Sleepy chicken?

[haralsonfarm]

We have six 5 1/2 month old chickens, one of whom is always sleeping now. I've read through a number of posts here, and just wanted to see if there was anything else out there. Other than randomly falling asleep anywhere, and resting on the roost inside the coop when everyone else is outside, she seems fine. I can't find any signs of trouble near her vent, don't feel any swelling or excess heat anywhere, etc.

None of the girls has laid an egg this week - but were beginning to lay prior to that - but that is the only other thing that's been going on in the coop.

I'd appreciate any ideas or insight! Thank you!!

 

[chicknmania]

There's something wrong if she is doing that. It could be a lot of things but I would put her in a pen or cage away from the others for starters and make sure she is eating and drinking well. if there are no other visible symptoms, you might try treating her for coccidiosis (amprol in her water for five days or at the very least medicated chick starter, which contains amprol). Other things that might cause that are fairly easy to treat are parasites...lice, mites or worms. Check for those. What is the history of your chickens? Where did you get them, what breed and sex are they, etc. You could check with wherever you got them from to see if there has been a problem initiating there.

 

[chicknmania]

5.5 months old is just the beginning of the laying cycle for some breeds. That could be why they are inconsistent in laying. But just keep an eye on them all because chickens conceal symptoms of illness.

 

[haralsonfarm]

Thank you for the replies, I really appreciate it!

We got 6 of the girls (including the sleepy one) from a great local farm store as chicks, and the younger ones from another about a month ago. All of them are girls, and a variety of breeds - Barred Rock, Speckled Sussex, Buff Orpington, Buff Wyandotte, Australorp, Mottled Java, and Silver Laced Wyandotte. The sleepy hen is the Silver Laced. I'll check with both of the stores and see if anything is going on that they've heard of.

I'll also do some mite and lice checks, and barring anything else, will start the amprol.

 

[chicknmania]

good luck then. Don't waste any time checking it out though, and make sure the sleepy one is eating and drinking. You can try to tempt her with a little goodies on her food, they like moist food when they are sick (just a little moist) and cooked oatmeal, scrambled eggs chopped berries or fruit, banana, yogurt, cottage cheese, chopped tomato are all good toppers. Or anything that they like, as long as it's in moderation and given with their regular food.

 

[Pinky Macgyver]

How's she going? I have one About the same age that is sleeping all the time but has been since he was a chick and it only just occurred to me that something may be wrong :-\

 

[haralsonfarm]

We did treat with amprol, and that seeemed to clear everything up. She's been fine since. I hope yours is ok as well!

 

[Pinky Macgyver]

That's great thanks