Young Hen Sick?

[Chickens712]

One of our young hens (about 5 1/2 months) has had her tail down and sits down a lot, this has been happening for about a week. She has never laid an egg, so we don’t think she’s egg bound. She seems to have plenty of energy, as soon as we get near her she’ll get up and run away and looks perfectly fine, but then she’ll find another place to sit. Please reply with any information.

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• Chickens712
• Sep 11, 2019

 

[captionerlady]

My hen is doing the same thing. About the same age. I am not sure if she is the Australorps that started laying a couple weeks ago. She's letting me pick her up, not usual, and just lays under a tree, not usual. It's been two days. How can you tell if they are egg bound, and is there something that can be done?

 

[dawg53]

Soak your birds in a container of warm water up to their sides for about 20 minutes and gently massage the underside front to rear while soaking. Then apply olive oil just inside the vent and outside the vent. Hopefully the hens will lay the stuck egg. Repeat soaking as necessary and be patient.

 

[captionerlady]

I soaked her just now, massaged and did the olive oil. I inserted my finger in to about the middle of the finger and felt nothing hard. Below the opening, it seems to me not having felt up any chickens before that there is swollenness. I did manage to grab the only other one laying and hers did not feel that way at the bottom end. Would an egg be stuck down there somewhere? Is it safe to probe other than straight in? Any other suggestions? Tried to get her to eat some yogurt, but wasn't interested.