Hi everyone,
I noticed that my favorite hen, Henny Penny (age: about 1.5 years), has not been acting like herself since yesterday afternoon. She was doing normal chicken things yesterday morning--foraging around the yard, dust bathing, etc. and then we put the chickens back into the coop so we could leave for lunch. When we returned home and I opened the coop door, all of the chickens came running out except for Henny. She stood in the coop, looking at me, and had no interest in coming out. I walked away and came back and she walked into her nesting box, so I assumed she needed to lay an egg. Later that afternoon, I noticed she was still in the nesting box, but didn't think anything of it until I went to close the door for the night and noticed that she was still in the box. When I opened the nesting box door, I noticed that her bum feathers were dirty and that she had a little poo caked on her bum, so I panicked and brought her into the house.
She seemed a bit lethargic - she stood still and kept closing her eyes. I'm uncertain if she laid an egg because there were several eggs in the nesting box. I thought maybe she was being broody, but the poo on her bum was concerning. A quick search led me to thinking that she might be egg bound, so I prepared her for a warm soak in epsom salt and massaged her. After her soak, she finally sat down and fell asleep. Probably 2-3 hours later, she finally pooped so we went ahead and put her outside on the roost feeling that it might be a good sign that she is not egg bound.
This morning, we opened the coop door and she came out but stood away from all of the other chickens and still seemed lethargic (standing still, eyes closed, a bit puffy but it is chilly outside right now). Every once in a while she seemed to tremble just a bit.
I brought her inside, gave her some water with apple cider vinegar and Nutri-drench and she drank A TON. She perked up and walked out of the little dog cage I had her in and started looking out of the door at the other chickens so I opened the door and she walked out, pooped (see photo below), and then went straight to the coop and back into the nesting box and has been there for about 2 hours now. I keep checking on her and she looks more alert than she did before but she has not laid an egg and I'm not sure why she insists on being in the nesting box.
I was able to get a photo of the poo:
There is no bleeding, she walks fine (her legs aren't spread further than usual, no penguin waddle, albeit she was moving a bit slow), I don't see any fluids coming out of her eyes or nose, but her comb does have a purple tint on the tips. I checked her feathers and don't see anything unusual like lice or mites, no signs of bumblefoot, no other obvious injuries or trauma. None of our other hens (5 other girls) nor our rooster are exhibiting any symptoms.
We have been feeding them organic layer pellets (normal diet) and some catfish food as a supplement because they have been molting. They get mealworms as a treat.
We also recently (within the last week or so) changed the nesting box bedding from shredded paper to pine shavings.
There are no vets in the area that will treat chickens, so we appreciate any help you all can provide as to what we might be able to do to diagnose and treat our sweet girl.
This is a photo and video of her after I gave her some Nutri-drench this morning:
Poo update (1:16PM CT):
View attachment 1579789
I noticed that my favorite hen, Henny Penny (age: about 1.5 years), has not been acting like herself since yesterday afternoon. She was doing normal chicken things yesterday morning--foraging around the yard, dust bathing, etc. and then we put the chickens back into the coop so we could leave for lunch. When we returned home and I opened the coop door, all of the chickens came running out except for Henny. She stood in the coop, looking at me, and had no interest in coming out. I walked away and came back and she walked into her nesting box, so I assumed she needed to lay an egg. Later that afternoon, I noticed she was still in the nesting box, but didn't think anything of it until I went to close the door for the night and noticed that she was still in the box. When I opened the nesting box door, I noticed that her bum feathers were dirty and that she had a little poo caked on her bum, so I panicked and brought her into the house.
She seemed a bit lethargic - she stood still and kept closing her eyes. I'm uncertain if she laid an egg because there were several eggs in the nesting box. I thought maybe she was being broody, but the poo on her bum was concerning. A quick search led me to thinking that she might be egg bound, so I prepared her for a warm soak in epsom salt and massaged her. After her soak, she finally sat down and fell asleep. Probably 2-3 hours later, she finally pooped so we went ahead and put her outside on the roost feeling that it might be a good sign that she is not egg bound.
This morning, we opened the coop door and she came out but stood away from all of the other chickens and still seemed lethargic (standing still, eyes closed, a bit puffy but it is chilly outside right now). Every once in a while she seemed to tremble just a bit.
I brought her inside, gave her some water with apple cider vinegar and Nutri-drench and she drank A TON. She perked up and walked out of the little dog cage I had her in and started looking out of the door at the other chickens so I opened the door and she walked out, pooped (see photo below), and then went straight to the coop and back into the nesting box and has been there for about 2 hours now. I keep checking on her and she looks more alert than she did before but she has not laid an egg and I'm not sure why she insists on being in the nesting box.
I was able to get a photo of the poo:
There is no bleeding, she walks fine (her legs aren't spread further than usual, no penguin waddle, albeit she was moving a bit slow), I don't see any fluids coming out of her eyes or nose, but her comb does have a purple tint on the tips. I checked her feathers and don't see anything unusual like lice or mites, no signs of bumblefoot, no other obvious injuries or trauma. None of our other hens (5 other girls) nor our rooster are exhibiting any symptoms.
We have been feeding them organic layer pellets (normal diet) and some catfish food as a supplement because they have been molting. They get mealworms as a treat.
We also recently (within the last week or so) changed the nesting box bedding from shredded paper to pine shavings.
There are no vets in the area that will treat chickens, so we appreciate any help you all can provide as to what we might be able to do to diagnose and treat our sweet girl.
This is a photo and video of her after I gave her some Nutri-drench this morning:
Poo update (1:16PM CT):
View attachment 1579789
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