Hen Acting Different Than Normal

[autumnbee17]

I have a hen that just recently that will have her head really close to her body and would even walk like this around the yard. It started on Saturday. She is eating and running around when I bring treats to the coop. She hang out with my other hen that has loss some tail feathers. Another thing is when I was petting her a couple night ago she had this far look in her eye and did not know that I was petting her or she was being pet. When she noticed I was petting her she freaked out. She does hang out with my other chickens.

This hen is an Easter Egger; her sister and her are both 4 years old and have probably given me 13 eggs combined between them.
Also it has been snowing and being really cold where I am at.

Any idea what might be wrong with her or is she fine.

 

[azygous]

Can you post a video to You Tube and then copy the link and paste it here? That will give us a visual of her behavior.

Has she just gone through a very hard molt? Is she underweight, lighter than she should be?

 

[autumnbee17]

Can you post a video to You Tube and then copy the link and paste it here? That will give us a visual of her behavior.

Has she just gone through a very hard molt? Is she underweight, lighter than she should be?

She is in normal weight for herself. I checked her crop and it is a little full. Do you think it is the weather messing with her. Normally she is the first out of the coop and first in the coop at night.

 

[azygous]

Check the crop in the morning. It should be flat and empty. Is her poop normal?

 

[autumnbee17]

Check the crop in the morning. It should be flat and empty. Is her poop normal?

Her crop is empty in the morning and her poop is a little watery.

 

[azygous]

Is she becoming any more lethargic? Is she eating as she should? Is she napping more than usual?

 

[autumnbee17]

Is she becoming any more lethargic? Is she eating as she should? Is she napping more than usual?

She is not lethargic. She is eating and drinking like normal. She is napping outside under one of my benches. Today she was standing out in the middle of my coop yard and just staying there with her wings dropped. When I was walking them to put them up she was struggling to go over a small dish. She also hides behind my water can when everyone else is walking in.

PS: When she was 3 she hurt her leg getting off the roosting bar. The injury had left her struggle with walking around and jumping but she was normal so I did not think anything about it. She does not have the same personality she had before hand.

I can not tell if she is losing color in her waddles or comb because she has no waddles. Her check fluff is covering her eyes a little bit (do you think this is the problem?) her sister (same age and breed) is running around and acting normal. So I came at a lost of what is wrong with her.

 

[azygous]

It could just be the cold weather causing her to stand around fluffed up. My chickens are doing that, except for the five youngest who race around regardless. (Kids have no sense.)

I suggest you keep an eye on her over the next few days. Watch her behavior and her poop. Check her crop each night to be sure she's been eating, and check it in the morning to be sure it's functioning. If it's just the cold weather, she should perk up once we move out of this miserable cold.

 

[kiwi-chick]

How is she doing now?

 

[autumnbee17]

How is she doing now?

She still stands by the water dish. I think because the young chickens are really crazy all the time and she moves a little slower than anyone else (has done that since she was little -- always the first to go to bed and last to leave the coop). Her wing is no longer dropped as of tonight. She is still walking slowly and talks to me non stop if I am really close by her. I check this morning and she is not egg bound (which was not a concern to me because her sister and her only produce together 13 eggs in 4 years) but I was just checking to rule out certain possibilities.