Hen Problems - extreme yelling!

[sashaligia]

Hi everyone, I'm knew to the forum and I seem to be having a problem with one of my hens. She isn't laying, her comb is smaller than usual. Her feathers are all fluffed. But the big problem is that she is constantly screaming. She walks around the yard just screaming. All the time. The screaming has gotten worse in the past few weeks. I know they are molting, but this just doesn't seem normal. Any ideas? I appreciate any and all help.

 

[BorneHomestead]

Sounds like she is broody.

 

[sashaligia]

I agree, it does. But she isn't sitting in a nest at all. She's just wondering around.

 

[Nutcase]

Hi everyone, I'm knew to the forum and I seem to be having a problem with one of my hens. She isn't laying, her comb is smaller than usual. Her feathers are all fluffed. But the big problem is that she is constantly screaming. She walks around the yard just screaming. All the time. The screaming has gotten worse in the past few weeks. I know they are molting, but this just doesn't seem normal. Any ideas? I appreciate any and all help.

It may or may not be broodiness. Has anything unusual happened lately? A chicken dying, or a change of location?

 

[aggiemae]

If she is puffing out her feathers and being noisy she could be sick.

One of our hens wander around fussing and fluffing with her wings spread out for a week or so, then she started craning her neck and looked like she was constantly yawning. By the end of the day another hen had started craning her neck and panting. By this time the one who had had the symptoms longer was actually hoarse from all the squawking and, since she's my sons favorite chicken, I actually took her to the vet. She DX'ed gape worms and started (oral) meds and they both stopped the fussing within 12 hours.

Lesson I learned: I have a microscope and know how to set up an oil mounted poop sample on a slide and could have checked for gape worm eggs myself alas the medication on hand was old and past the expiration date. I needed it asap I couldn't wait for mail order so needed to go the a vet for a prescription. I could have save the $50.00 if I had kept my med box updated like I should have.

 

[drumstick diva]

My friend got a hen shipped to her from a bigshot in Minnesota.It was coughing and opening her mouth a lot and she thought it had a cold. I looked up all the symptoms and thought she had gape worm. She didn't believe me. Well she died a short time later and had worms in her throat - so I'm sure it was gapeworm after all. The seller said he would replace her but, of course he never did.

Whenever I see someone mention his name on here as the' go to guy' for special breeds, I also think they must be nuts. Or did he just pick out my friend to screw? I told her she shouldn't buy from him because it sounded like a poultry mill, he listed about every chicken breed there is, then the same for ducks and geese and other fowl. You just cannot take care of so many birds and be noticing everything about them. But he had a big ad in a Poultry magazine - that's all she had to see. Off my soap box but really mad that some professional would stick a very ill bird in a box and ship it hundreds of miles to die out here.