Lethargic hen, holding back and tail high

[mountainchickens]

You have a pile of eggs in that one nest box! Her tail looks down while she has that big poof up in the air. I would look at her skin there where the poof is. Looking forward to a picture tomorrow.

I know, it's quite a big pile of eggs Kinda hoping somebody will go broody this autumn just after summer vacation! It'd be the best time and we actually now have room for 5 more chickens, so... fingers crossed! We can get them some Marans hatching eggs
I'll definitely get a picture tomorrow asap, and I will check the skin where the poof is - that's a good idea! Thank you!

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

It does not look like a BROODY... unsure what it is.

 

[aart]

I know, it's quite a big pile of eggs ... Kinda hoping somebody will go broody this autumn

Not a good idea to leave real eggs piled up...use fake ones, tho a pile of eggs is not really going to turn on the hormones needed for broodiness.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have had at least half of all the hens I have raised go broody, and they only have a single golf ball in their nests to encourage laying. Some broodies will sit on air. I agree with @aart that having eggs in a nest will not make them go broody. I have an 8 year old broody bantam right now who hasn’t laid in a couple of years, and who is driving me crazy right now.

If you do get a broody, keep your eggs collected inside your house, and put them under a broody that has been sitting for a few days to make sure that she is serious. Date the eggs with the date you set them, so they all will hatch at the same time. Eggs left sitting in a nest may get warm and be sat on, starting incubation early and messing up the hatching all at the same time.

 

[mountainchickens]

Not a good idea to leave real eggs piled up...use fake ones, tho a pile of eggs is not really going to turn on the hormones needed for broodiness.

I have had at least half of all the hens I have raised go broody, and they only have a single golf ball in their nests to encourage laying. Some broodies will sit on air. I agree with @aart that having eggs in a nest will not make them go broody. I have an 8 year old broody bantam right now who hasn’t laid in a couple of years, and who is driving me crazy right now.

If you do get a broody, keep your eggs collected inside your house, and put them under a broody that has been sitting for a few days to make sure that she is serious. Date the eggs with the date you set them, so they all will hatch at the same time. Eggs left sitting in a nest may get warm and be sat on, starting incubation early and messing up the hatching all at the same time.

Thank you so much for the advice! I think we have a golf ball lying around somewhere. I'll do that soon and take all those eggs out of there. If we do get a broody, I'll definitely mark the eggs - and I might have to give her her own broody box because our hens have just one nest box they all lay in! They've been laying a lot recently. I'm not sure how, but we often find four eggs a day and we only have three laying hens (all our other chickens are 5 weeks old.) So no idea how they do that.
I'll get a pic of the sick hen in a few minutes

 

[Eggcessive]

They sell fake eggs at Tractor Supply and at other feed stores, that feel and look just like normal eggs. I got a bag of old golf balls a long time ago from a friend, and they work well.

 

[mountainchickens]

They sell fake eggs at Tractor Supply and at other feed stores, that feel and look just like normal eggs. I got a bag of old golf balls a long time ago from a friend, and they work well.

Okay, thanks! Will do if we need to, because one of our hens has just been sitting for two or three hours and is puffing up the same way the other hen did when she went broody... so we'll see if she is!
The sick hen doesn't seem as bad today. I haven't seen any poof on back, which is great. She's laying now. Will update soon!

 

[Kds]

Hello! This afternoon we found our 10 month old hen lethargic and holding her tail and back section up high. She just started laying two weeks or so ago. Her friend passed away a few days ago, she was lethargic for three weeks but wasn't holding the tail up and it didn't seem to be contagious. Any ideas what she has? Thanks!

Hi. Did you ever resolve this? I have a hen with the same exact symptoms today.

 

[ThatChickMele]

Hi. Did you ever resolve this? I have a hen with the same exact symptoms today.

Same. I have a hen doing this today.