Sick Hen

[Crobinson08]

One of our girls is not feeling well the last few days, we've noticed she stands in one spot under the coop and sleeps most of the day. She gets up and comes to the door when I go out but as soon as I'm back inside she goes back to her spot. I have moved her inside to monitor her eating and drinking and she seems to be doing both. She's normally very vocal when we bring her inside but she is quiet today which worries me. I gave her some scrambled egg with nutridrench which she ate. The poop under her normal roosting spot has been slightly runny and green tinged (no free ranging this week, they are in a run). Her crop seems normal and was empty this morning, no respiratory problems that I can see. I don't think she has laid an egg in about a month and she's only a yr old. Any suggestions on what to do for her?

 

[azygous]

Is she low in the pecking order by any chance? Does she normally avoid the thick of the action, hanging out on the edges? Does she normally hold back from eating at the feeder until others have eaten?

It's not uncommon for a timid hen to starve from not getting adequate food due to being shoved away from the feeders on a regular basis. Eventually they become weak and lose their appetite. Have you observed her being bulllied?

The green in the poop is usually bile from not eating enough.

 

[Crobinson08]

Is she low in the pecking order by any chance? Does she normally avoid the thick of the action, hanging out on the edges? Does she normally hold back from eating at the feeder until others have eaten?

It's not uncommon for a timid hen to starve from not getting adequate food due to being shoved away from the feeders on a regular basis. Eventually they become weak and lose their appetite. Have you observed her being bulllied?

The green in the poop is usually bile from not eating enough.

She is low in the pecking order, but I have not witnessed her being bullied at all. It's just her and her two sisters in their pen. I saw her at the feeder and waterer this morning. She does tend to stay off by herself. Even when I let them out in the backyard, she typically stays on the patio most of the time. When I give them any kind of treats she gets right in the mix with no hesitations.

 

[azygous]

That gives me a better picture. Let's try something that should tell us if she's suffering from starvation weakness or weakness from infection.

Give her some warm sugar water and a soft boiled egg. Be sure she has it all to herself and the others don't eat it. If she's simply weak from starvation, this will give her an immediate energy boost and she will become immediately more alert and perky.

If she doesn't eat and drink this, then we might assume we're dealing with infection.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

What happened to her?

 

[Crobinson08]

What happened to her?

She fought for about a month. She would have bad days and good days. I kept her inside for a week, and she seemed to be feeling better so we put her back with her sisters but after another week she wouldn't leave the coop. I brought her back inside where she stayed until june 23rd. She got to the point that we had to make the decision to let her go. We couldn't bring ourselves to do it so I found a local vet that would euthanize her. We wrapped her up and said our goodbyes in the truck (and I bawled like a crazy person). When they brought her body back out, the tech told us that she actually passed away before they could even do anything. The kind vet looked her over and said she had a large ovarian cyst that had ruptured and said we made the right decision to bring her in which of course put my mind at ease. We buried her in the backyard under our shade tree and I made a little memorial piece for our house with her picture, footprint, and some feathers I saved. The vet also sent a lovely rainbow bridge card that I added in. We still miss her everyday our small flock will never be the same, but so glad for the year we had with her.