Hello! New member here, so hopefully I'm posting correctly?! I've always been too shy to post or join the community, but I'm getting desperate. I've been lurking the forums for a long time now since I've lost another hen to similar signs, but I want to see advice specific to my case.
My usual, chatty, social hen suddenly acted weird - started to become a bit more inactive than usual.
She's a 3 year old, RIRxWL. It's been a few days now since she started showing behaviour that is abnormal to her.
She still eats and drinks just fine - her comb is large and vibrant red! She hasn't lost any weight, and from what I can tell, her body condition score is ideal. She was last wormed a couple of weeks ago. I've also taken her temperature - Nothing abnormal (41C).
But recently she's been inactive. Her tail's down and her feather sometimes ruffled. Her vent is a bit daggy and she sleeps standing up or would stay standing in one corner of the yard. Instead of standing, sometimes she'll sit either in her nesting box or at a spot in the yard. Her laying has definitely slowed down - I have been told it is normal for her breed to slow laying at 2-3 years of age - but I have seen her lay/"poop-out" soft/shelless eggs (2 occasions). And although I've said she's been eating and drinking just fine, I guess she is eating a bit less than usual today.
Here are some pictures of her faeces (hopefully this works!).
I took a picture of these ones a few hours after it was defecated. Are those blood spots I see? Should I assume Cocci, or could they also be ovarian cancer?
This one was taken only a few seconds after she defecated it. I don't see any blood spots here (floor's just dirty).
Here are some pictures of my girl. She's been standing at this spot for quite some time today.
I have a RIRxAustralorp, same hatch group, who is displaying no similar signs.
As mentioned, I've lost another hen (same breed and age as this sick one) earlier this year in May with similar signs, though she had "laid" more shelless eggs more frequently (and possibly some lash eggs?). They were apart of the same hatch group but I don't know if they had the same parents - Colleague thinks it might be a defect with the line? We took her to an exotic vet who suspected ovarian cancer and/or ascites, though they couldn't really tell unless they open her up, which all of us really didn't want to as it's a risky procedure (so I've been told). I can detail the treatment they did for her, but to summarise, she got drained, got better after a week of medication, got worse again, vet upped her dosage on our second check-up and she ended up passing the night after this visit. One other difference between these two is that the hen who had passed became very anaemic. Another side note that may or may not be helpful, her comb was large and bright red as well until she stayed overnight at the vet and had a procedure done on her. She came back home with a very pale looking comb.
Now that my other hen is showing similar symptoms, I am distraught, especially since she's the sweetest girl in my flock who is happy to cuddle up with you.
Up until recently, I've been treating her with calcium supplements, given directly orally, to treat her shelless eggs. I stopped as soon as I saw these other signs just in case. Beside's the vet's opinion, I also want to know what this community thinks.
Personally, I strongly suspect cocci, but before I start medicating her, I want to see what the community thinks. For now, I'll be doing a full coop clean out and I'll be isolating her into a hospital area, which I keep indoor.
[EDIT:] Another thing - What she has... comes and goes? I remember with my last hen, she would get super sick one week, and then alright the next. Sometimes she'd be alright for a month, and degrade the next for a few days. But the more this occurs, the longer amount of time she'll behave sickly (if that makes sense?). Seems to be a similar case with this one. I remember her acting weird a few weeks ago, but she went back to her usual self until a few days ago.
My usual, chatty, social hen suddenly acted weird - started to become a bit more inactive than usual.
She's a 3 year old, RIRxWL. It's been a few days now since she started showing behaviour that is abnormal to her.
She still eats and drinks just fine - her comb is large and vibrant red! She hasn't lost any weight, and from what I can tell, her body condition score is ideal. She was last wormed a couple of weeks ago. I've also taken her temperature - Nothing abnormal (41C).
But recently she's been inactive. Her tail's down and her feather sometimes ruffled. Her vent is a bit daggy and she sleeps standing up or would stay standing in one corner of the yard. Instead of standing, sometimes she'll sit either in her nesting box or at a spot in the yard. Her laying has definitely slowed down - I have been told it is normal for her breed to slow laying at 2-3 years of age - but I have seen her lay/"poop-out" soft/shelless eggs (2 occasions). And although I've said she's been eating and drinking just fine, I guess she is eating a bit less than usual today.
Here are some pictures of her faeces (hopefully this works!).
I took a picture of these ones a few hours after it was defecated. Are those blood spots I see? Should I assume Cocci, or could they also be ovarian cancer?
This one was taken only a few seconds after she defecated it. I don't see any blood spots here (floor's just dirty).
Here are some pictures of my girl. She's been standing at this spot for quite some time today.
I have a RIRxAustralorp, same hatch group, who is displaying no similar signs.
As mentioned, I've lost another hen (same breed and age as this sick one) earlier this year in May with similar signs, though she had "laid" more shelless eggs more frequently (and possibly some lash eggs?). They were apart of the same hatch group but I don't know if they had the same parents - Colleague thinks it might be a defect with the line? We took her to an exotic vet who suspected ovarian cancer and/or ascites, though they couldn't really tell unless they open her up, which all of us really didn't want to as it's a risky procedure (so I've been told). I can detail the treatment they did for her, but to summarise, she got drained, got better after a week of medication, got worse again, vet upped her dosage on our second check-up and she ended up passing the night after this visit. One other difference between these two is that the hen who had passed became very anaemic. Another side note that may or may not be helpful, her comb was large and bright red as well until she stayed overnight at the vet and had a procedure done on her. She came back home with a very pale looking comb.
Now that my other hen is showing similar symptoms, I am distraught, especially since she's the sweetest girl in my flock who is happy to cuddle up with you.
Up until recently, I've been treating her with calcium supplements, given directly orally, to treat her shelless eggs. I stopped as soon as I saw these other signs just in case. Beside's the vet's opinion, I also want to know what this community thinks.
Personally, I strongly suspect cocci, but before I start medicating her, I want to see what the community thinks. For now, I'll be doing a full coop clean out and I'll be isolating her into a hospital area, which I keep indoor.
[EDIT:] Another thing - What she has... comes and goes? I remember with my last hen, she would get super sick one week, and then alright the next. Sometimes she'd be alright for a month, and degrade the next for a few days. But the more this occurs, the longer amount of time she'll behave sickly (if that makes sense?). Seems to be a similar case with this one. I remember her acting weird a few weeks ago, but she went back to her usual self until a few days ago.
Last edited:
hi and welcome to BYC! I'm going to tag 
