Hen suddenly lethargic

[Chickens 47]

I have a 4/5 year old Isa Brown hen who was doing fins this morning but suddenly started feeling lethargic. She has been walking slowly, but still showing an interest in food and water. She does not lay regularly and has not been doing so for a few months now. A few days ago she laid a broken soft shelled egg, she seemed fine once the egg came out. It has been very hot these last few days (37 degrees celsius), so I think that has also played a role in her symptoms. She did not roost tonight and has been standing on the coop floor near the water. When I went out to check on her I noticed that she has got water dripping from her bottom. she seems really thirsty and is standing next to the drinking water.

She is standing in a strange position, as if constipated. I have given her a little bit of olive oil to drink with a syringe. She did also poop in front of me earlier and I noticed that her poop had an egg-white colour and consistency with a little bit of regular solid poop. The egg-white part had some white streaks running through it (sorry I didn't manage to her a picture).

I will try to bring her inside for the night and see what I can do.

Any ideas about what might be going on?

 

[ksbkeys]

I have a 4/5 year old Isa Brown hen who was doing fins this morning but suddenly started feeling lethargic. She has been walking slowly, but still showing an interest in food and water. She does not lay regularly and has not been doing so for a few months now. A few days ago she laid a broken soft shelled egg, she seemed fine once the egg came out. It has been very hot these last few days (37 degrees celsius), so I think that has also played a role in her symptoms. She did not roost tonight and has been standing on the coop floor near the water. When I went out to check on her I noticed that she has got water dripping from her bottom. she seems really thirsty and is standing next to the drinking water.

She is standing in a strange position, as if constipated. I have given her a little bit of olive oil to drink with a syringe. She did also poop in front of me earlier and I noticed that her poop had an egg-white colour and consistency with a little bit of regular solid poop. The egg-white part had some white streaks running through it (sorry I didn't manage to her a picture).

I will try to bring her inside for the night and see what I can do.

Any ideas about what might be going on?

Could it be egg yolk peritonitis? There is likely an article here on this. I found information by googling it, too.

 

[YaldiFarm]

The first thing I would try is an epsom salt soak.

 

[Chickens 47]

Could it be egg yolk peritonitis? There is likely an article here on this. I found information by googling it, too.

Thanks for the response! I have not been able to check on her much today, but when I did she seemed to be doing better today. I will try some of the home remedies for EYP and see if that helps. I know that ISA Browns are prone to this sort of thing, in Australia they're the are the factory farmed breed

 

[Chickens 47]

Could it be egg yolk peritonitis? There is likely an article here on this. I found information by googling it, too.

Thanks for your response! I am not too sure. I think it might have to do with her lack of calcium, when she did lay eggs the shell was pretty fragile. When I would offer oyster shell she was never really interested in it. My hens are quite picky! She has also had some feather loss on her head and stomach, it seems that her feathers are breaking and she did not moult in the Fall/Winter this year. I am guessing that she does not have enough protein to grown healthy feathers back either. I am not really sure what to give her or feed her. I have avi-Calcium, but I do not really like to use it because I have a hen that is half the weight of the others and worry that it might be too strong of a dosage for her.

I have read a little more about EYP and it seems that she might have some symptoms but she does not seem to have any swelling or anything like that. I might try an epsom salt bath, increasing calcium by getting her to have some yogurt or dairy (she loves anything dairy) and maybe some foods high in protein.

Hopefully she continues to feel better!