eHen not interested in food, acts slow and lethargic

[fiddleblue]

My 7 month old Silver Laced Wyandotte is acting odd: I saw her sitting on the roost during the day a couple days ago, eyes closed. Then, noticed today she's not interested in food. All the other girls eagerly push forward to eat the chicken scratch: she stays back, not interested. She pecks at grass but doesn't eat it. She does seem to be eating some oyster shell grit, which I forgot to keep giving the hens all along, and started providing for them again this week after finding several broken eggs that had had soft eggshells. She generally acts slow and lethargic, her behavior is not like the other hens. I checked her vent and it seemed lubricated and nothing stuck in there. I didn't feel any lumps in her, but don't exactly know where to look for an "eggbound" problem, which I read about on this site and the symptoms seem similar to hers. What should I do?

 

[kyrose]

im know expert on this subject but if you think she may be egg bound i know i read on here to soak her in a warm bath and massage her.maybe someone with more experience can give you better advice..good luck..

 

[fiddleblue]

Thank you for your feedback. I will watch her and if she keeps acting odd will try to bathe her and massage her. I've never tried that with a chicken before and I'm suprised to hear it recommended, as I would have thought they would protest like crazy being immersed in water. This morning I saw her eating so maybe she's coming around and will get better herself....