Hen not well. Sitting on ground all day.

[vantain]

Yep mine went out into the barn w her friends, ate a little of the treats I put down then went and laid down and watched everyone. Super weird.

How old is yours? Mine is an ISA Brown that will be 3 years old in April. I had four original ISA Browns, and only two are left. They do seem to struggle with reproductive issues, which is what took my other two. I have often heard that 3 years is about max for ISA Browns, and those that make it that far and beyond are blessed. So I can be thankful that I still have these two, but I know they won't be around forever. Which...is why I added 8 more mixed breeds to the flock this past April!

 

[webmistress32]

Mine is a 7yo Dominique. Her four sisters are all doing fine / normal. They are the last five of my 10 original "starter" chickens in spring 2014.

 

[vantain]

Some of the chickens figured out where the warmth is, after I hung the sweeter heater for Gwyneth. She is the second one from the right. My cockerel is enjoying it for his gigantic comb. I checked on them a few minutes ago, and his comb was nice and warm.

Note that I did this for Gwyneth, because she is not feeling well, and the others are just benefitting from it for now.

The thermometer in the coop reads 12, and it is currently -9F outside. I’m not sure what it is right under that sweeter heater...but I’m sure it’s great!

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

She has not been laying regularly since she started molting a few months ago. I have looked her over for mites and lice, but I don’t see anything. I can try the calcium.

Here she is as of a few minutes ago.
View attachment 2520678

She looks pretty good, actually. I think you are doing all the right things so keep up the good work.
I also like to give chickens electrolytes and Nutri-Drench when they seem under the weather.
Another thing I do to give a chicken extra protein and calcium is I hard boil an egg and chop it up, shell and all, into little pieces and let her eat that.
I hope she feels better soon.

 

[vantain]

I did notice that her poop today was lime green. She is still emptying her crop, but she only eats when I bring her a yogurt cup of wet mash. I wet it quite a lot, because she isn’t really drinking water on her own, and I want to make sure she is hydrated.

At one point today, she did wander over to a feeder and grabbed a few bites of the dry feed. That was a change. But she still never touched the water. Maybe she is not as thirsty because of how wet the mash is I give her?

I did decide to worm her. I had safeguard on hand, and did complete the five day regimen. I also decided to give corid, as I did notice blood in her stool one morning, and also in one of the others. It may have been nothing, but I figured it could not hurt anyone. I’m on day four of that.

 

[vantain]

Well...that sweeter heater is a hit! All of the chickens are taking turns today sitting under it today. Gwyneth is staying parked beneath it, but the others come and go. She drank water this morning, and came down off the roost to eat some dry feed I have in the coop. I still gave her some wet mash to make sure she is getting fluids.

 

[vantain]

So this morning, I went to let the chickens out into their run. Before I opened the door, I went into the coop to see if Gwyneth’s crop was empty again. I found her, on the floor, face deep into the PVC feeder I keep in the coop. I guess she was hungry this morning. I offered her some water, and she drank quite a bit. I still gave her wetted mash, after I let everyone else out of the coop.

After she ate the mash, she went back up onto the roost, and stayed there for the rest of the morning. She eventually wandered out into the run, but like the other days, just sat doing nothing. It was -8F today, but a cozy +8 in the run.

She drank from a cup I offered her around 2pm, and again ate wetted mash at bedtime.

The polar vortex is supposed to be heading out of here starting tomorrow, and we are supposed to be back into the 20s by the end of the week. I’m hoping Gwyneth is just not tolerating the cold as well as she used to, but I know there still could be an underlying issue. For now, she seems to be hanging in there.

 

[webmistress32]

Similar situation here, my hen is pretty much the same too. Still sitting a lot doing nothing. But really alert and interactive when prompted. She seems to have gotten past the aspiration as her demeanor is way better. But the underlying thing whatever it is, is still happening.

 

[HawaiiCoyote]

it sounds like she went into temporary shock

So this morning, I went to let the chickens out into their run. Before I opened the door, I went into the coop to see if Gwyneth’s crop was empty again. I found her, on the floor, face deep into the PVC feeder I keep in the coop. I guess she was hungry this morning. I offered her some water, and she drank quite a bit. I still gave her wetted mash, after I let everyone else out of the coop.

After she ate the mash, she went back up onto the roost, and stayed there for the rest of the morning. She eventually wandered out into the run, but like the other days, just sat doing nothing. It was -8F today, but a cozy +8 in the run.

She drank from a cup I offered her around 2pm, and again ate wetted mash at bedtime.

The polar vortex is supposed to be heading out of here starting tomorrow, and we are supposed to be back into the 20s by the end of the week. I’m hoping Gwyneth is just not tolerating the cold as well as she used to, but I know there still could be an underlying issue. For now, she seems to be hanging in there.

 

[vantain]

Very little progress. The weather turned a bit today, so the highs were 8F. The coop and the run were over 20. This is far different than the highs for the past several days, where it never went above 0.

Gwyneth continues to ONLY eat and drink if I separate her from the others and provide it to her directly. The only exception to this, is that I gave all of the hens a warm mash this evening in the run, and Gwyneth did get off her perch and get a little of that.

For the entire day, she just sits in one place, out in the run. As I mentioned before, she is alert, she just never gets up to go get any food or water during the day.

I have been giving her a cup of food in the morning and evening, which I wet down considerably, to make sure she is getting enough fluids. I also provide a cup of water to her, and she will take few sips of that.

What would cause her to not eat/drink on her own during the day, yet eat/drink fine when I provide it to her away from the others? I know the most obvious answer will probably be that she is being bullied. But that is definitely not the case. She is the top Hen, and lets anyone know if they get in her space. If she wants something, the others run away, or she will peck them quite hard. She has a history of being a very dominant hen.

This whole situation is just perplexing to me. I also noticed today, that there are a lot of feathers around her. She seems to be losing some of her downy feathers on her chest area. Molting due to stress? She did molt this year back in early December, so this seems weird to be losing feathers now. I still wonder if the cold weather is affecting her more this year than past years. We are warming up though, and the coming weekend is supposed to be above 30 here...which for us in Minnesota is shorts and crocs weather!

Again too, I have checked her over for lice and mites, and nothing is obvious.