Hen squatting upright

[denisephd]

I have a hen who I noticed is squatting in an upright position. She can't or won't raise her butt. She can waddle around. I picked her up yesterday and moved her legs and didn't notice anything unusual. She didn't squawk or want to get away. Any ideas on what could be going on with her? She's about a year and a half old.

 

[denisephd]

When I picked her up and put her back in the coop tonight I noticed that her breast bone was very prominent and sharp. We changed feeders last week and now I'm wondering if she hasn't been eating enough.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Check her over carefully, especially her lower abdomen, like from between her legs on back to the vent. You might want to grab one of your other hens and feel her body first so you know what a normal bird feels like. See if you notice any swelling, if she feels full or bloated back there. A swollen lower belly can have a few causes, most are not good or fixable. But check her first and see if that's even what's going on before we get into all of that. Has she been laying? Any chance she could be egg bound? Have they ever been dewormed? Might also want to set out an extra feeder to make sure that's not the part of the problem.

 

[denisephd]

Good questions! About a week before Thanksgiving we put in a new feeder and then were gone the week of Thanksgiving. We had family checking on the chickens for us. I suspect they were not getting the same amount of food with the new feeder as they had been with the old. We were averaging 11 eggs/day before we left and since we got back we have been averaging 1. I have started putting feed in the old feeder as well, in case that is the problem. They have been dewormed as we did have a problem with worms a little over a year ago and I have been putting black walnut hull powder in with their feed quarterly. I will check her abdomen tomorrow.

Thanks for the input!