# Hen sits for a long time, slow, a bit unbalanced



## clucklucky (Apr 5, 2016)

My ISA Brown hen has been a bit off the past few days.

- She will just sit down and stare into space for ages.
- She does watery green poops that stick to the feathers near her vent.
- She doesn't make much effort to run away from being picked up.
- If I pick her up and put her on my lap, she will just sit there for 20 minutes.
- When I call the chickens for treats, she used to sprint. Now she slowly walks to me.
- She's a bit unbalanced and when I carry her on my arm she doesn't hold herself like she used to.
- I sometimes catch her sitting weirdly on the ground, kind of like she's sprawled on her side (attached a picture of this).
- She still eats and drinks.
- She still shows enthusiasm for eating egg when I crack one for her.

Any idea what could be wrong? I'm aware that she's getting a bit old for her breed (3 years maybe) but I'm just worried that she might be suffering more than she lets on.
Is there anything I can do to help?


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Green poop signifies she's not really eating. They are good at hiding that fact by picking around the feeder but not actually eating anything. The best way to know for certain is to check her crop, does it feel full after she's been at the feeder?

At three years for most that is still young but hatchery birds are known to succumb earlier than those from breeders. 

When was the last time she laid an egg?

Her eyes don't show not feeling well. Have you checked her feet to make sure all is well there?

That last pic is her taking a sunbath.

If your vet will do it, I would take a fecal sample the next time she goes and have it checked for internal parasites.


----------



## clucklucky (Apr 5, 2016)

robin416 said:


> Green poop signifies she's not really eating. They are good at hiding that fact by picking around the feeder but not actually eating anything. The best way to know for certain is to check her crop, does it feel full after she's been at the feeder?
> 
> At three years for most that is still young but hatchery birds are known to succumb earlier than those from breeders.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the response. It does feel like there's food in her crop as normal - I'll check again tomorrow morning.
Her breed is designed to lay intensely for one season, then be culled and replaced with the next generation. So three years is pretty much what I expected at the start, though I'd hoped good care could extend that.
There have been eggs lately, though I'm not really sure who laid them.
Her feet are normal in colour and no growths or lumps.
And I've never seen her sunbath before, but she's done it a couple times in the past day or two.

I'm mainly worried about her lack of energy, her unwillingness to run, and her weird off-balance. I'm not sure if these are signs of sickness or she's just reaching her natural time..


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

What I usually suggest when it's a mystery is to do a hands on check. When she's staying quietly in your lap check for anything not normal. 

Are her ears dry?

Any drainage from her nares, eyes? Although the pics show there isn't.

Anything feel wrong on her body? Extra warm areas on one side and not the other. Any abnormal swellings?

Check for mites. Mites seem to like the older birds, those approaching the end of life. Heaven knows I dealt with it with my oldies on several occasions. 

You can try upping her nutrition a bit by adding Rooster Booster to her regimen. 

Can you get a pic of one of her droppings? The green, depending on the color, might be because of something she ate.

And consider having her droppings checked for parasites. Another issue the older birds deal with just because their immune systems are not as strong as younger birds.


----------



## JediPat (Sep 19, 2018)

I would definitely do a crop check after feeding time to see if she is eating anything. This may just be a temporary issue but you are doing the right thing seeking help now. Best of luck.


----------



## clucklucky (Apr 5, 2016)

robin416 said:


> What I usually suggest when it's a mystery is to do a hands on check. When she's staying quietly in your lap check for anything not normal.
> 
> Are her ears dry?
> 
> ...


I've attached a picture of the droppings around her vent. I just gave her a bath to wash most of it off. When she's dry I'll dust her with diatomaceous earth in case of external parasites.
I also added some diatomaceous earth to her food, but she's more focused on preening right now so I'll try again later.

I did notice that there seems to be a bit of yellow/green mucous dried on her oil gland. Not sure if it's related, I guess it could just be build up from years of preening.


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Talk to your vet about a fecal. DE is useless. I came to that realization years ago when I could find no actual scientific papers on its efficacy. Add in others that reported heavy parasite loads even though they used DE.


----------



## clucklucky (Apr 5, 2016)

robin416 said:


> Talk to your vet about a fecal. DE is useless. I came to that realization years ago when I could find no actual scientific papers on its efficacy. Add in others that reported heavy parasite loads even though they used DE.


Wow, that really sucks.

I'll ask my parents about taking her to the vet.

Thank you for all your help, I really appreciate it.


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You don't have to take her to the vet. She if you can collect a more or less clean and definitely fresh dropping. Put it in a small container. They can look at it under the microscope while you wait, tell you if they find anything and tell you what to treat them with.


----------



## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

DE only works when it's dry, if you put it in her feed, then yes, it's useless. I am an all nature medicinal herbalist for humans and animals. I use DE regularly for all of my animals and it DOES WORK, but like I said, only when it's dry. Once she ingests it, it gets wet in her digestive tract/mouth/throat etc and becomes useless. Garlic cloves added to their water can help with internal parasites and so can thyme. They can eat the thyme fresh or you can make a tea from the dried stuff for them to drink.


----------



## Volodymyr (May 12, 2020)

How often does the chicken lay eggs ?


----------



## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

This post was from two years ago.


----------

