Hey Everyone,
I went out this evening to do my nightly check on the chickens and close the coop when I noticed that one of my hens, who is normally the first to greet me, was acting very lethargic. She was was moving very slowly, scrunching her neck in, and drooping her feathers. Her comb is also looking a bit droopy. I feed my hens a bit of scratch right before bed to help keep them warm overnight and normally she's one of the more voracious feeders, but tonight she was totally uninterested. She did drink a little bit of water while I was out there, however. I don't hear any labored breathing and her eyes and nose look clear. I just brought her inside and she hasn't pooped since then, so I'm not sure if her stools are normal or not. I felt her crop too; it wasn't hard and didn't feel very full.
Normally I'd think she might have some sort of illness, but she was totally fine just six hours ago when I did my lunchtime check. She was energetic and eating grass.
She was obviously not feeling well, so I made the decision to bring her inside. While I went to go get a crate, she laid a shell-less egg in the coop. I've attached a picture of that to this post. Then, while she was in the crate being transported, she seems to have laid just a yolk. I've attached a picture of that too. The weird eggs make me thing she might be egg-bound or have egg yolk peritonitis, but I'm still a complete chicken newbie so it's just a total guess.
She laid a totally normal egg yesterday, consistently does almost every day, and hasn't had any trouble laying thus far in the 2.5 months she's been laying. Though Friday she did lay a giant egg about the size of my palm that I thought was weird. She eats Purina layer feed and has access to oyster shell, so I'd think she was getting enough calcium.
I've provided some water with electrolytes and as well as some feed and have her in a warm, dark place to rest (since the sun has set here), but I'm not sure what else to do or what might be wrong. Does anyone have any ideas of what might be causing her to feel so rotten or suggestions of treatments to try? She's one of my favorites so I'm a bit of a mess.
I went out this evening to do my nightly check on the chickens and close the coop when I noticed that one of my hens, who is normally the first to greet me, was acting very lethargic. She was was moving very slowly, scrunching her neck in, and drooping her feathers. Her comb is also looking a bit droopy. I feed my hens a bit of scratch right before bed to help keep them warm overnight and normally she's one of the more voracious feeders, but tonight she was totally uninterested. She did drink a little bit of water while I was out there, however. I don't hear any labored breathing and her eyes and nose look clear. I just brought her inside and she hasn't pooped since then, so I'm not sure if her stools are normal or not. I felt her crop too; it wasn't hard and didn't feel very full.
Normally I'd think she might have some sort of illness, but she was totally fine just six hours ago when I did my lunchtime check. She was energetic and eating grass.
She was obviously not feeling well, so I made the decision to bring her inside. While I went to go get a crate, she laid a shell-less egg in the coop. I've attached a picture of that to this post. Then, while she was in the crate being transported, she seems to have laid just a yolk. I've attached a picture of that too. The weird eggs make me thing she might be egg-bound or have egg yolk peritonitis, but I'm still a complete chicken newbie so it's just a total guess.
She laid a totally normal egg yesterday, consistently does almost every day, and hasn't had any trouble laying thus far in the 2.5 months she's been laying. Though Friday she did lay a giant egg about the size of my palm that I thought was weird. She eats Purina layer feed and has access to oyster shell, so I'd think she was getting enough calcium.
I've provided some water with electrolytes and as well as some feed and have her in a warm, dark place to rest (since the sun has set here), but I'm not sure what else to do or what might be wrong. Does anyone have any ideas of what might be causing her to feel so rotten or suggestions of treatments to try? She's one of my favorites so I'm a bit of a mess.