Hen crouched and depressed looking and lethargic

[IndigoAngel]

I have a hen, not sure of breed but I know she is mixed, age unknown (less than 2 years, I think). She began assuming a hunched posture when the weather began getting colder. I have been keeping an eye on her and routinely checking her over and until recently she has been otherwise okay. Two days ago I saw her stumble twice so I picked her up to examine; two notable things:1) she did not try to get away from me at all 2) she feels very thin. I was concerned about dehydration because I recently switched to horizontal nipple waterers; I set an open dish of fresh water before her and she drank quite a bit so I think I was onto something there.
The next day (yesterday), she came out to greet me and was eating and drinking well, roaming around with the other girls, not exactly perky but her tail was up and she wasn't fully squatting. After a while she went back into the run and then followed me into the coop. After a short time she resumed the squatting position, tucked her head under her feathers and was walking around like that; she came towards me and snuggled against my leg for a bit and then, when I petted her back, moved away and walked until she came to the wall. The pic you see is how she stood for the remainder of time that I was out with the flock, about another 15 minutes.
I have not seen any abnormal poops, no sign of mites or lice, no runny nose or eyes, no wheezing, her comb is full and red. She is kind of tucking her tail and letting her wings fall when she is in this position. As I mentioned above, she has lost weight. She walks slowly and is not scratching- she will eat and peck the ground when outside, but she doesn't scratch around. She will stand in this position, with her head tucked and eyes closed, for most of the day; sometimes by herself against a wall or drinker, sometimes against another hen. There are no signs of illness in the rest of the girls (I have 10 total). I am baffled; considering worming all as a precaution (or maybe a treatment for Fancy) but not really sure how to proceed. My research suggests coccidiosis but there is no diarrhea; could this be early stages?
This is my first run in with illness; I am still new to this whole thing, having chickens only 8 months. I have read the Chicken Health Handbook so much that my husband has asked if I'm studying to become a vet.
I am interested and eager to hear what people think. TIA for any input and/or suggestions.

*edited to add that she will not roost; she has insisted on sleeping in a nesting box for months, she is bottom of pecking order and was roosting alone for the first month or so but then decided she wants to sleep in a box. I gave up and I let her, figuring that it has to be warmer than roosting alone. I simply clean the box every morning. Some battles are not worth the fight and if it makes her happy then so be it.

 

[IndigoAngel]

I cannot find a vet that treats poultry. I'm going to treat with Valbazen first, then try something for cocci if she doesn't improve.

 

[azygous]

Sometimes, a clue jumps out of a sentence that can be the key to everything. This time it was "bottom of the pecking order". You already suspected dehydration and saw that there was improvement in her condition after she drank. Both dehydration and starvation can produce symptoms of severe illness, even paralysis. So the simple explanations is where I like to begin treatment, if only to rule them out and move on.

Sleeping in the nest box is another clue in addition to her rank in the pecking order that points to bullying as being the cause of her issues. Nest sleeping is a dirty habit and shouldn't be tolerated. You may think you're cleaning the nest, but feces every day in a nest encourage bacteria to develop and you risk illness in your family from eggs being contaminated. It's also a bad habit that is hard to break once it gets established. Block the nest off after egg laying is finished for the day and keep it blocked until morning.

You need to treat this hen for starvation and dehydration. If she's eating and drinking on her own, segregate her for feedings and put sugar in her water to elevate her glucose, and give her high protein like eggs and carbs like boiled rice to eat. Poultry Nutri-drench for a few days will boost her nutritional level and help restore her appetite.

Once she's eating and drinking and back to normal behavior, watch for bullying. Watch her at the feeder. If she's being chased away from food she isn't getting enough to eat and you need to treat her for bully victimhood. This is how I do it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

 

[IndigoAngel]

Thank you for your input; it's greatly appreciated.

I should have been more specific in my original post, but it was soooo long already. She is not THE bottom of the pecking order, but she is among the bottom three; there are two beneath her. I have observed her and it doesn't appear that she is being pushed away from feeding/drinking-in fact she eats rather a lot. This morning she was sitting in the middle of the flock, sleeping, as they all had their morning preening session. She will cuddle with another hen when they are just hanging out on the floor of the coop; I see no signs of pecking or feather pulling on her. But then, who knows what goes on when I'm not in the coop....

I suspected dehydration because i had switched drinkers recently. I had bought this heated waterer, as it is the same style as what my girls were used to but had two problems. First, it didn't latch well and the walls were not strong enough to support the water, thus it kept collapsing, drenching the run. Secondly, I noticed a lot of dripping wattles when they drank from the bowl and was concerned about frostbite. We have been experiencing freakishly warm weather for the most part but I know that's not going to last forever. So I ditched the horrible waterer and went to horizontal nipples. I thought everyone had caught on to it; I had seen each hen drinking from them so I wasn't too concerned. I was out of town for two days and my daughter was taking care of the chickens. It was when I returned that I noticed the behavior in Fancy.

That said, I did take your advice this morning and made scrambled eggs and rice with a little honey in it. I also put honey in the water. She wouldn't touch it at first so I had to put some in her mouth; once she had a couple bites she was eating. I have not yet seen her drinking. I have put her in the "jail" with what was left of the egg, mixed with some pellets and the water. I will let her out in an hour or so.

Heading over to read your article now. Again, thank you for the response and advice. I'm feeling quite defeated but you have given me some hope.

 

[IndigoAngel]

Update on Fancy Girl: I have been keeping her in a large dog crate and feeding her as suggested in your article and I have seen some improvement. Fancy is no longer sitting on her feet when she walks and her tail is not on the ground; she is not fully upright and her tail is still dropped some but we are making progress! Yesterday she scratched the ground just a tiny bit, held her ground with one of the others, and even pushed the hen just above her in the order out of the way at the feeder. I was so proud of her. LOL
I cannot tell you how helpful your advice has been. I look forward to a happy, confident Fancy Girl soon.
I also had an idea to make a larger day spa area; will post a pic when I get that done.