whats wrong?

[cami]

My hen appers to be broody but she hasent laid an egg since she started acting like this 4 or 5 days ago. she used to have a huge meaty breast to and now its all gone and i can feel her bones. whats wrong?

 

[Kittymomma]

They don't lay when they're broody. Weight loss is common with a broody hen, but you shouldn't be seeing it to that extent after less then a week of being broody. Are you sure she's broody and not sick or suffering from a parasite overload? Copy/paste the questions from the please read sticky at the top of the emergencies section into your post and answer as many of them as you can, the more info. you give us the better we'll be able to help.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Can you put a small bowl of food and water next to her, while you try to figure out if she's broody or sick? See if she will eat or drink. Also, if you take her off the nest, how does she act? Can she still walk normally? That seems like a lot of weight loss in just a few days.

 

[cami]

yeah she walks perfectly fine. She makes this weird purring sound whenever i open the nest box and pick her up to put outside the coop. After i put her out she walks around for a little bit and eats and then she just goes back in. And yes i can put food and water in with her.

1) What type of bird , age and weight.
She is a silkie, i do not know her weight and she is about 6 or 7 months old.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
She is sitting in her nestbox, not eating or moving and she purrs whenever i open it and take her out, she hasn't laid any eggs since she started this, and her chest and stomich have no feathers, alson she went from healthy sized to skinny in less than a week.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
shes been acting like this for about 4 or 5 days.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
no not besides sodden weight loss.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I have no idea she just randomly started acting like this.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
every morrning and evening i put her out of the coop and she eats chicken crumble and she free ranges, and she drinks well water
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
it looks normal
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
none.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
I would rather treat completely myself since im pretty much broke.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
im sorry i dont have a working camera right now, and you cant tell anything just by looking at her you have her feathers are to puffy
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
i use pine bedding made for horses and other livestock. and she lives in a small coop with 5 other hens and a rooster and sometimes it does leak but thats rare and i clean the coop every 2 weeks, its off the ground, and has a red light for when its too cold outside.

 

[wbruder17]

Sounds broody to me. Same thing just happened with my silkie. Give her a few eggs to sit on and see what she does. As long as she's eating and drinking, she should be fine. I gave mine some eggs to sit on, and after a week, since they weren't fertile, I just took them away and she's back to normal not. Silkies are notoriously broody.

 

[Qi Chicken]

She is probably just broody. If you want to break her put her in a wire bottomed cage for 3 days or until she lays an egg. Obviously with food and water. Some say to keep the lights on 24/7. Give her scrambled egg and other good treats either on or off the nest to get her back up to fighting weight. We have a buff orp that has been broody for months now. I just can't get her to stop. She always gets off the nest for really good treats though. I will give her eggs as soon as it is spring, this poor thing is so determined. I have done my advice to you and she will be ok for a few days and then right back on. She doesn't even care if there are eggs. I tell you this because silkies are another determined breed!

 

[cami]

ok thanks