having new chicken mom jitters.

 

[frostic]

Mine are lazy little peckers. they nap all the time when bored they will jump up on me and be loud and annoying till I turn off the light then they will lay down and chill out till i turn on the light. they dictate to me when they want a nap. they crazy LOL

 

[WyncoopFlockMom]

Seeing the picture that you attached, your hen is definitely sick! When a chicken is ruffled, standing alone, tail and wings drooped, head down and eyes closed, she is quite sick. Chickens tend to hide illnesses as long as possible, so by the time you see these symptoms, they are well into advanced stages of disease. If you can, you might want to take her to an avian vet, as there are a number of illnesses that these symptoms are associated with. If you are not able to take her to an avian vet, perhaps you could get a fecal sample and take it to any vet for analysis. If it is coccidiosis, try to treat her with Ivomec or some black walnut hull extract which you would give her twice a day. I wish you good luck with this, and hope your hen gets better with treatment.

Update on Gloria:
We had 2 days of good weather, last Thursday and Friday. In which Gloria ate a whole egg that was laid in the coop, each day!! Now I don’t know if one of the other hens laid it and it cracked or if she started pecking at it, but the whole egg was consumed. The nesting boxes are clean, dry, and warm, and I even have a spa blend in there for them, so it was weird that they laid the eggs in the coop and not the nesting boxes. None of the other hens are eating the eggs or exhibiting signs of illness.

Anyways, during these 2 days of warm weather she acted fine. She walked fine, seemed happy, she was eating and drinking water, no diarrhea that I could see. Then when the weather turned cloudy and our area is gearing up for rain and thunderstorms from Monday to Thursday, she started acting “sick again”. Her feathers are fluffed like she’s trying to stay warm, tailed tucked, shoulders hunched, eyes closed, she even twisted her head around to put in her feathers, closed her eyes to nap here and there. She switches placing in the roost almost every night so I’m trying to track her nightly poop.

I will call my vet to see if they can analyze her poop.

I also was able to pick her up last night and felt under her fluffy feathers. I thought I felt an egg but wasn’t sure. I went to bed very disheartened. This morning I had 4 eggs in the nesting boxes so I started picking up my girls that I thought had laid their eggs and even the one that I think doesn’t lay. All but one was soft and squishy. I felt Gloria again but although she was firmer than than the other girls I didn’t feel an egg. I also don’t see diarrhea in their pen or where she’s been at night.

What scares me the most “Chickens tend to hide illnesses as long as possible, so by the time you see these symptoms, they are well into advanced stages of disease.”

I haven’t seen or heard of the Ivomec or some black walnut hull extract but need to confirm what she has before I start giving her stuff. I will put those remedies in my book of knowledge though, thank you!

 

[Birdielee]

2 comments about the overall pimp situation. Since he has bumblefoot and he's lived there on your property, his feet got cuts there. It would be good to look around and try to eliminate whatever he got cut on before your new hens get cut feet.

Also, as you know, some people eat chickens. They taste good. I hear roos are good when cooked with wine. Happily, their feet don't hurt anymore at that point. It's another option.

 

[WyncoopFlockMom]

She looks sick to me also. I had a "rescued" 6 older ladies from a butcher farm, and one (we called sleepy) would just sit in the corner like that and "nap" for days. She ate a little too, We only had her for abut a week, when she was "napping" and she got attacked because she didn't run. We ended up putting her down. She had next to no meat on her bones, she was soo thin. We gave her to the dogs after butchering her. Makes me wonder what sort of meat this "butcher farm" we got her from is selling .

I would have tried some ACV or Grape Seed Oil. That's what I usually give me chickens when they are feeling "down" or "sniffly". Haven't really had this problem with the other girls we rescued, although its been 6 months or so, and they still don't produce well and are pretty skinny, so this is now their retirement home.

I’m so sorry to hear about your girl. I put some Braggs ACV with Mother in my Walmart pick up order for tomorrow. Going to put some in as soon as I get home. I’m totally fine if she doesn’t lay eggs and she loves out her days with us. Even my rooster with the bumblefoot is now considered a pet.