New here - need help - Lethargic hen

[multi-taskingmom]

Our white leghorn hen has just not been herself lately. Actually she
has not been herself since she molted last fall. She laid a rubber
egg, which broke and we had to pull it out. She seemed to feel
better, but just not herself. She molted and all her feathers came
back in beautifully, but she never laid another egg.

For the past week she has been moving slower and slower. I thought it
was because she was pining for the other chickens....we put them in
the chicken tractor (all except for Blind Betty who prefers to stay in
the coop) during the day and back in the fenced yard attached to the
coop in the evening and shut them in the coop at night. But the
leghorn (named Henny Penny will not get in the chicken tractor thus my
thinking that she was pining. Today she has just been sleeping all
day....or at least laying there with her eyes closed. Her comb and
waddles are pale and of dry looking. We tried to get her to
drink, but she would not. What more should we do.

Not being sure what to do we put her in the nest box and made her as
comfortable as we could. It seems like she's dying and she may well
be. It almost seems like she's dying of old age, but she's not yet 2
years old.

All the other hens seem healthy and just as pushy as every save the
one blind hen who has no other symptoms other than being blind
and is eating and drinking and laying eggs normally.

If she has a disease I don't know how she would have gotten it. We
have not had any new chickens since last summer.

I'm almost thinking that if she is still alive tomorrow that we should
put her out of her misery. Though she does not show any apparent
pain, she's not breathing hard or anything. I'm just not sure what to do for her.

Thanks for listening and any advice you might have.

Marsha

 

[Beekissed]

I would search the forum for links on being egg bound. My leghorn had a leathery egg, which is supposed to be very uncomfortable to have, and she kind of hunched over for the next day or so, but recovered well. Sounds like your bird may have egg issues and there are many posts on here about it. If that is what is wrong, I don't think there is a cure for it. I will tell you that I put on some gloves the other day to discover who was laying and who wasn't. My leghorn hadn't been laying, but when I felt up in her, I could palpate an egg in the canal. Seems to me, if one was egg bound, a person might be able to shift it by accessing the rectum. Wouldn't want to put too much pressure on it, though, as it may break it....then a whole other kettle of fish! Very bad, I would say. I'm sure there are others who may advise you about this issue better than I!

 

[dlhunicorn]

Your MIGHT have become an internal/false layer or she might indeed have an egg stuck (follow the advice in other threads for that as if she has become internal/false layer there is little to be done for that outside of surgical intervention > read about this condition and treatment for it here:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/PennysSurgery/PennysSurgery.html

 

[multi-taskingmom]

Thank you - she stopped laying around Thanksgiving last year so I don't think that she is egg bound. I did go in with rubber gloves and gently remove the rubbery/leathery egg shell at the time. She recovered and went into full molt. She was never quite her old sassy self but she seemed fine otherwise.

I'm just kicking myself, and can't sleep because, I still think she pined her self into this condition. DH started putting the hens into the chicken tractor about a week ago. After the first couple of days, she wouldn't go in. But she would lay out at the end of the yard attached to the coop and watch the other chickens. I'm now wondering if she laid in the sun too long and then got to the point where she is just too weak and has become dehydrated.

I'm kicking myself because I have not been out to the coop in a few days - we are packing to move and I have been leaving the chickend care to my DH. I feel like if I had gone out I might have noticed she was in distress and have been able to help her. How I don't know. I am imagining that she'll be dead in the morning. If she is not do you have suggestions. Can I give he water from a dropper, what else could I give her. I don't want to bring her in the house as I feel that taking her away from the rest of the hens would make her worse.

He is great about caring for the chickens, but does not notice off behavior like I do.

When she stopped laying it was almost as if she had worn her little self out....she laid and egg a day for a year.

Thank you for listening - I am sick over this - she is
my favorite. We got her quite by accident when we bought some cornish rocks we noticed one was just not growing - turns out not only was she not a rooster, but she was also not a cornish rock.

Thank you for any help,
Marsha

 

[dlhunicorn]

you can get some baby parrot handfeeding formula (pet store bird section or online) as that has kept many a bird alive until they can eat on their own (put just a wee bit in the beak at a time ...she must swallow on own)
You should put electrolytes in the waterer to deal with dehydration. When was the last time you wormed her?

 

[multi-taskingmom]

When I went out this morning she was dead, she just went to sleep and didn't wake up. She was still sitting in the nest box where I had placed her last night.

Thank you for all your suggestions

Marsha