Weak/lethargic pullet, not egg-bound

[BigBlueHen53]

She doesn't do any of that time bomb stuff, @aart, she doesn't flatten out or screech, none of that. She just sits with her beak in a corner looking thoughtful. Like in a trance. But I'll bet you're right.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'd put her in a wire bottomed crate to both break her (possible)broody and monitor her intake and output.


When I have a bird that is acting 'off' I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.

Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

Thanks, @aart, will do that today. I'm guessing this is the issue since she shows no real evidence of illness. What threw me off is that she was not sitting on a nest in the coop, cuddling golf balls and eggs, nor puffing up and screeching possessively. She was sitting outside in a corner of the run, just looking thoughtful. We really thought she was injured. The only real sign of broodiness I'm seeing is that she just sits all day, or most of the day, and then about twice a day she jumps up and eats and drinks voraciously for a few minutes like somebody flipped a switch, then goes back to her corner again and goes back into a trance. Well now that I know what's going on I can deal with it, I was just baffled. Not like any broody I've had before! (Those Aussies, I'm telling ya! )