# Hen is sick



## FutureScientist (Jul 7, 2018)

I’m new to this forum and chicken keeping. Angel a buff orpington has been acting weirdly. A couple weeks ago she started leaning forward and fluffing up whenever we walked near her. She was extremely skittish. She is living with one other hen. Angel began acting aggressive and would sit on top of the other one. She also has been laying eggs on and off. She still acted weird when she was laying eggs. I think she was constipated. She had poop all over her butt and I gave her two different baths with Epsom salt to help her. I also fed her some garlic, olive oil oats. She is now pooping normally (I think). But once again she stopped laying eggs. Is she egg bound? If yes, how do you tell? My mom took her to the vet and they tested her for parasites but she didn’t have any. They couldn’t help us any more than that.  For a point she went back to normal, but now she’s acting weird again. I don’t see anything on her comb (waddle?) or on her feet. I looked at her vent but idk what normal is supposed to look like. It looked kind of red. There wasn’t any poop. She felt extremely hot when I touched her skin like it was about to burn me almost. It’s been hot outside, could she be overheating?

I’m worried about her. Thank you!


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

Can you call the vet and ask them for some antibiotics and ask them if they can suggest a wormer just in case the fecal test was a false negative?


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## FutureScientist (Jul 7, 2018)

casportpony said:


> Can you call the vet and ask them for some antibiotics and ask them if they can suggest a wormer just in case the fecal test was a false negative?


It turns out she is just broody.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

FutureScientist said:


> It turns out she is just broody.


That's great news!


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## FutureScientist (Jul 7, 2018)

casportpony said:


> That's great news!


Yeah it is such a relief. I've been researching and didn't know anything about this. My mom researched and found it right away! Haha my chicken is very sassy. She hasn't been drinking enough so that's why she is constipated.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

The heat can do strange things to chickens, keep in mind that they basically have a down comforter on their bodies year around. I know you said she is just broody and I'm so glad that it's not an illness but you still need to keep an eye on how hot they get. The epsom salt baths are awesome but if they get hot, you can always stick them in a cool plain bath also or even just make puddles on the ground with a hose that they can walk around in to cool their feet which will help cool their bodies too. 

You can put garlic cloves in their water (4 whole cloves to a gallon of water is fine), first, garlic is antibacterial to help ward off infections etc, also, it flavors the water, most chickens like garlic. Getting them to drink more water will help.


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