Hen acting slow and not much interest today, what’s wrong?

[cjsl]

My Buff Orpington, Honey, has been acting off today. She is 1.5 yrs and has not had any noticeable changes prior to today regarding behavior, eating, drinking, laying... She has been “mopey” today, standing or perching away from others and not overly active with scratching or running for attention/treats. Her poop is different today too (see pic). Do chickens have “feel bad” days or should I be checking for something else. She is part of my 1st and original flock so still learning but worried about her.
1st noticed something off this morning, she was still on the roost inside the coop at 0930. She jumped down when I opened the door to check on her but then she still just wanted to hang out on coop floor. All other hens were out in the run and had been for hours. She is normally one of the 1st to greet me and is in the upper hierarchy around here - a normal social queen. I thought she found some sun coming thru a window and was just enjoying a nice change in weather and warm sunlight spot on the roost but this is much more sedate than normal. She will let me pick her up and carry her (completely normal for her) and I checked her over for anything obvious. No injuries stand out. Her comb is fine, still red and not hot. She has eaten a little bit of scrambled eggs, layer feed and drank water throughout the day. She is usually scratching around and active - likes to run and be nosey. Today she has been very subdued and reminds me of a child that doesn’t feel good. She didn’t even run over for meal worms when she is usually the 1st one to sense them. I added some electrolites to water to see if that helps. Normal food is layer feed, free access to ACV water, grit and oyster shell. What else should i do or look for? She did not go to the nest box today but she usually lays 2-4 times/week. She is 1 of 11 hens. All others are acting their normal selves. I am going to try to upload other pics and possibly video of her just standing around today in case that helps.

 

[azygous]

The poop may show that she possibly has an egg hung up inside. Just a hunch. Is that third photo of how she is behaving today? Or is it just an old photo to show us an image of her?

Do you have a calcium supplement on hand? Calcium citrate is what I use because it's fast acting. It will do no harm to pop one tablet into her beak. If she has an egg problem developing, the calcium tablet will encourage strong contractions and help her expel it.

 

[the_peanut_coop]

How oold is she?

 

[Ryguy3684]

One of my BO hens acted like this and had similar poop when she was egg bound with a soft shelled egg. Mine had this happen a few times about a month ago. I've since given her calcium supplements and she hasn't had the problem since. Has yours laid in the last couple days? I noticed it because mine is also the friendliest hen I own. If she hasn't been laying, I'd check for that first. You have to put on a glove, grab some KY jelly, or similar jelly, and insert your finger about 2 inches into her vent, carefully. If there's a hard shelled egg, you should be able to feel it. If it's soft shelled, you might not be able to feel anything. After I examined my hen, both times, out came a soft egg within a few minutes. She felt better instantly. There are methods with a warm bath, but you'll have to research that because I've never gotten further than the exam. It's easier with a second set of hands, if you can. Please keep us posted on how she's doing.

 

[cjsl]

Thank you for suggestions, I will try both tomorrow to see if that helps. She’s 1.5 years. I don’t have the calcium supplement but will pick some up tomorrow morning. I know she laid a couple of days ago, but hasn‘t the past 2 days. The pics were all from today. I tried to upload a video of her just standing away from the others but wasn’t able.

 

[cjsl]

Today she is acting a little more like herself. She still was the last one down from the roost (around 830) but was down in the run with everyone else and somewhat more social when out free-ranging. I crushed the calcium pill onto her food, checked her vent and soaked her in epsom bath. Her vent was pulsating but I did not feel an egg. Her poop is still the same as yesterday. She has not laid an egg today. She soaked for about 20-30 min and I have her inside in a dog kennel with a blanket over some of it as I read a dark relaxing place may help. Should I keep her inside and repeat any of these steps or should I let her back out to roost with others tonight? I’m still at a loss for what to do and worried.

 

[Ryguy3684]

If she's eating, drinking, and acting fairly normal, I would let her roost with the others, to keep things as routine as possible. Just keep a close watch on her until she's laid an egg. It still sounds like she had/has an "egg" issue, but it sounds like you've done exactly what I would have done. If she goes back to acting lethargic and disinterested in food, I'd go through the routine again. Aside from an egg issue, I'm not sure what else it would be. Good luck.

 

[cjsl]

Put her back out with the others yesterday and she went to roost as normal. Today she wasn’t the last one down and was acting more like normal. She checked out nest box but not sure if she laid because when i went back out there to check others were in there and had a couple eggs. Her eggs are hard to differentiate between my 2 barred rocks - so not sure if she laid or not but one of the eggs was not as uniform as normal -very slightly bumpy on the bottom. That may or may not be significant because every now and then that happens. Otherwise more social and acting normal. I’ll keep watching to see if she starts acting different again. Thanks for input and suggestions!

 

[Ryguy3684]

Put her back out with the others yesterday and she went to roost as normal. Today she wasn’t the last one down and was acting more like normal. She checked out nest box but not sure if she laid because when i went back out there to check others were in there and had a couple eggs. Her eggs are hard to differentiate between my 2 barred rocks - so not sure if she laid or not but one of the eggs was not as uniform as normal -very slightly bumpy on the bottom. That may or may not be significant because every now and then that happens. Otherwise more social and acting normal. I’ll keep watching to see if she starts acting different again. Thanks for input and suggestions!

Glad to hear she's feeling better.