- Mar 26, 2012
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I'm having some troubles with my brown hen. I'm not sure if she's going broody, if she's ill or if something has really upset her.
She's just over a year old, the youngest and usually the liveliest of my 3 hens. Usually the tamest and bravest too. I started to notice a change in her a couple of weeks ago - she would spook very easily at my presence in the run and sometimes she would fluff up her neck feathers like she was being threatened for no reason.
Then she stopped laying. A few days ago I let them out and she was entirely not herself. She keeps her head tucked close to her body and she moves very slowly. She eats a little but not much. She shows some interest in treats, but again, not much. She drinks a lot and takes herself to sit on her perch a lot. Occasionally I find her sitting on one of the other's eggs, but it seems to be more that the egg was in her way when she went to nest down. I tried to encourage some broody behaviour (just because I'd rather it be that than illness) by leaving an egg in the nesting box for her to sit on, but by morning I'd found it had been pushed out of the nesting box.
I've been giving her apple cider vinegar in her water and today I put a little garlic in there too. She's stood by the watered and keeps closing her eyes like she's dozing in between drinking. Her comb is normal and there's no visible sign of anything being wrong, other than in how she is acting.
Any thoughts? I keep thinking I should bring her inside and keep her warm and stress-free. It's been really wet weather since she's been like this, although she has shelter in addition to access to the coop.
She's just over a year old, the youngest and usually the liveliest of my 3 hens. Usually the tamest and bravest too. I started to notice a change in her a couple of weeks ago - she would spook very easily at my presence in the run and sometimes she would fluff up her neck feathers like she was being threatened for no reason.
Then she stopped laying. A few days ago I let them out and she was entirely not herself. She keeps her head tucked close to her body and she moves very slowly. She eats a little but not much. She shows some interest in treats, but again, not much. She drinks a lot and takes herself to sit on her perch a lot. Occasionally I find her sitting on one of the other's eggs, but it seems to be more that the egg was in her way when she went to nest down. I tried to encourage some broody behaviour (just because I'd rather it be that than illness) by leaving an egg in the nesting box for her to sit on, but by morning I'd found it had been pushed out of the nesting box.
I've been giving her apple cider vinegar in her water and today I put a little garlic in there too. She's stood by the watered and keeps closing her eyes like she's dozing in between drinking. Her comb is normal and there's no visible sign of anything being wrong, other than in how she is acting.
Any thoughts? I keep thinking I should bring her inside and keep her warm and stress-free. It's been really wet weather since she's been like this, although she has shelter in addition to access to the coop.
