There's something wrong with my chicken? Help I'm worried :'-(

[ChickenLover996]

This is my first time raising chickens, I'm a newbie so I don't know most things so please help me out.
I have two chickens, a rooster and a hen. They are barred rocks and they are four months old.
My hen has been panting and I don't know what's wrong? I don't think it's heat stress they have plenty of cold water and lots of shade....maybe she's about to lay an egg?
I also noticed she's slower than the rooster....usually she was always faster than him or able to keep up to him but now she's kind of lagging. Her voice seems kind of weak to me too. There is nothing down her throat.
I picked her up today and her chest looks kind of weird...and that's when I noticed she looked kind of skinny?!??
She doesn't drink much water, but she still drinks. She prefers eating the dry grass, I don't know why it's beyond me.
The rooster has always been better about drinking plenty of water and he seems perfectly fine he's nice and fat and keeps himself hydrated and cool and seems okay. She never liked water much, so one day I picked her up and dipped her beak in it and she shook her head away.
This is really worrying me I get anxious when I see her panting I don't want her to die what's wrong with her???
I really love this chicken please help TT.TT

 

[jnewman]

Does he rooster mount her a lot? I know my hens get really stressed out when they are "molested" often. Also the heat in South Carolina makes my flock pant a lot as well. If you feel like it is an internal health problem, maybe check out your local feed store and see if there are any additives you can ad to the water or food to help get some more vitamins in and cage her so you know that she will eat that instead of the dry grass (which doesn't have as many nutrients as the living grass).

 

[ChickenLover996]

No, the rooster hasn't mated with the hen yet.....they're still young, I guess. They're both four months old, and the rooster is a couple of more days older than the hen.
I said I didn't think it was heat stress, but that's what it turned out to be.
I took the hen and splashed some cold water on her, then dropped slices of banana in cold water so she'd be tempted to drink...and eat...and it worked and she stopped panting! Made me relieved
I also started feeding the hen some cherries and lettuce and bread crumbs and onions....all which she gobbled up
Let me ask you, I've been wondering, is there a special reason when I feed the chickens the hen hogs all the food and doesn't let the rooster have any? Also, sometimes, when I put the food out in front of them and he gets there first, instead of eating, he calls her over and only after she starts eating, then he eats bits and pieces here and there and then lets her have the rest of it.
I thought maybe she hogged the food because she was hungry....they're free range chickens (lol-in our backyard) and so we really don't directly feed them any food, except for maybe at night when they're inside.
Or maybe he just lets her have it for whatever reason. Hmm.
We have to get rid of them soon though, sadly, because the rooster crows and we're not allowed to have any roosters in our neighborhood, we found out.
He literally gives me a panic attack every time he starts crowing because one of our neighbors reported us during one of his little crow 'fests'.
That neighbor lives on the other side of the street so I don't know why he cares. The neighbors directly behind us don't mind at all, but that may be because they have some chickens.
They're going to be dinner soon, either today or tomorrow. I'll miss them, especially my hen, whose the sweetest hen you could possible imagine :-(
One day, one day when I live out in the open.....when no one cares how loud a rooster crows....one day......
Then I'll get more chickens. But for now we'll have to give it up, at least while we're still in the city.

 

[jnewman]

I'm so sorry to hear that they will be dinner soon.

Could you just keep the hen that way there is no crowing but you can still have the sweet girl and also some awesome eggs once she starts laying? That would be such a tough choice for me too.

Regarding the hen hogging the food, I think you just have a really great rooster because ours do that too. He wants to make sure that his hens have all the good food/ nutrients because it is his job to take care of the flock. So, she isn't really hogging the food, he is helping her out. I'm sure he gets his nutrients elsewhere because they are free range, so it's not a problem.

I'm really happy to hear that it was just the heat and not a health problem. That's always a relief.

Good luck in the future with more chickens/roosters when not living with a town ordinance for that kind of thing. Chickens are so much fun!

 

[Orpington Crazy]

Um silly question why do you have to get rid of the hen she will lay eggs and live happily without the rooster. Glad to hear she is doing better.

Alyssa

 

[ChickenLover996]

Thanks. Good to know. And yes, chickens are extremely lots of fun!
I'd love to keep the hen, but they are inseparable. He can't stand a minute without her, and she can't stand a minute without him.
They grew up together as chicks, and since there are no other chickens to be with, if one can't find the other, they go crazy.
Since the rooster will be eaten he shouldn't mind being without the hen, but she will. I tried unsuccessfully one day to let her free range all by herself, but she just stood there, clucking loudly, walking around a bit, going to the places she used to sit with the rooster, and it was sad :-(
And he wouldn't stop crowing inside the house at that point, but it doesn't matter what he thinks anymore..so yeah.
They deserve to be together...it would be very harsh to take one away from the other. Like I said, they grew up together side by side and have always been together, not even a day apart, so they will live together or die together.
They just won't function without their buddy.....I mean I could try, but I don't think it'll work.
Also, where we live....it's just not really working for us to have chickens, both coopwise and budget wise. So they're really not the best option at the moment. We plan on, like I said, one day finding a nice house in the countryside or someplace where it's not too noisy and getting as much chickens and animals as we like, also when we're better off....ahem..'financially'.
Plus, if we could keep the hen, we're only allowed to have up to three..and that's no fun.

 

[ChickenLover996]

@Allysa I hope this answered your question as well.