Chicken is sluggish and is not eating!

melvshens

melvshens

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My Lohmann Brown hen has not laid, and is very sluggish. She is not making any noise and has no objection to people going near her (unlike usual). Her faeces look normal (but we havent looked too closely), and her tail is kept low and she is hunched up

We have kept her quarantined from the other two hens for fear of transmitting whatever she might have (if its a disease or something), and she hasnt touched the food or water we put out for her (even actively turned her nose up at it). She wouldnt come out of her coop at all.

Please help! If you have had this problem before, should we take her to the vet?

Thanks so much if you can help
 
Hi Melveshens. Presumably she has been wormed in the last 6 months with Flubenvet. Sounds as though it could be an egg internal problem or an abdominal infection. Either way she needs a vet so I'd get her to a Poultry experienced one tomorrow.
 
hi Melvshens and welcome to the forum. I'm sorry it's at such a worrying time for you.
I agree with Chris that it could well be an egglaying problem, or if she hasn't been recently wormed with flubenvet this could also be a contributory factor even if not the main cause -a heavy worm burden can pull a hen down very fast, and can reduce her capacity to cope with other health problems she may have. It's good to treat all the flock every 4-6 months as a matter of course, and not to rely on herbal remedies.
You don't say how old she is - Lohmanns are bred for commercial use and usually lay like mad for the first couple of years, after which many or most of their egg cells are used up and they are then prone to problems such as eggbinding or prolapse. They may lay soft-shelled eggs, or those with membrane or no shell, which can break inside them on the way down, causing peritonitis. Any of these problems might cause the symptoms you describe. If she were mine, she would be off to the vet tomorrow. Meanwhile, keep her quiet and warm, maybe in a box indoors if you don't have a separate coop, provide food and a warm mash made from pellets soaked in water with maybe some treats such as hulled sunflower seeds, mealworms or some chicken corn, to see if you can tempt her, though probably she won't want to eat.
There is a page on the main Poultrykeeper site about egg peritonitis and a photo of a bird with a typical stance for this problem, at http://bit.ly/LBhAU6
Do let us know how she gets on.
 
She seems a little more lively today, so we are letting her run with the other two hens.

She seems a little more horizontal than the bird in that picture (but otherwise similar). We are currently in the process of worming her, and she is about a year old.

We had a similar problem with another hen (the other lohmann) and she recovered after around a week, are there any other problems that are not as serious with the same symptoms? Thanks if you can help

Thanks for all your advice
 
Can't think of anything Melvshens, apart from egg bound. But that would be coupled with trips to the nest box and a pulsating vent. Just check her rear end under her vent for swelling or excessive firmness. We have had hens with abdominal infections (green poo, swollen belly) that have recovered without medication.
 
well, today she has just generally stood outside hunched up, and she isn't doing green poos.
I will probably take her to the vet if she doesn't recover soon
Thanks again for your help
 
Interesting development, she appears to have made a full recovery! Her tail was held up and she was happily foraging with the other two all afternoon

She was just having a bad day after all!
 
That's good news Melvshens, do you think she may have laid an egg?
 
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