Hen’s tail down, sitting often. Help!!

[MichyA]

My Swedish Flower Hen, Flora (orange and white) hasn’t been herself this week. She appears to be healthy and alert....she has an appetite and I watch her make her way to food and water each day. She will lay down by the water/food and eat/drink while sitting.

She’s constantly sitting and her tail is down. I gave her a nice bath yesterday and checked her vent. She doesn’t appear to be egg bound. She seems to have lost a little weight, but not so much...she isn’t too thin. She will walk a few feet, and then her tail goes down and she lays down. Please check out the video I posted to see what she’s been doing. In the video I threw some scratch to them...as you can see she made her way over to eat...but doesn’t remain standing for long. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Greetings MichyA,

I watched your video, and yes, your girl is not well.

I have a hen with the same physical behavior, that I am currently treating. But, before going into her diagnosis it would be helpful to get more information.

Can you tell me her age, and when was the last time she laid an egg? Also, can you upload a photo of a recent poop?


God Bless

 

[slordaz]

Sounds like she may have parasite overload, has she been de wormed lately?

Also Check vent and feather area for lice and mites as they are external you can see indications of them unlike worms that are internal. Lice and mites can cause anemia in a chicken

 

[MichyA]

Greetings MichyA,

I watched your video, and yes, your girl is not well.

I have a hen with the same physical behavior, that I am currently treating. But, before going into her diagnosis it would be helpful to get more information.

Can you tell me her age, and when was the last time she laid an egg? Also, can you upload a photo of a recent poop?


God Bless

She was hatched the summer of 2017. When I brought her in to take a bath she did a normal poop and then after her bath when I took her back outside and she did a very watery poop... it didn’t even look like poop, looked like clear fluid, but I thought maybe that had something to do with the bath?

I saw her in the nesting box yesterday but I can’t say for sure whether or not she laid an egg since I have 25 hens. I’ll try to get a picture of poop for you.

 

[MichyA]

Sounds like she may have parasite overload, has she been de wormed lately?

Also Check vent and feather area for lice and mites as they are external you can see indications of them unlike worms that are internal. Lice and mites can cause anemia in a chicken

I did apply invermectin to her feathers on her back earlier this summer. I looked and didn’t notice any mites or parasites. Her vent appeared to be opening and closing but was clean.

 

[slordaz]

you may need to isolate her for a day to make sure if she is laying or not

 

[Eggcessive]

I would try to see if she is laying, and if you are off this weekend, you might check often to see if she is going in the nest boxes. Separate her in a dog cage for a couple of days if needed, but leave it in the coop. Watch to see if she can get up to her roost at night, and comes off in the morning. Hens who suffer from reproductive disorders such as internal laying or who have ascites, may lose balance and prefer to sit down. I would make sure that she is getting some human B Complex vitamins 1/4 tablet daily, or you can use another chick vitamin that contains riboflavin. If you have any pictures of her droppings, post some. Hens with repro disorders can sometimes have yellow droppings that look like egg or cooked egg.

 

[MichyA]

you may need to isolate her for a day to make sure if she is laying or not

Thank you, that’s a good idea.

 

[MichyA]

Ok so I looked her over carefully.... she has no visible external parasites. I also took a picture of her poop...and her vent in case that is helpful.

 

[slordaz]

hmmm poo don't look right, worms you won't see in poop though without a microscope, is there a way to take a sample of poop to a vet for a fecal float test?

Even my broodies looks normal poo just bigger amount