Lethargic hen

[michaelbell317]

I have a lethargic hen. I went out at sunrise to open their door from the coop to the run where the food and water are. she stayed in the coop just laying down. She let me pick her up with no complaint or trying to get away, nothing. She doesn't seem to be injured, but I guess that's still a possibility. She appeared to walk away from me just fine when I set her back down. I've offered food and water. I don't think she's taken any yet, but I'll go check again in a minute. Today is the first day she's acted this way.
I have now removed her from the rest of the flock to keep a close eye on her. She's still just laying down, not eating or drinking.

 

[michaelbell317]

I think she's been having digestion problems. There has been some messy poop in the coop and now I wonder if it's been hers. Now that she's isolated, I'll be able to tell for sure.
She's a Black Australorp and up until this morning, seems to have been acting normally. At least normal enough not to cause any concern. My wife and I believe she's been laying eggs. I'll add a picture of her, too.View attachment 1944291 I scrambled an egg for her, but she hasn't eaten any.

 

[coach723]

Your picture is not showing. How old is she? Do you know when she last laid? Any indication that she is molting? Has she ever been wormed or had a fecal test to check for internal parasites? Any sign of lice/mites? How does her crop feel, full, empty, squishy, hard, etc? It should be empty first thing in the morning. Does her abdomen feel bloated, hard, soft, water balloon like? Pictures of droppings might help. Sorry for all the questions, but the more info available, the more help can be gotten.

 

[michaelbell317]

She died this morning. We had to leave the house for a couple of hours and was dead when we returned. Her crop was empty, she didn't feel bloated and we didn't see any signs yesterday. We clean out the poop from under the roosts every morning. There were some piles that were pretty loose and kind of puddled, maybe even orange-ish like an egg yolk. I don't know who's piles those were, but I think they must've been hers. We're not sure when she last laid, but we were getting up to 5 eggs per day, normally 4, from the 5 hens. (We have one Welsummer who has yet to lay her first egg). Her activity level yesterday was the same as it has been and the same as all the others. Not sure exactly how old she was, but we brought all six home from the store on the same day in mid-March, so at least 7 months old.

 

[coach723]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Often it's hard to know exactly what happened without a necropsy. You can refrigerate her body and send off for professional necropsy, or many do their own informal one to look for obvious abnormalities. Again, so sorry.