Is My Hen On Her Way Out?

[xCaliforniaChickiex]

My 5 year old golden sex-link Hen, Goldie, isn't doing too well. Not sure how relevant this bit is, but for the past few months Goldie's leg has been bothering her, I assume she hurt it from getting down off her perch in the morning, and with her age, I feel like it's gotten hard on her to jump down. She was acting normally, so I didn't think much of it. She hasn't been scratching and pecking like she used to. She just preferred to lay in the sun, and didn't really bother with the other hens when it came to snack time which is unusual for her since she's at the very top of the pecking order amongst our five girls. Lately, she has stopped eating and drinking doesn't want to get off her perch or leave the hen house (we've been helping her up and down off the roost at this point), and her comb had grown droopy and pale. She is still very alert, and bright-eyed. Her poop is yellow and runny, and very small. It usually sticks to her bottom, so we had to trim some of her feathers and wash her up. We've tried to feed her and encourage drinking as much as possible and some days were more successful than others. Yesterday, she ate and drank a lot, and wanted to come outside and rest. Today, she did not eat much and she did not want to drink anything but her comb was looking bright red today, and a little less droopy. She did not want to get off her perch today either. When I checked on her earlier this afternoon, she seemed alert when I came in but then started to sleep. One of her flock sisters jumped up and sat with her and she didn't really react. Goldie was our most consistent layer and layed every single day, and stopped last year. I've heard from others that this breed of chicken has a lot of problems due to them being bred for mass egg production, so I suppose I should expect that she's deteriorating more quickly than her fellow flock mates the same age.
My question is: Is it my Goldie Girl's time? Is there anything I can do to make her more comfortable, or anything I can do for her to help?

(P.S.) I've checked her crop, checked to see if she was egg-bound, and I found no oddities.

Sorry for this whole essay, I just want to make sure I covered everything. Thank you for your time!

 

[cavemanrich]

Sorry to hear this. Yes, your breed and most sex-link chickens are bred for superior egg production. They do burn out sooner than other breeds. Going for 5 years is a descent life span for a sex-link. All you can do is comfort her in her waning days.
Yesterday I lost one of my sex-link hens. I'm not sure of her age exactly since I got her as a rescue a little over a year ago. She was fine up to about 3 days before the passage on the Rainbow Bridge. Here is a pix of her last year.

WISHING YOU BEST..... and

 

[xCaliforniaChickiex]

Thank you so much! What a pretty bird, I'm so sorry to hear about her. I'll do my best to comfort my little Goldie on her way out! (My favorite picture of her taken a year and a half ago!)

Sorry to hear this. Yes, your breed and most sex-link chickens are bred for superior egg production. They do burn out sooner than other breeds. Going for 5 years is a descent life span for a sex-link. All you can do is comfort her in her waning days.
Yesterday I lost one of my sex-link hens. I'm not sure of her age exactly since I got her as a rescue a little over a year ago. She was fine up to about 3 days before the passage on the Rainbow Bridge. Here is a pix of her last year.

WISHING YOU BEST..... and
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