I came out to the coop this evening to find my hen in the nesting box, looking uncomfortable and acting lethargic. I didn't check on the chickens this morning but I'm almost certain she did lay an egg at some point today. (Five eggs from my five green layers)
She's a high egg production hatchery hybrid. She'll be a year old in March.
A health check showed nothing unusual, except her vent was gaping a little. I assumed egg binding and gave her a 45 minute warm soak with electrolytes. (I've never been good at recognizing by feel if there is an egg in a hen's abdomen.)
After the bath I put on a glove, greased it with olive oil, and stuck my finger in almost all the way. No egg.
She pooped a small, watery poop. Their feeder was empty all day until evening when I found her. She was hungry and ate a little. That could be why her poop was small. I also think she might be a bit dehydrated.
In all ways her symptoms seem like egg binding, except when she walks she isn't waddling and squatting. But she prefers standing or sitting still to moving. Lethargic. She sometimes perks up and wanders a few steps for a couple minutes, but not as much as usual.
Her comb looks normal, but it's a little frostbitten from the cold streak a few weeks ago, so it's hard to tell.
No external parasites or obvious signs of disease. She passed my health check, besides her behavior. I still think her vent is acting off, but that could just be my paranoia.
Her diet is high protein layer feed (20%, if I remember right). We often give them kitchen scraps, and I gave them a bucket yesterday, but all the other chickens seem fine. I don't recall what was in the bucket this time, but I always check for dangerous foods like avocado pits, tomatoes, etc.
Tonight I'll be keeping her inside in a crate. Any guesses as to the issue?
She's a high egg production hatchery hybrid. She'll be a year old in March.
A health check showed nothing unusual, except her vent was gaping a little. I assumed egg binding and gave her a 45 minute warm soak with electrolytes. (I've never been good at recognizing by feel if there is an egg in a hen's abdomen.)
After the bath I put on a glove, greased it with olive oil, and stuck my finger in almost all the way. No egg.
She pooped a small, watery poop. Their feeder was empty all day until evening when I found her. She was hungry and ate a little. That could be why her poop was small. I also think she might be a bit dehydrated.
In all ways her symptoms seem like egg binding, except when she walks she isn't waddling and squatting. But she prefers standing or sitting still to moving. Lethargic. She sometimes perks up and wanders a few steps for a couple minutes, but not as much as usual.
Her comb looks normal, but it's a little frostbitten from the cold streak a few weeks ago, so it's hard to tell.
No external parasites or obvious signs of disease. She passed my health check, besides her behavior. I still think her vent is acting off, but that could just be my paranoia.
Her diet is high protein layer feed (20%, if I remember right). We often give them kitchen scraps, and I gave them a bucket yesterday, but all the other chickens seem fine. I don't recall what was in the bucket this time, but I always check for dangerous foods like avocado pits, tomatoes, etc.
Tonight I'll be keeping her inside in a crate. Any guesses as to the issue?
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