Hello,
I have a Light Brahma hen, a little over a year old that has been lethargic the last week or so (increasingly over time). She had been a consistent layer until maybe a month ago and stopped laying, but acted fine/normal until the last week.
Comb is nice and red. Checked for lice and mites and all the bad stuff. Feet are fine. No discharge, eyes are good, no breathing issues.
In the last few days she is not interested in food and isn’t drinking much. I’ve been using a syringe to make sure she gets at least SOME liquid. Monday night I thought her crop felt more full and hoped she had eaten but it didn’t look like she had…. So I took her food away for a day to see if her crop shrunk. Nope - it’s maintained the same size, is squishy but not huge or full. Zero smell, so I don’t think it’s sour crop. Wouldn’t impacted crop feel more hard?
Have not physically felt inside her vent (yet) for a broken egg. But that’s my last idea. Her abdomen (or chicken version of an abdomen) is normal — not enlarged/swollen.
She walks fine — just slow because she’s lethargic. Occasionally I’ve seen her breathing with her beak open, so possibly she’s in a little pain.
I do have a chicken vet but she’s hard to get into — wouldn’t be fast to get an appointment. I’m wondering if she has internal issues and just isn’t going to pull through. But she’s still pretty alert despite not eating or drinking much, so am attempting to do what I can. Just not sure what else to try at this point.
The rest of my flock is fine. I have separated this hen from everyone just in case. Her poop is pretty yellow/green at this point but I suspect it’s just lack of nutrients?
She is fed Kalmbach feed, has access to grit and oyster shells. I feed treats very minimally.
Any advice is welcome.
I have a Light Brahma hen, a little over a year old that has been lethargic the last week or so (increasingly over time). She had been a consistent layer until maybe a month ago and stopped laying, but acted fine/normal until the last week.
Comb is nice and red. Checked for lice and mites and all the bad stuff. Feet are fine. No discharge, eyes are good, no breathing issues.
In the last few days she is not interested in food and isn’t drinking much. I’ve been using a syringe to make sure she gets at least SOME liquid. Monday night I thought her crop felt more full and hoped she had eaten but it didn’t look like she had…. So I took her food away for a day to see if her crop shrunk. Nope - it’s maintained the same size, is squishy but not huge or full. Zero smell, so I don’t think it’s sour crop. Wouldn’t impacted crop feel more hard?
Have not physically felt inside her vent (yet) for a broken egg. But that’s my last idea. Her abdomen (or chicken version of an abdomen) is normal — not enlarged/swollen.
She walks fine — just slow because she’s lethargic. Occasionally I’ve seen her breathing with her beak open, so possibly she’s in a little pain.
I do have a chicken vet but she’s hard to get into — wouldn’t be fast to get an appointment. I’m wondering if she has internal issues and just isn’t going to pull through. But she’s still pretty alert despite not eating or drinking much, so am attempting to do what I can. Just not sure what else to try at this point.
The rest of my flock is fine. I have separated this hen from everyone just in case. Her poop is pretty yellow/green at this point but I suspect it’s just lack of nutrients?
She is fed Kalmbach feed, has access to grit and oyster shells. I feed treats very minimally.
Any advice is welcome.
