Lethargic Chicken - Not eating

[Rachel504]

Hello. I have an Easter Egger hen who has been acting like this for the last few days. She is lethargic and walks slowly, and sometimes she'll just stand in place for a while. She's been fluffing up every few minutes too. Her comb isn't particularly pale, and the other hens are all healthy. I recently dewormed them with Durvet Strike III dewormer, so I'm not sure if it's really worms (but I have Safeguard goat dewormer on hand in case). Also, she's keeping her vent area open as if she's always about to poop. When she did, it was normal but very little, so I don't think she's been eating but she is drinking.

I would appreciate any help about this.

I've also put some electrolytes in the water

 

[GitaBooks]

Sounds like she could be egg bound!
Egg-binding is an emergency, chickens can die from it. You can try to help her get the egg out by lubricating it and trying to gently massage it out. Sometimes surgery is the only way to fix it.
Slow walking, squatting, straining, and liquid coming from the read-end are signs of egg-binding.

I hope she gets better!


An egg-bound Rhode Island Red. She eventually passed the egg and was okay

 

[Rachel504]

Thanks for the response. We checked her abdomen but there was no egg. We think it might be the heat, so for the time being we've moved her and another hen in a place under a tree where it's cooler. She's doing a bit better after the electrolytes and ate some rice and watermelon. Hopefully she'll be alright.