hen walks on tip toes and tail down

[hessross]

My hen is walking on her tip toes and her tail is down a lot but not always. she also lays down quite a bit. she still runs when we go out hoping we have food. usually we do. she eats drinks and i know she laid one egg 2 days ago. not sure since then. i checked her legs and feet and they seem normal. all the hens escaped the run the other day by flying out so she can fly a little. she also seems to have lost some weight. but we were gone for 2 weeks and all the chickens thinned down a little. we have been home a week but the rest of our flock have come back and she seems skinny still. i was thinking of giving her a epsom bath. also my flock doesn't mind a back scratch but they really don't like being inspected. how do y'all keep your chickens from flapping about when you handle them? i have had my hens a little over a year and haven't had any major sicknesses/injuries to deal with so i am definately a newbie in this department. any suggestions would be appreciated. thank you

 

[SIMZ]

The tiptoes part has me baffled, but I have seen the walking with tail down and laying down stuff before. That could be so many things, but start by checking for mites or parasites. I had a hen that was walking like a duck (tail down) and just laying around, which are symptoms of egg binding. It turned out that she only seemed to have a terrible mite infestation. After a few days of seclusion, a few thorough dustings, a bath, and several good meals including scrambled eggs, she fully recovered.

Here is a GREAT video on how to pick up and examine your chicken.

http://hencam.com/faq/handling-and-picking-up-your-hens/

With my more "wild" chickens I wait until they're in the coop at dusk or dark to get them. The first few times don't always go well, but you'll find picking them up and handling them goes better as you both get used to it.

Please let us know if you notice anything strange when you examine your girl. Lice will look like little straw-colored crawling things around the vent area. Mites tend to be smaller and darker - look closely! You may also see lots of scabbing or very dirty, crusty skin.

I hope this helps to get you started!