Lethargic Hen

[untamed_spirit]

Hi guys,

I have a Bovan Nera hen who is 5 months old. She is eating and drinking normally, however recently she has been noticably lethargic compared to the others. She is moving normally,if slower, and on physical exam she doesn't seem to have any problems, crop feels soft and no palpable stuck egg. Her comb is maybe a little small, but she has only very recently started laying (not sure if she has stopped, hard to monitor with 12 girls!) She was last wormed in April with Flubenvet. She lives in a peaceful flock of 12 girls, no roo. At the moment I'm supplementing their feed (layers pellets) with poultry vitamins powder, is there anything else I can do for her, or has anyone had a similar case?

Ellie

 

[untamed_spirit]

Anybody? I just worry that if this is the beginning of a disease process, others might become infected. Then again, if people have heard of a chicken having 'off days', that would put my mind at rest! Just very odd how she eats her mash in the morning with the rest, but doesn't show any interest the corn scattered down when all other 11 go mad for it!

Any helpful suggestions are welcome!

 

[untamed_spirit]

Her comb now looks paler, and she is still behaving lethargic. She integrates with the other girls, but just stands there watching as they scratch the ground and isn't involved at all with corn time in the evenings when the others go mad!

I know this isn't exactly classed as an 'emergency' as she is still eating and drinking, but I really don't want this to take a turn for the worse if there is an obvious reason /easy solution to her problem that U don't know of! She's been this way for a bit over a week now. Any ideas at all??

Ellie

 

[hiddenflock]

Have you checked for signs of an injury?

 

[untamed_spirit]

Yes she has no outward physical signs of any problems, and there has been no singling out or bullying either, unless it's at night, but then again, no signs of injury!

 

[Morndew247]

I too have a lathargic hen, I just came on to find out if anyone had any ideas. She is a sweet little 1 year old comet that never lets me pick her up, but now she just stands there and when I pick her up she just sits in my arms. She has dried egg yolk on her foot, and I'm thinking maybe she was the one who lately had laid a couple of soft eggs. We have oyster shell out and she's eating it, but now she just sits next to the waterer and hunches down.

Her skin is very clear, no sign of mites/lice, but there seem to be great areas on her chest with no feathers at all, though I didn't notice until i pulled some aside to look for bugs because the other feathers covered the area. Don't actually know if this is normal! Again, not red or hurt looking, just smooth chicken skin. So afraid we're going to lose her and never know what the problem was!

Any help for us?

 

[untamed_spirit]

So today for the first time since becoming lethargic, I noticed a nasty smell coming from Phoenix's beak. I immediately flipped her upside down and massaged and VOILA, sour crop! I'm presuming that her lethargy was the crop starting to go sour, but the process was so slow she showed no symptoms other than lethargy until she started to smell. She has lost some condition in the process of the souring, so I'm hoping that she still has enough fight to recover fully!

Anyway, I now know the early signs of sour crop, so I know for next time! My last hen that developed sour crop got bad in 24 hours and recovered after 48, much quicker than this has been, thus why I didn't think of it till the smell!

Ellie