Dying of old age?

[craigb]

We have an 8 yr. old white Brahma who is acting strangely, very lethargic. She stopped laying abruptly, and with our other 8 yr. old, that happened gradually. Meryl (Streep) wants to be on the nest box all the time. Since it is getting hot in OR ( so far high 70’s, heading to the 90’s) in order to get her to drink, we have picked her up off the nest box, which she doesn’t like, but she is not aggressive toward us. Reluctantly she goes down the ramp and drinks, then wipes her beak excessively. She eats a little bit from the feeder, scratches herself a lot, and goes back up. When treats appear, she is more interested in hassling the other girls (since she is the boss chicken) than eating the treats, She doesn’t come down for treats, which is very unusual for her. When she is in the run, she fluffs herself up but looks like she hasn’t been grooming herself. Other girls sometimes get in the box with her to lay, but she doesn’t budge. She hasn’t taken a dirt bath as often. Is she broody? She sits on the box whether or not there are eggs. Is she dying? She has been acting this way for a week,

 

[FeatherTay]

What does her poop look like?

 

[FeatherTay]

Have you checked if she is egg bound?
‘She could be dying, since 8 years is about average for a chicken.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We have an 8 yr. old white Brahma who is acting strangely, very lethargic. She stopped laying abruptly, and with our other 8 yr. old, that happened gradually. Meryl (Streep) wants to be on the nest box all the time. Since it is getting hot in OR ( so far high 70’s, heading to the 90’s) in order to get her to drink, we have picked her up off the nest box, which she doesn’t like, but she is not aggressive toward us. Reluctantly she goes down the ramp and drinks, then wipes her beak excessively. She eats a little bit from the feeder, scratches herself a lot, and goes back up. When treats appear, she is more interested in hassling the other girls (since she is the boss chicken) than eating the treats, She doesn’t come down for treats, which is very unusual for her. When she is in the run, she fluffs herself up but looks like she hasn’t been grooming herself. Other girls sometimes get in the box with her to lay, but she doesn’t budge. She hasn’t taken a dirt bath as often. Is she broody? She sits on the box whether or not there are eggs. Is she dying? She has been acting this way for a week,

Can you take a video of her actions? Upload to youtube and provide a link.

From your description, she sounds broody.
Check her really well for lice/mites since you mention scratching herself.

 

[craigb]

Thank you. We gave her a bath and closed the door to the house where the nest boxes are just at night. It’s been hot here, about to get 3 days over 100. All the girls slept on the roost bar with cross breezes inside the coop. She seems much better now, behaving like her old self. Phew.

We are setting up all kinds of ways to keep them cool. Their run is under a big fir tree, nice and shady, with some good dust for dust baths.