healthy looking hen suddenly standing around

[Gonda]

I have a one year old Lavender Orpington hen who looks like the healthiest of the lot - a very nice red comb compared to her sisters. They all had problems last fall, with worms and coccidiosis, and only half of them survived. They've been doing well, but two have less nice red combs and have a leg problem (leg goes out to the side when they're roosting). This hen is totally normal and seems like the healthiest one. And now she's suddenly just standing around a lot. I noticed that she was breathing faster the other day, so I started giving her ionic silver (directly, by syringe, orally). Yesterday, she seemed more active, moving around more outside, not standing around much, lying in the sun with the others, picking at the ground at times as usual, and her breathing seemed normal. I gave her two more doses of the ionic silver, morning and evening.

This morning, she's just standing around again. Breathing is normal. I see no sign of diarrhea. No sign of mites or lice, skin is nice and clear under the wings and around the bottom. Her abdomen feels full but soft. I did a rectal check - felt nothing unusual, no egg. A tiny bit of fresh stool in the rectum. She didn't object to being poked and prodded so no indication of any pain in the abdomen or elsewhere. She is still feisty in that she tries to get away when I catch her and objects to having the silver injected into her mouth. Seems very strong. I don't see her eating or drinking.

The hens are all acting normal, but the egg production has slowed down in the last few weeks.I don't see any signs of mites or lice on them, and no unusual stools. I haven't changed the feed. We're finally enjoying some nice warm, sunny weather here in the last week, after a very cool wet spring.

Any idea what might be going on?

 

[Gonda]

Thinking about this a bit more, I'm wondering if the egg laying is down because they're growing feathers. They've lost a lot of feathers on their backs and wings, partly due to having too many roosters. We sold a few roosters in the last few weeks and we're now down to one older guy who's not too assertive or active in that department, and a young rooster who was competing with one of the other roosters, so at that time, the hens were getting too much attention. That has really settled now. The hens are wearing "aprons" for some time already, and I do see bare backs still and bare wingtips, but I also see new downy growth so they are re-growing feathers. Maybe that's where the energy is going.

The hen that was standing around has been moving around a bit outside, is lying in the sun now. I wish I could see her eating and drinking. Hopefully she is doing that. I'm going to start giving them some yogurt and some pumpkin seed powder, for extra protein and to increase their gut health. Maybe that will perk them up and help with the feather growing.

 

[Gonda]

I'm still mystified about the hen. She's still not herself - still stands around a lot, holds back when the others run forward to eat. She does venture forward and takes a few bites, picks at the ground or at the feed, but not eating well. Except when offered a cooked egg or buttermilk with bread soaked in it, she did take several bites. She moves around in the run, but then just stands in a corner or off to the side, sometimes in the hunched, chest forward position, but then I'll see her standing straight up with her neck outstretched, tail up, looking totally normal. Her comb is still red and looks pretty straight still, eyes are bright. Goes to roost first. Not laying eggs. I gave her extra water and ionic silver once a day for the last 5 days, and fed her buttermilk with pumpkin seed powder and Vitamin C once a day. She fought well but swallowed no problem. Now I'm not giving her anything extra anymore, as it didn't seem to be making any difference. Just watching her, and puzzled. She's just not herself but no symptoms of anything, other than being less active, and she's not getting worse.

 

[French Chicks]

Hoping you get an answer soon