Hi everyone. I need a little advice regarding a hen acting strangely. I lost a 5-year old Australorp earlier this week due to an unknown illness. We took her to the vet because we thought she had an infection from a broken egg inside. She had a yellowy discharge for a day and a half but she steadily declined and after not responding to antibiotics we put her down. The vet couldn't tell what was wrong and we are still waiting for the necropsy report to come back. The vet said it was an "unusual presentation" but that she wasn't convinced it was an infection. She had been acting a little oddly for a few days but was eating and drinking normally.
Yesterday, my 3 year old Wyandotte went broody (or so I thought). I assumed it was related to the flock readjusting. I had to keep removing her the next boxes from her and she tried valiantly all morning today to get back in. She protested each time I removed her and finally I blocked her from them and she tried over and over to get back in, circling the coop. She finally gave up but then she started panting and lying down in the grass. She is kind of waddling when she walks and keeps lying down. She is eating, drinking, cleaning her feathers, etc quite normally.
If it wasn't for the fact that I just lost a chicken to an unknown illness, I would just assume she is broody. But the fact that I just lost a chicken to an unknown illness and this one is now panting even though its 75 degrees right now is really throwing me...
Any advice/help you can provide would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Yesterday, my 3 year old Wyandotte went broody (or so I thought). I assumed it was related to the flock readjusting. I had to keep removing her the next boxes from her and she tried valiantly all morning today to get back in. She protested each time I removed her and finally I blocked her from them and she tried over and over to get back in, circling the coop. She finally gave up but then she started panting and lying down in the grass. She is kind of waddling when she walks and keeps lying down. She is eating, drinking, cleaning her feathers, etc quite normally.
If it wasn't for the fact that I just lost a chicken to an unknown illness, I would just assume she is broody. But the fact that I just lost a chicken to an unknown illness and this one is now panting even though its 75 degrees right now is really throwing me...
Any advice/help you can provide would be much appreciated. Thank you!
