very lethargic black rock hen

[eggshell]

I have a three year old black rock hen who is acting very differently than usual.for the last few days she has stopped laying, she sits in the nesting box for up to 6 hours at a time, she has stopped eating although she drinks. she seems very lethargic like she cant be bothered to do anything. she is normally very vocal but this has stopped too. she looks quite normal, her crown and wattle are a nice red. could she be eggbound? she is normally a very regular layer.

 

[gritsar]

My first thought would be to do a search here on BYC about eggbound hens. Just use the keyword "eggbound" as your starting point. Could very well be, although I would expect her comb and/or wattles to show a change in color.

Hope she does alright for you.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

There are so many things that can go wrong with hen's egg-laying organs, it's so hard to tell. I'm hoping she's just broody, given that she's choosing the nestbox to sit in, rather than just plopping down somewhere in the coop.

 

[eggshell]

thanks for your post, but as from today she is just plopping herself down anywhere, all over the coop and her abdomen is very swollen. i'm gonna try a warm bath tomorrow and hope that helps. dont know what else to do apart from watch and wait. sadly!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
That's sad. I've never had the misfortune of having to deal with it, thankfully. If you can read up on it I believe you can do something along the lines of warm baths and helping the egg to pass. Good luck.