Sick Chicken - ideas please

[BC-NZ]

Hi,

one of our leghorn chickens has been acting strange recently, a bit lethargic and often standing off on her own.
shes still eating and drinking fine and her poop looks totally normal but i suspect she hasn't laid for some time.
she looks a bit heavy in the rear and has some poop stuck to the feathers around here vent.
managed to catch her and she feels a bit big in the abdomen but not hard like she could be eggbound.
also her comb, wattles and ears look shriveled - see photo below - usually the ears are nice plump and bright white, comb thick and floppy.

Any suggestions and questions welcome as I cant work out what matches her symptoms...

 

[PeepersMama]

First off, you have a blue andalusian, not a leghorn. Lucky you, I'm jealous

I think her comb looks fine. Floppy, maybe a little pale, but not like she's sick. Of course, you can actually see her, so if you think she's sick then trust your gut.
If she seem heavy in her rear, she could be internal laying, which is similar to egg binding, but the yolk moves backwards up the oviduct and falls into the body cavity. I have had three chickens die from it, and it is a long, painful death. She looks pretty good in the picture, but if you start finding her easier and easier to catch, she is sick. Since it sounds like you have chickens for their eggs and they aren't tame, I would avoid catching her to often as it will stress her out and make it worse.
Hope it isn't serious!

 

[BC-NZ]

Hi, thanks for the reply.
I bought blue leghorn hatching eggs from a breeder and ended up with blue splash, white and black as well as her. note the color of her legs is yellow, not here to argue but I thought yellow legs were for leghorns only?
Anyway, internal laying was the only thing I could come up with too but hoped someone might be able to tell me it's something else more simple like worms or so

Yes there are mainly for egg laying but are relatively tame, just don't like being held - she's our only one that actually screams when held though

 

[PeepersMama]

Wow, that's cool. I knew blue leghorns existed, but they aren't very common! And yes, leghorns have yellow legs, andalusians have slate; I just didn't notice. Australia's got all the cool chickens!

If she doesn't like being held and you are pretty sure she is sick, then don't hold her unless you have to.
The best thing i can think of is internal laying, and since she is more active she could be masking her symptoms rather well.
I haven't had much experience with worms, but worming them wouldn't hurt. I use Rooster Booster since it doesn't have a discard period, which is nice.
Dang, the website is S.L.O.W. tonight!