lethargic, puffy chicken

[Eggcessive]

Please go ahead and give her food and water now. No need to withhold them. Cragg is just wanting your to check the crop eatly in the morning before she gets a chance to eat or drink when the crop should be flat and empty. If it feels full and hard or puffy, then that is abnormal. Since you could not feel anything, it probably was empty. So now, you can practice feeling crops of the other hens, and if they are eating, they should be felt easily during the daytime as they fill up with food and water.

 

[Eggcessive]

This picture shows a very full crop:

 

[Eggcessive]

Many times when a chicken is feeling poorly their crop might not be emptying properly. Impacted crop or sour crop are two different problems that can happen. Cragg had you feel of her lower belly to check if it is full, and that is because some reproductive disorders, such as internal laying, cancer, or ascites may cause a swollen lower belly.

Make sure that she is drinking and eating, since sick chickens may not. To tempt them, offer chicken feed made wet with water in a pan or small bowl, just enough for that day. Cooked chopped egg, a small amount of canned tuna or liver are also good to offer. Let us know if she drinks and eats.

Check her over for lice and mites under her vent and elsewhere. Have you checked inside her vent with one finger, to see if she is eggbound. Describe her poops and provide pictures of her and her poop if possible. If her droppings can be checked by a vet for worms and parasites, that would be good.

 

[chickenpeeple]

ok, thanks

 

[chickenpeeple]

Suzie is pretty much back to normal. A friend said it might have been from the adjusting cold. Do you think I should put her back in the coop?

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad to hear she is back to normal. You had said that her face looked swollen. Is that back to normal as well? Thanks for the update.

 

[chickenpeeple]

Her face isn't puffy any more.

 

[Cragg Klefor]

It great there does not seem to be a crop issue! It's very useful to get used to feeling their crops as there can often be an issue and the crop can tell us when there is something up!
I would go ahead and put her back with her flock if you feel she is fine. Just watch for a little while that the flock doesn't bully her - they can quickly forget she was one of them after a few days and see her as an intruder. So just supervise for a while when you let her back in, it will probably be fine. Let us know how it goes!

 

[chickenpeeple]

I just have a question about her food. On New Years Eve I gave her about 3/4 cup of food and she has hardly eaten any of it. Is this normal?

 

[Eggcessive]

Is there something wrong with the feed or is it new? Can you see if she will take some chopped egg or canned tuna? Then try mixing some water into her feed. Make sure the feed is no moldy. I recently switched my hens from flock raiser crumbles back to a different brand layer pellets. Normally they are on pellets, but they will not touch the new brand.

Check her crop to make sure it is emptying normally overnight. Or is her crop empty now?