Hen acting sick

[bodefamily]

Hi all,

My 5yo (?) Buff Orpington is acting differently. Usually she "crows" in the coop until I come let her (and her 7 coop-mates) out, but for the past two mornings, she has made little to no noise. She seems listless, though she is drinking and pecking at food.

They have been fed Purina Laying pellets, are in an enclosed run, get some scratch in the mornings as a treat. She has been laying an egg every other day for two years now. She is in the coop with a flock of younger hens (Orpingtons and Barred Rocks) that are four months old. They all seem fine.

Yesterday morning I found yolk on her beak and on her wing. She has not been making noise like usual. Her crop is full, but not overfull. She walks fine, can get up and down off the roost. She is panting a lot. Her poop is runny, brown, white and today foamy ( I looked at the poop posting and it seems fine). She has laid some eggs that have thinner shells in the past month. I have sporadically put out oyster shells and grit, but yesterday put in a tub of each for free choice. I put a fan in the coop, vinegar in the water. No scratch grains for treats this morning. I gave her some yogurt yesterday and today, she likes this.

The one difference I can think of is that we recently weeded the garden and trucked all of the grass clumps and miscellaneous weeded plants to the coop for the hens to "go through". THey have been enjoying scratching through this stuff chasing the bugs.

Any suggestions? Thought about isolating her and getting some vitamins and electrolytes.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ranchhand]

Could be she found a weed that didn't agree with her. How long has she been with the new hens and are they from your chickens or an outside source?

As far as the yolk, it could be an egg broke or was shell-less, and she ate it. Are the 4 month olds laying? It's about that time and could be one who is a little confused about this laying stuff!

Panting may mean she's hot. I don't give any scratch during the warmer months because it is a heat generating food.

Try all you can:
stop with the scratch, isolate her if you have to, vitamins and electrolytes, etc.
It could be that she's just getting old.

Good luck!

 

[bodefamily]

She has been with the youngers for probably two months now, we raised them from chicks which came from the feed store. Kept them all separate until the chicks were feathered-out.

I agree that she may be getting old, but it seems funny to me that she should be acting so differently from one day to the next.

No, the youngers are not laying yet, but I expect they will start within the next two to three weeks.

 

[purpletree23]

Did they have access to grass before you weeded and gave them the goodies? If their run was bare and them you gave them all that grass she could have an impacted crop from eating too much fibrous food at one time. Do they have access to chicken grit at all times? Make sure they have clean cool water and see if she will eat soft foods like a scrambled egg. Her crop just might need to empty or just as the other post said she may have eaten something that did not agree with her.

Give her time and good luck. I hope she gets well. Watch the big loads of grass you give.

 

[bodefamily]

I kept her in the coop today and she downed some yogurt and has ACV in her water. She also took some olive oil. Now her crop feels squishy with a few "grainy" things inside. She is really panting, it is hot as heck here, and humid. I have read all the posts about impacted crops and such and have massaged her crop a few times today. Any other advice? I thought I would offer some scrambled egg tomorrow morning.