Sick or broody hen?

[leahmec]

Hi all,
I have been having an ongoing problem with my year old Cochin hen for going on three weeks now and it’s worrying me. I thought she was broody, however she is exhibiting some strange behaviour I have not seen in broody hens so I am concerned that she is sick. I had put her in my broody breaker pen (wire dog crate lifted up) for a couple of days and thought I had broke her broodiness but now a couple of days later she’s back at it. I will list her symptoms/behaviours and would appreciate some opinions:
1. Plucking her chest feathers out (classic broody, she did it again today)
2. Large to medium sized poops that look normal, but have seen her have a couple of watery poops
3. Pale-ish skin around her comb and eyes but not the comb itself (more pale now than in the pics)
4. Seems dazed and confused and takes a few moments to get going when I make her get up
5. Laying in spots on the floor of the coop, not the nest box
6. Strange slow movements with her head side to side, running her head into the wall and pecking the air beside the drinker a couple of times before “finding” it to drink
7. Not aggressive at all when I move her but does make some clucking noise
8. When I get her up she walks around normally but won’t scratch around for treats, etc
9. Has lost weight but is eating. Not filling her croup though
10. Losing feathers like crazy, I pet her and come away with a handful of feathers

sorry for the long winded post! I have put vitamins in their water and offer healthy treats to encourage her to eat more. I would like to deworm the whole flock but am not sure what to use. Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you

 

[turkey girl 0964]

@Overo Mare @JacinLarkwell @aart @sourland @HeatherKellyB

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Hi. I'm so sorry she's got you worried. Most of her behavior does sound like typical broody behavior, but a couple of things are concerning to me. Her unnatural head movements and her seeming confused. Broodies will oftentimes get lice and/or mites because they spend so much time sitting. Have you checked her over really well for external parasites? As far as deworming them, have you noticed any worms or had a fecal float ran? I personally like Valblazen because it's one of the easiest and it covers everything I've needed. It's best and safest to know what external parasite you're wanting to eradicate before administering anything but I know that's not always possible. If you're willing, some vet's will run a fecal float or you can send a sample off to a lab and receive results quickly.
Are any of your other birds acting unwell? She may need some tlc and extra spoiling as far as some feed. I'd boil her an egg and separate her to eat it. If she's not eating enough that could throw everything off with her. This is probably what I'd do now and check her over for external parasites tonight. Then reevaluate her in the morning. If you take away the feed after she eats tonight, you can check her crop in the morning to make sure it's functioning properly

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I agree with above. The first picture looks sick, but the others look like a normal broody

 

[leahmec]

Hi. I'm so sorry she's got you worried. Most of her behavior does sound like typical broody behavior, but a couple of things are concerning to me. Her unnatural head movements and her seeming confused. Broodies will oftentimes get lice and/or mites because they spend so much time sitting. Have you checked her over really well for external parasites? As far as deworming them, have you noticed any worms or had a fecal float ran? I personally like Valblazen because it's one of the easiest and it covers everything I've needed. It's best and safest to know what external parasite you're wanting to eradicate before administering anything but I know that's not always possible. If you're willing, some vet's will run a fecal float or you can send a sample off to a lab and receive results quickly.
Are any of your other birds acting unwell? She may need some tlc and extra spoiling as far as some feed. I'd boil her an egg and separate her to eat it. If she's not eating enough that could throw everything off with her. This is probably what I'd do now and check her over for external parasites tonight. Then reevaluate her in the morning. If you take away the feed after she eats tonight, you can check her crop in the morning to make sure it's functioning properly

Thank you for the reply! The head movements and confusion are definitely the most worrisome. I will try the hard boiled egg tonight I have been trying meal worms and bananas (her fav) but she really wasn’t very interested. She put up a big fight tonight when I tried to syringe some vitamin water into her. Everyone else seems completely normal! I haven’t seen any mites or anything on her, I’ve checked her all over. As for internal, I haven’t seen anything in their stool but will look into seeing if any of my local vets will do a float

 

[leahmec]

I agree with above. The first picture looks sick, but the others look like a normal broody

Yes, it’s been very confusing and frustrating to try to figure out what’s going on. She seems sick and then perks right up and acts like nothings wrong

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Thank you for the reply! The head movements and confusion are definitely the most worrisome. I will try the hard boiled egg tonight I have been trying meal worms and bananas (her fav) but she really wasn’t very interested. She put up a big fight tonight when I tried to syringe some vitamin water into her. Everyone else seems completely normal! I haven’t seen any mites or anything on her, I’ve checked her all over. As for internal, I haven’t seen anything in their stool but will look into seeing if any of my local vets will do a float

You probably already know this but just in case, it's best to check for lice and mites well after dark, using a headlamp, checking around the vent, under wings, and neck feathers. I was advised to run a slightly damp white paper towel under the roost to check for red specks (red roost mites)
Her putting up a fight is GOOD! Sick birds oftentimes aren't up to fighting us doing whatever to them.

 

[leahmec]

You probably already know this but just in case, it's best to check for lice and mites well after dark, using a headlamp, checking around the vent, under wings, and neck feathers. I was advised to run a slightly damp white paper towel under the roost to check for red specks (red roost mites)
Her putting up a fight is GOOD! Sick birds oftentimes aren't up to fighting us doing whatever to them.

I will triple check again tonight after dark. Thank you so much for the advice! I really appreciate it