Hen lethargic and tucking head

[Julia62]

Hi, I have an 1 year old Leghorn that was not herself this morning. She came out of the coop last (always first) and when I gave them scratch, she didn't come running for it as she usually does. I had to go to work and didn't think a lot of it but I asked my husband to check on her (a few hours later) and he said she was out where they do their dust bathing with her head tucked under her wing. He is going to take a picture of her and also check her vent area and report back shortly.

She was fine yesterday! Any ideas on what could be wrong? They have been very healthy.

We had one hen die several months back from wry neck (euthanized). I had a necropsy done on her and nothing certain came back from it.

Mrs. Howell has always been top hen in our group so this is odd behavior.

 

[Julia62]

This is the pic my husband took. I guess she was up walking around. He said her vent area was pinkish and had white mucus-like stuff around it (doesn't really show in the pic).

Edit to say: she did lay an egg yesterday but has not today. She was in the nest for a bit, but no egg.

 

[MrsBrooke]

It's possible that she has vent gleet.

It's possible that she's egg bound, too. Could your husband check?

MrsB

 

[Julia62]

As soon as I get home, we are going to give her a warm bath and see if she is egg bound. I never thought of vent gleet. I did give them about 1 tsp of ACV (Bragg's) in their water last week. I clean their coop every day and change their water every day.

Would epson salt in the bath be helpful?

 

[MrsBrooke]

Epsom salt baths help *every one.* ♡

MrsB

 

[Julia62]

We're about to go out and get her and clean her up. She does have a drip line of yellowish goo going down her feather near her vent and she pooped while I was checking the coop and it squirted one small piece of poo and then clear liquid! She holds her head/neck inward. She is walking around free ranging with the others and did eat some scratch I put out. I'm thinking maybe this is gleet and not egg bound?

 

[Julia62]

We washed her up and their was yeasty looking stuff around the vent. She is red there and is flexing the vent. We also gave her a Epsom salt dip for about 10 minutes. Have her wrapped up in a towel right now. Not sure what the next step is??? Any help appreciated! She is sticky too!

 

[MrsBrooke]

X2 on gleet.

MrsB

 

[Julia62]

X2 on gleet.

MrsB

Thank you. That is looking like what it is. We have her in our "triage box" in the garage right now. The other girls were picking at her butt when we put her in the run so I didn't want her getting picked on. Which is funny because she is the head hen! I put a little coconut oil on her vent area since it has antibacterial properties. Should I get Monostat or Desitin? Not sure what to do besides keep her clean. I don't like her in the box. We thought about putting her on the roost once it's dark and they are all asleep.

 

[Julia62]

I put her out with the others this morning and gave them all some yogurt. They loved it, Mrs. Howell ate the least. They are all out ranging together so I will leave her out. Her bum is still red. I was going to try and get some NuStock today at the feed store. Would that be a go thing to put on her? She's eating, drinking, and moving around. She did have a normal looking poop in the box this morning.