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Empty crop this evening, sleepy girl all day, yawning a bit. Help!!!

Vixabix

Hatching
Feb 25, 2023
3
1
4
My precious girl seems to have been fluffed up all day, not moving about as much as the other girls, sleepy, and she has an empty crop this evening (albeit she did eat a few worms for me this afternoon). Help! What can I do to get her eating? Does she have worms in her throat you think?
 
Fluffed up, lethargic, lack of appetite are symptoms of illness.

Can you get a photo of her? Show her posture and show her eyes. Also, get a photo of her poop on a neutral background so we can see it. Place a ruler next to it so we can judge the size.

What is your location?
What has the weather been?
What do you feed?
Is she free range?
How old is she, Is she laying?
Does she have access to a compost pile?
Any chance of her coming into contact with a toxic substance like insecticide, rodent bait, automotive fluids, etc?
 
Hey azygous, I'll send photos in an hour or so when it's light. But

I'm in Otford, near Sevenoaks in Kent. We've had a bit of a dip in temp this week but nothing heinous, it's 8 in the day, 2 at night. I feed them water with dose apple cider and Heygate layers feed with Flubenvent, plus corn in evenings or a bit of weetabix or oats if it's cold. She is free range with 3 other girls, but no contact with compost or anything toxic mentioned. I got the girls from a battery rescue in November so I have no idea how old they are. I'm 99% sure she's not been laying for months. I have the odd 4 eggs but it's rare.

She did a little poop yesterday, it looked OK in colour etc but then I'm novice! Her vent is pretty dirty tho... I'll send pics shortly.

Thank you so much for any advice. She's in the house in a doggy crate overnight. What do I feed her u think??

No vets would look at her late yesterday, really sad noone would see a chicken 🥺🥺🥺

Update, got some photos, she has eaten tons of egg/rice/olive oil/garlic mix, then some normal food, plus some eggshells, drank her water. Is it likely she was being denied foods by the other girls?? She's the one that gets picked on anyway, the pecking was quite bad initially....?
 

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Good pics. She doesn't appear sick, and the poop is normal. Your guess that this may be related to bullying could be the right one. Here's something you can do to cinch that guess.

Take away all the food from your flock for several hours and then return it. Observe. No doubt this hen will head to the feeder with the others. Watch what they do to her and how she reacts. If they peck her and she almost immediately gives up and wanders away to peck at the ground away from the others, then you have yourself a bully victim who is likely starving.

Right now, give her a cup of warm water with a teaspoon of brown sugar or white, stirred in. This will elevate her glucose and she should then perk up considerably. Then you should find a place for her to eat in peace without competition from the others.

But she would need further help to restore her self confidence and give her the courage to compete for food. This will explain how to do that. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/
 
Good pics. She doesn't appear sick, and the poop is normal. Your guess that this may be related to bullying could be the right one. Here's something you can do to cinch that guess.

Take away all the food from your flock for several hours and then return it. Observe. No doubt this hen will head to the feeder with the others. Watch what they do to her and how she reacts. If they peck her and she almost immediately gives up and wanders away to peck at the ground away from the others, then you have yourself a bully victim who is likely starving.

Right now, give her a cup of warm water with a teaspoon of brown sugar or white, stirred in. This will elevate her glucose and she should then perk up considerably. Then you should find a place for her to eat in peace without competition from the others.

But she would need further help to restore her self confidence and give her the courage to compete for food. This will explain how to do that. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/
This is so helpful, thank you so much!
 

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