Tail down

[zinnia5117]

One of our chickens recently started holding her tail down instead of up. Probably it has been at least a week. I read some of the threads here and was wondering about her being egg bound. Not every chicken in our flock of five lays every day, but we only have three brown egg layers and got three brown eggs yesterday (plus one green and one shell-less!). We thought maybe she WAS egg bound before but then released two, which could be since today we have two green eggs. But she is still walking around with her tail down. Could she have fallen in the pecking order? She seems to still be eating and drinking like the others, but she was either the alpha hen or number 2, and now she seems to have chilled out. We tried to give her a warm bath just now to help her out in case she is egg bound somehow but the tail is still not back up.

Or what other things should I be looking for? I have Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens at home so can look at it more but not sure if there is a section I should be reading that I haven’t thought of.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[aart]

Is the tail down bird the only one who lays green eggs?
Video, if possible, of her walking would be most helpful.
Vids needs to be up loaded to youtube , or similar platform, then linked here.
I'd examine her vent and belly at the least.
Is she eating/drinking/pooping ok?