EE Hen 3 years old next month... not active like the others but.....

[bayareapilot]

I have one EE hen that I've been keeping an eye on for at *least* several weeks - btw she's at the top of the pecking order so she rules the roost so-to-speak.

She's not as active as the others, noticeably so.. Her plumage looks fine, her nostrils and eyes are clear and nothing unusual in the vent area. No obvious signs of being distended or anything. She eats and drinks. It is just that she will just kind of stand in one area without doing very much. She does occasionally poke around the ground like the other hens, but nowhere as often as the others or her 'sister' EE. No one bothers her since she is the 'queen hen'. She isn't bunched up, she just stands normally in various spots and carries herself normally when she walks. Right now while I type this, she's just standing in the sun next to one of the feeders.

I have cameras in the coop that feed to a 24 hour dvr and when I run the video at 16x speed she is kind of the still point amidst all the activity although she does move about from time to time. Just scratching my head... I do notice that her cheek tufts (she is an EE) sit a little higher than the other EE hen I have. Not so much that she couldn't see, but it must restrict her vision to some degree - don't really think/know this could be germane, but I thought I'd mention it.

Any ideas?

 

[Eggcessive]

Does she lay eggs? Is her tail position up or down? When you pick her up, feel her breast tissue and note if she has lost weight. Feel of her crop to see if it is empty, full, hard, or puffy. Check to see that it is emptying overnight. Have you wormed her recently? What is she eating? Will she come to eat if you offer some chopped scrambled egg or other treat?

 

[WIchickMama]

I am wondering if she is just slowing down due to being older in age?

 

[bayareapilot]

Does she lay eggs? Is her tail position up or down? When you pick her up, feel her breast tissue and note if she has lost weight. Feel of her crop to see if it is empty, full, hard, or puffy. Check to see that it is emptying overnight. Have you wormed her recently? What is she eating? Will she come to eat if you offer some chopped scrambled egg or other treat?

Both of these EE's lay very infrequently and this time of the year they usually stop altogether, although one is still laying, but this hen is not. Her tail carriage and posture are all normal. Her plumage looks great, eyes and nostrils and vent look clear. No discernible weight difference when picking her up. Like I mentioned in my post, she eats and drinks normally and absolutely heads over when I toss out their morning treat. She eats what the others eat which is the Nutrena general flock feed (for mixed flocks) and has plenty of supplemental oyster shell available. I've actually never wormed any of my chickens - my uncle who has a hobby farm in Indiana told me that his vet told him that people tend to overdo the worming of chickens, in general, even when there are no visible symptoms in the vent area, etc.. So, based on what I've seen I really don't think parasites are involved.

 

[bayareapilot]

I am wondering if she is just slowing down due to being older in age?

I must admit I was kind of wondering that but three years old isn't that old for a ee I don't think?

 

[Eggcessive]

Since she is acting sluggish and less active, worming is one thing that could make her feel better, and it is safe. Sounds like they have never been wormed before, so this would not be overdoing a wormer. Valbazen and fenbendazole (SafeGuard, Panacur) are 2 safe ones. Take in some fresh droppings to your vet and ask them to run a fecal float test, and you could rule out worms or other parasites.
In hens 3 years and older, they can have reproductive issues, such as internal laying, salpingitis, cancer, ascites, and other problems. It is hard to know exactly what is wrong. Many of my hens have lived 10 years, and when I lose one earlier, I usually do a necropsy, and try to figure out what was happening.

 

[WIchickMama]

I must admit I was kind of wondering that but three years old isn't that old for a ee I don't think?

I know chickens can live a long time, but I think just like people some can have health issues or just slow down early. It was just a thought. Could she be going through a soft or slot molt?

 

[bayareapilot]

I know chickens can live a long time, but I think just like people some can have health issues or just slow down early. It was just a thought. Could she be going through a soft or slot molt?

It would have to be a VERY soft molt because her feathers look great. What is a slot molt?

 

[bayareapilot]

I have one EE hen that I've been keeping an eye on for at *least* several weeks - btw she's at the top of the pecking order so she rules the roost so-to-speak.

She's not as active as the others, noticeably so.. Her plumage looks fine, her nostrils and eyes are clear and nothing unusual in the vent area. No obvious signs of being distended or anything. She eats and drinks. It is just that she will just kind of stand in one area without doing very much. She does occasionally poke around the ground like the other hens, but nowhere as often as the others or her 'sister' EE. No one bothers her since she is the 'queen hen'. She isn't bunched up, she just stands normally in various spots and carries herself normally when she walks. Right now while I type this, she's just standing in the sun next to one of the feeders.

I have cameras in the coop that feed to a 24 hour dvr and when I run the video at 16x speed she is kind of the still point amidst all the activity although she does move about from time to time. Just scratching my head... I do notice that her cheek tufts (she is an EE) sit a little higher than the other EE hen I have. Not so much that she couldn't see, but it must restrict her vision to some degree - don't really think/know this could be germane, but I thought I'd mention it.

Any ideas?

UPDATE: Yesterday afternoon I thought I'd try offering a mini seedless watermellon figuring that the added hydration she'd get from it couldn't hurt. So, I split in half - each half at a different end of the run area. She first took a few bites and then just went to town on it and spent the rest of the day consuming it (along with her flockmates). About 40 minutes or so after she had begun eating it in earnest she perked up significantly.

I was curious how she would be this morning. She's certainly not 100 percent but she is SIGNIFICANTLY more active. In fact, a couple times today she did a 'hop-fly' up to one of the high roosting bars in the run - she hadn't done this for a fair while. She does occasionally take a break but not like before; she goes back to foraging, drinking water eating food etc. Not out of the woods but so far MUCH better. Started wondering if all that melon she ate (and she had a lot of that including the liquid in the melon) got things moving along in her digestive tract. Part of the reason I tried the mellon is that I was wondering about something called 'dry crop' - I honestly don't know if that's what was causing all of this but I figured the extra hydration and nutrients she'd get from the watermellon couldn't hurt.

I'm cautiously optimistic of course,, but whatever it is I was glad to see her closer to her normal self than she had been the past weeks. Hopefully this trend will continue. Anyway, just wanted to update y'all on Lucia's progress.

 

[Eggcessive]

Melon is a good thing to give to get more fluids into them. Maybe she was dehydrated? Make sure that the others are nit keeping her from eating or drinking. Cockerels or roosters can do that as well as higher pecking order hens. Hopefully she is still the head hen.