Hen not wanting to move, sitting/laying down often.

[Morelias]

Last night I found my hen sitting by the coop. When I went to pick her up she tried scurrying away but only stumbled a step or two and stopped. Worried at this extremely odd movement, I thought something may have happened to her leg. Physically she seemed fine, didn't feel egg bound and even seemed to be able to move her legs still (considered marek's). I put her in the coop for the night and checked on her in the morning.

This morning she flew out of the coop just fine but when she landed she immediately just sat down. Later on in the day I checked on her again and found a broken egg on the run floor that wasn't there yesterday. She can and will move and even run away easily now which is better than yesterday. But she still stays low to the ground and keeps her head down. What could be going on? Maybe she was egg bound, just laid and she's still sore? No symptoms other than odd behavior right now; sitting often, less tempted to run away when approached, keeps head and body low when walking/running. She was able to walk herself up the coop ladder for bed this evening.

 

[azygous]

The broken egg could be a simple coincidence unless she's the only hen. If she had a stuck egg, often there are two eggs involved. It's the reason the first egg got stuck. Two eggs coming down at the same time overwhelms the system and bad things happen.

Give her a calcium tablet. That will encourage contractions if another egg is stuck. It might be a good idea to confine her in a crate to monitor her. If the next egg breaks inside, she will need an antibiotic since yolk grows bacteria all too well.