lethargic chicken

[3dogcp]

Today my RI Red just stands in the corner and does nothing. She seems to drink more than usual and her comb and head feel hotter than normal. Anyone got any ideas?

 

[Judy]

Is it summer and hot where you are? She may just be too hot. Chickens do not tolerate heat well and can die at 100 degrees. They need shade and good air movement in the heat of summer. They will drink a lot if they are overheated, and can have runny poop from it. You can get her wet to cool her if needed.

 

[3dogcp]

Actually, it's cool here in North Central Pa.40's at night 68 all day yesterday. I'll see how she is in a couple of hours when it gets light. I hope she's alright, she is such a nice chicken. How do you know if your chickens have coccidian. What are the symptoms?

 

[Judy]

It's most often an illness of young chicks when they first contact the ground, though aqdults can get sick with it as well. The most common symptoms are not wanting to eat, drink or move around much, sitting hunched down and fluffed up as if cold. There are I believe 9 strains, and with some, they have bloody diarrhea. It can be so virulent that they die before you notice symptoms, especially in young chicks.

http://thecozynest.com/understanding_coccidiosis.htm

You didn't give a lot of info and there are any number of possibilities. The most treatable would probably be worms or a lice/mite infestation. A fever might suggest an infection somewhere. If she's a few years old and especially if a hatchery bird, internal laying is unfortunately fairly common. She could simply be eggbound. And so forth.

 

[3dogcp]

Just let them out and she seems normal this morning.
I'm new at this and tend to worry. She is 6 months old and has been fine. I only have 5 chickens and a coop for 25, so they are not crowded. The yard is pretty big and I clean up the poop twice a day because it's not too much. I use the dog pooper scooper, works well. I'll see how she acts today. One other thing the 3, 6 month old ones have been laying quite a few soft shelled eggs at night landing on the poop tray. Then other days they lay perfect eggs. I give them oyster shell with their food. They have been laying for about a month.

 

[Judy]

Maybe this article on soft shelled eggs will help:

http://www.avianweb.com/eggproblems.html

 

[3dogcp]

Saga of my RI Red, Ruby. This morning when I let her out, she squatted to poop and nothing but water squirted out. I also noticed her tail was bent to one side. Any ideas, this is driving me crazy. Could she be egg bound? What to do, what to do.

This morning she won't even come out of the coop, I carried her out. She just stands in one place,doesn't eat or drink. How long can she last like this?