- Dec 30, 2010
- 17
- 1
- 22
My hen has been acting funny for about a week. I noticed that she seemed a little more lethargic than the other hens in the cold weather—she'll leave the coop, and peck the ground, but a lot of the time when she was standing she wouldn't hold her head upright; she let it settle on her shoulders instead, and also seems to be permanently 'fluffed up.' She wouldn't move around as much as the others, but she'd still run when I tried to get ahold of her, and she'd be quick running up to me when I came out into the yard with fresh scratch and water. I don't think she's laid an egg in nearly two weeks. She's a silkie, roughly 1 year and 9 months old, so I assumed that she (like another hen) was getting broody—I call this one Mama because I let her hatch chicks in the fall.
Tonight I found her in the kennel-made-coop I've been using to wean the chicks into living outdoors instead of in my dining room—she was on her side, lying outside the most sheltered area, even though the wind had started blowing hard (which is why I was checking up on things). Her backside was covered with whitish poop; I figured she had been lying there and couldn't stand, so it got all over her. I put her in warm water in the kitchen, to wash it off and try to see past all that wonderful silkie fluff; same as when I've been checking her over all week, no problems I can see. I read on here that she might have a stuck egg. Since the bath she's been leaking a little whitish fluid at a time. I very gently put my finger in her vent, and I didn't feel anything, but it seemed to help a lot of white fluid and some clumps of dried blood pass. I have not seen any blood in the chicken poop in the yard, or around her vent, otherwise.
Is this a stuck egg? I'm going to give her another long soak and see how she does. She won't eat or drink. She CAN move and flap her wings, flex her legs, lift her head, and her eyes seem bright, but she's been sleeping this whole time, bundled in a towel in my lap. If it's a stuck egg, I'm worried she's exhausted. Can anyone tell me specifically where to feel for an egg? I have tried, but found no weird lumps or anything.
Thanks.
Tonight I found her in the kennel-made-coop I've been using to wean the chicks into living outdoors instead of in my dining room—she was on her side, lying outside the most sheltered area, even though the wind had started blowing hard (which is why I was checking up on things). Her backside was covered with whitish poop; I figured she had been lying there and couldn't stand, so it got all over her. I put her in warm water in the kitchen, to wash it off and try to see past all that wonderful silkie fluff; same as when I've been checking her over all week, no problems I can see. I read on here that she might have a stuck egg. Since the bath she's been leaking a little whitish fluid at a time. I very gently put my finger in her vent, and I didn't feel anything, but it seemed to help a lot of white fluid and some clumps of dried blood pass. I have not seen any blood in the chicken poop in the yard, or around her vent, otherwise.
Is this a stuck egg? I'm going to give her another long soak and see how she does. She won't eat or drink. She CAN move and flap her wings, flex her legs, lift her head, and her eyes seem bright, but she's been sleeping this whole time, bundled in a towel in my lap. If it's a stuck egg, I'm worried she's exhausted. Can anyone tell me specifically where to feel for an egg? I have tried, but found no weird lumps or anything.
Thanks.
