My elderly chicken is acting very poorly :(

[raewhitewolf]

One of my chickens "hoppy" is acting very unwell, she is just lying around in her nesting box by herself and hasn't come outside for several days now. I don't think she is broody, she has never been clucky in the 3 years I have had her, and she has not been laying eggs for almost 6 months now.
I think she is quite old, but I don't know how old, both of my dear chickens are rescued from horrible circumstances, so I try my best to make sure they stay well and happy.

Hoppy has always been a well chicken, and while she has had some trauma caused by the injuries to her legs inflicted by her previous owners, she has never actually been ill before.

She is not showing any outward signs of trouble, her colour, vent and feathers are all normal, I don't see any evidence of mites, and she's breathing and vocalising normally. I don't see her drinking anything but she has water available and will get up and eat as long as I bring the food to her.
The only thing I have noticed that I've never heard before is a growling sound, like when a person's stomach is rumbling commong from her occasionally when I pick her up.

So I am really at a loss as to what is wrong with Hoppy.

I would be most grateful for some advice here.

 

[Eggcessive]

Make sure that her crop is emptying by morning. Sour crop or impacted crop would make her feel pretty weak. Has she been wormed lately?

 

[raewhitewolf]

No she has not been wormed in awhile, I will drag out the wormer and try give her a shot.
Would a bird with an impacted crop keep eating? she seems to want to eat if I bring it to her.
Thank you for the advice, I will check her crop tomorrow morning.

 

[Eggcessive]

I don't know that she has a crop issue--it is just something to rule out. A chicken with an impacted crop would still be hungry because the food is not passing through. Sometimes birds get sick and die, and we just never know what happened. Hope she gets to feeling more chipper.

 

[Mickey Lou 04]

Some hens go broody at a later age. I wouldn't rule out broody yet, my hen make a growling like noise when they don't want to be messed with. But it could be anything.

I would move her to a new area with bedding, food, and water. That way no matter what it is she won't get bullied away from food and water, and you can monitor how much food and water she takes. That way you can get a better clue as to what it is.

 

[raewhitewolf]

Thank you both, she doesn't seem to have any problems with her crop, I covered her and lil up for the night to keep them warm as it was a cold night, and I checked her at about 4:30 am, her crop was empty and felt normal, so that's that one ruled out.

Mickey Lou 04, thank you but she is actually the one footed bully! there is no one who will pick on her, and Lil chicken her compadre is sitting with her for long periods to keep her company, quite sweet really.

Her colour is still normal, she is not eating as much as she usually would, but she doesn't seem to have trouble eating.
Her poop does look quite dark, I have some feed with coccidosistat in it, I wonder if I should give her some just in case.

 

[Mickey Lou 04]

If I had it on hand I'd try it, that is a general rule for me. Doesn't sound like coccidiosis to me though. Also is she drinking normally?

 

[appps]

Perhaps she is simply starting to show her age?

 

[Mickey Lou 04]

I don't think so but maybe, my friend has 7/8 year old birds that are still going. I don't think they are going to stop soon. But I don't know how typical this is. So that is a good possibility.

Now that I think for a second, white in chicken poo is like a urine deposit or something like that right? Well do you mean that the dark color in the fecal matter is darker or is that white missing altogether?

If this post is kind of dumb please forgive me, I can't sleep and this is all I have to do.

 

[appps]

I don't think so but maybe, my friend has 7/8 year old birds that are still going. I don't think they are going to stop soon. But I don't know how typical this is. So that is a good possibility.

Now that I think for a second, white in chicken poo is like a urine deposit or something like that right? Well do you mean that the dark color in the fecal matter is darker or is that white missing altogether?

If this post is kind of dumb please forgive me, I can't sleep and this is all I have to do.

I wondered if it was just age related because the OP said she thought it was very old. It may simply be coming to the end of its lifespan.

And you do know you will never fall asleep playing on here don't you lol