Hello! I don't often post in the chicken forms since my flock has always been healthy and I know quite a bit about poultry myself, but I'm stumped on this one!
Quick background: I live at home currently and my mom and I have a flock of five chickens. They all get along great with each other. My mom is the one who primarily takes care of them / spends the most time with them, since I'm busy with college classes and work.
My mom said our about 2yo sex-linked hen has been acting lethargic, sleepy, and uninterested in treats for the past few days. She's also pretty certain this hen (her name is Martha) hasn't really been laying at all. She claims it's been about a week that the bird is acting like this. I didn't really realize how serious it was until today. Martha has been an excellent layer and gives us an egg almost every day up until this moment.
The hen has been lethargic, sleepy, and sitting in the corner of the coop all hunched / fluffed up today. Her vent looks clean, no heavy breathing, discharge, or anything around her beak/nares. Her comb might be a little pale, but honestly it looks pretty red and normal to me. Not going through a molt, but she is missing some feathers on her belly/between her legs. No bumble foot and everything else appears normal. I highly doubt she's egg bound, because she isn't showing all the correct symptoms, I don't feel an egg, and if this has been going on for several days, she would've already been dead if she was bound.
My mom said she saw her drink and that her poop looks pretty normal. I haven't seen either of these things myself yet. I'm not so certain if she's eating, though. She might've lost a little weight, but when I did my exam of her, she didn't feel like she'd lost that much if at all.
Upon research, I've noticed it can be several things potentially -- mostly internal things, like possibly peritonitis or something else. At this point, my head is spinning from all the possible options and treatments that I could give her. Does anyone know where I should go from here?
Sorry the post is long, I just wanted to include all the details. Lastly, we live in FL and the weather has been really steady lately. Not very cold at all -- low 60s/high 50s at night, 60s - 70s during the day.
Quick background: I live at home currently and my mom and I have a flock of five chickens. They all get along great with each other. My mom is the one who primarily takes care of them / spends the most time with them, since I'm busy with college classes and work.
My mom said our about 2yo sex-linked hen has been acting lethargic, sleepy, and uninterested in treats for the past few days. She's also pretty certain this hen (her name is Martha) hasn't really been laying at all. She claims it's been about a week that the bird is acting like this. I didn't really realize how serious it was until today. Martha has been an excellent layer and gives us an egg almost every day up until this moment.
The hen has been lethargic, sleepy, and sitting in the corner of the coop all hunched / fluffed up today. Her vent looks clean, no heavy breathing, discharge, or anything around her beak/nares. Her comb might be a little pale, but honestly it looks pretty red and normal to me. Not going through a molt, but she is missing some feathers on her belly/between her legs. No bumble foot and everything else appears normal. I highly doubt she's egg bound, because she isn't showing all the correct symptoms, I don't feel an egg, and if this has been going on for several days, she would've already been dead if she was bound.
My mom said she saw her drink and that her poop looks pretty normal. I haven't seen either of these things myself yet. I'm not so certain if she's eating, though. She might've lost a little weight, but when I did my exam of her, she didn't feel like she'd lost that much if at all.
Upon research, I've noticed it can be several things potentially -- mostly internal things, like possibly peritonitis or something else. At this point, my head is spinning from all the possible options and treatments that I could give her. Does anyone know where I should go from here?
Sorry the post is long, I just wanted to include all the details. Lastly, we live in FL and the weather has been really steady lately. Not very cold at all -- low 60s/high 50s at night, 60s - 70s during the day.
