One eye closed. One leg raised. Lethargic. Please advise.

[TMike]

Hello all.

We are the happy raisers of five young hens, all ~26 weeks old. Two of these are Barred Rocks. One of those, Mathilda, has been acting odd for the past two days. While she's eating, drinking and pooping well, she's not doing much chasing or being chased. In fact, Mathilda seems lethargic and has been keeping to herself. Even odder, she has begun standing on one foot and closing her left eye. Occasionally she shifts feet, but otherwise just stands still with her left eye closed.

I've compared her two eyes and don't really see much difference. I've compared her two eyes to those of our other Barred Rock, Phyllis. And they do seem a bit redder around the outside of the lid than Phyllis'. But I don't know what conclusion to draw from that. Or from any of this, for that matter.

I'd hate to think that Mathilda is getting sick. Perhaps she's just getting ready to lay for the first time? Phyllis laid her first just yesterday. But, really, we're new to this, are concerned and don't know what to do.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Mike

 

[mljohnson05]

If she is eating, drinking and pooping fine, I would say that she is getting ready to lay her first egg.....
You might want to check to make sure she is not egg bound just in case.



Best Wishes,
Laura

 

[TMike]

Thank you, Laura.

We certainly hope you're right and that it's nothing serious. I'll check her abdomen tomorrow morning for signs of her being egg bound and report back here.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[TMike]

Well, things seem to be improving. Mathilda's legs are fine. No more standing on one foot. For the past three days we've treated her eyes with Vetericyn drops, and added tetracycline to their water. She hadn't been drinking very much. So we've been feeding her with an eye dropper. Since starting the eye drops and antibiotics, she has perked up quite a bit and does not seem to be keeping that left eye closed as much or as often. We'll keep them on antibiotics for five days total and see where this goes.