Sleepy Orpington

[misssunfish]

Hi there! I'm new to raising chickens and these boards have been a tremendous amount of help in learning the ropes.

I have a 2 year old Orpington that I received about 6 weeks ago (with another hen from the same flock). In the past week, I've noticed that she's been a little bit lethargic, late to come out of the coop in the morning, and falling asleep standing up at various points during the day. Her appetite is not too bad...she has been eating a bit here and there and I notice her scratching and eating when I let them free range in the evening. She is drinking as well. Her comb is still bright red. I haven't noticed any changes in her poops at all though I did notice that her rear end has been a bit dirty. This happened when we first got her and I cleaned her up in a warm bath, though I don't think she loved it. Just a couple other notes...we have been working on an addition to the coop and run so it has been a little noisy during the day. Also, our lab hasn't been the best with leaving them alone and I noticed that he put his feet up on the coop and peaked in the window the other night while she was roosting. Not sure if this makes any difference or not. Am I just being a paranoid chicken keeper?
Sorry for the long post, just wanted to hear some insights from the experts. 8) Thanks!

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Has she been laying or had any past respiratory problems? My hen had this and she had past respiratory problems and she stopped laying for a while. This is possibly chronic bronchitis, if you ever get misshapen eggs that's probably it.

I'm sorry this has happened to your hen, my hen has it right now also. I've been giving her Poly-vi-sol with no iron. (1 mL per gallon) in her water. You can find it at drugstores.

This is like a common cold to chickens (like colds are to us). I hope she gets better.

 

[misssunfish]

Thank you so much for responding! She has been laying...last week she laid a soft egg but since then she has laid two good eggs. The weather here has been somewhat up and down. We had a nice warm week, but the past several days have been cool and damp. Is there any harm in giving her the Poly-vi-sol just in case?

I'm hoping she feels better soon...I never thought I'd enjoy my chickens as much as I do!

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Thank you so much for responding! She has been laying...last week she laid a soft egg but since then she has laid two good eggs. The weather here has been somewhat up and down. We had a nice warm week, but the past several days have been cool and damp. Is there any harm in giving her the Poly-vi-sol just in case?

I'm hoping she feels better soon...I never thought I'd enjoy my chickens as much as I do!

There is no harm giving everyone Poly-vi-sol (no iron), it's vitamins, and it was made for babies, but chickens can have it.

 

[dawg53]

I dont suspect she is eggbound. Pick her up and visually inspect her for lice/mites, especially around her vent. You can actually see lice crawling on them, mites rarely move and look like black or red pepper stuck to the skin. If you dont see external parasites, I'd suspect internal parasites especially if she's never been wormed.

 

[terryg]

Good for you to pay attention and notice changes in your chicken's behavior! Being prey animals, they often don't show illness until they are very sick. I've even had sick hens fake eating and drinking just so that they don't stand out from the crowd. When in doubt, I always isolate for a day. It gives me a chance to see exactly what they are eating, drinking and pooping. I have a FAQ about that here:
http://hencam.com/faq/diagnosing-a-sick-chicken/
If her vent area stays messy with runny poop, she might have vent gleet (a yeast infection) or it can be a sign of infection, or it can be a sign of stress .... with chickens many symptoms are the same for very different ailments! I've written a lot about messy bottoms and gleet on my blog. If things worsen with your hen, you can do an archive search.

 

[misssunfish]

I'll check her tonight for mites. I do keep DE mixed into their coop and they've been dusting quite a bit.
I'm not sure if she's ever been wormed as I was given her as an adult. I could definitely find out. I will also do some research on deworming. Thank you all for your help!