Sick Girl!! She's not Egg bound - so what's going on??

[ten chicks]

Help!! I have a hen who for the last three days will not leave her nest box, unless forced to, wont roost at night, and hasnt laid in three days. We thought maybe she was egg bound, and did the warm water treatment, but nothing. She does not look sick or droopy. When we do make her get out of the box, she will eat, drink and poop (looks normal), but has her feathers very fluffed constantly. She'll flap her wings and caw and shake them out, and she is also doing a continuous clucking sound, and seems nervous...wants to get back into the box asap. the other two hens seem unusually mean - lots of pecking when shes out. This is totally new for all of them, usuallly all very friendly to each other.
Any ideas????

Is she broody? Look up info. on broodiness,see if description fits,sounds like it to me. Never leave a broody hen to sit and sit,if she is not hatching eggs,dangerous to her health. To break a broody,put her in a cage with a wire bottom,air has to circulate on her breast and under her. Broodiness is tied to elevated body temp,place her where she can see light. Broody hens love the dark to sit on eggs,you want to do the opposite. Make sure she has food and water. Keep her there for a couple of days,let her out if she runs back to her nest,put her back in the broody breaker. When she has finished being broody,she will just go about her normal chicken routine scratching,dust bathing etc. The longer you leave a broody hen,the longer it takes to break.

 

[casportpony]

She has lost weight! A broody hen does not lose that much weigh so quickly. Not saying she isn't broody, just think she should have a cloacal exam. While at it, probably a good time to weigh her and treat her and the others for mites/lice and worms.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

What breed of chicken is she?

-Kathy

 

[jewel4one]

ok...lost wieght is maybe pushing it a bit...she just seems just a bit less...um..hefty. she is a buff orpington...and the biggest of my girls. today we had her out free ranging...she did great, ate, pooped, preened, and seemed happy. however, she ran back to the nest box twice, and both times i brought her back out and gave her a cool bath. she seemed calmer after that...like i said, in every respects, she seems like "Sunny", ...so broody seems to fit what's happening.
They all are mite free, lice free...from what i can tell..both the other girls are happy, healthy and normal.
She hasnt laid since last thursday...how do i do a vent check, and at this point, if she seems in every other way healthy...what am i looking for?
I live in CT, but an from Cali...san diego...hi gilroy!

 

[casportpony]

My broody Cochin has been sitting on peahen eggs for 26 days and has lost 1/2 an ounce. Your hen is either broody or sick, I hope she's just broody. Get a baseline weight on her now and re-weigh her in a week...

-Kathy

 

[cafarmgirl]

After reading all of the above I really would suspect she is simply broody. They do stop laying when brooding and they do loose weight. I have a couple who go determinedly broody every spring. They both are hard to break of it and they do loose weight quick. With something the size of a chicken it doesn't take much weight loss for it to be noticeable. In my experience chickens who are egg bound do not act otherwise normal, they act like they have a problem.

Keep her off the nest by whatever means you have to and you'll break her broodiness. Put her in a cage as mentioned, block the nest box door, whatever. Most of my chickens pick places to lay other then their very nice nest boxes so if I have a broody I just block off the box to keep her out and the other's don't really care. Might not work for you if your girls reliably lay in their boxes.

I also feed broody hens some extra healthy treats like hard boiled egg, meal worms, greens etc. Anything to up their calorie intake and get them moving around.

 

[casportpony]

Maybe someone else can explain how to do a cloacal exam... I'm not very good at explaining things

.

-Kathy

 

[ten chicks]

Maybe someone else can explain how to do a cloacal exam... I'm not very good at explaining things

.

-Kathy

Think pelvic exam,put those gloves on and insert gently into vent(some doctors could use this advice). Feel around for hard mass.

 

[jewel4one]

been giving her extra meal worms. greens, and eggs....plus her regular laying food. let her free range tonight...she seemed content. would she be pooping big poops (normal) if she there was a problem within the vent? or an obstruction?