Young hen may be sick or not feeling well, tail "down?"

[shegeekster]

Hi -- So new to chickens I need help with everything

I don't know if it means anything at all with them, but when my pigeons sit with their tail "down" instead of up, it means "I don't feel good!" One of my hens (all about 3 1/2 mos. old) is exhibiting this behavior. She also seems to be keeping away from the other 3 and that is strange. She is up and walking around foraging (they have a coop in an enclosed area so they can stretch their legs) but I wanted to ask how to interpret her behavior. Or am I reading too much into it. I just noticed it today. I haven't had an opportunity to see what her poo looks like.

Thsi is probably not enough to go on but any comments or suggestions are appreciated! Thanks...

Dianna

 

[Kim95037]

Actually thats a pretty good tell tale sign, usually when my chickens tail feathers are pointing down it means they are not feeling quite right. What is the comb color? Usually a pale colored comb is a good indicator too, tho the extreme opposite isnt good either, which I didnt know. How about the weather? Is it super hot?

 

[shegeekster]

It was warm today but not hot. Since they are so young, they barely have a comb yet but hers looks ... like it usually does, I guess. Red but not bright red. Her vent looks clean and dry at least from a distance. They have had their usual food and water and she is active at least, not just lying still that would really worry me.

I have never wormed these girls -- should I? They have access to dirt foraging all day long so worms would be inevitable I guess.

Tomorrow morning I will pick her up and have a close look at her when I open their coop for the day. Thing is I don't even know what to look for

Thanks for your reply.l.l

 

[Kim95037]

Ive never wormed my chickens, Ive had them for two years. I suppose I should look into that. I use diatomaceous which is supposed to help with that. Chickens are kind of tricky to diagnose sometimes. Keep an eye on her and post anything else you notice that seems unusuall. She may just snap right out of it. One of my chickens did that for a couple of days and I was really worried and then all of a sudden she was back to her normal self.

 

[shegeekster]

Ahh! Thanks, I am keeping a close eye on her and I will X my fingers that she will snap out of it too, like yours did!

p.s. I was wondering - at about 12-14 weeks of age, could she be having a molt? Sometimes my pigeons feel sick when molting. She seems to have what look like lots of pin feathers on her head right now.

 

[terryg]

Tail down is definitely a sign for concern. She's young and so it's more likely that she's getting some sort of an infection than what you see in older hens (cancer, laying issues.) I have a FAQ on how to sort through the clues and figure out what is going on. http://hencam.com/faq/diagnosing-a-sick-chicken/

 

[shegeekster]

Thank you very much I've read your article and I think I will isolate her to get a good idea how much she is pooing and what it looks like. I was hoping to catch her in the act this morning but no such luck. She is eating with gusto (so far).