Eggasperated Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Alice got up this morning as normal, went back into the nest box and when I went back down to the hens at 10 o'clock she had laid an egg, however since then she has spent quite a lot of time standing about looking droopy. She is out free ranging but has her tail down and although she does a bit of scratching about she looks really unenthusiastic about it. I've seen her have a drink and she did share a few sunflower seeds with Carol when I was trying to Ukadex Carols (plucked) neck but she just looks generally miserable. Shall I just keep an eye on her or is this more I should be doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Has she been wormed lately? If not, I'd give her a course of Flubenvet. Could be that she has a soft egg in the pipeline. These make them miserable and hunched as you describe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggasperated Posted March 18, 2010 Author Share Posted March 18, 2010 Wormed two weeks ago (and then moved to new ground). As she had just laid I thought it was unlikely to be a softie but I will keep an eye out for that. Just checked on her again and she came running across to see if i had anything for her - when she realised I didn't she went back to looking miserable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybettybabs Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Have you checked her crop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggasperated Posted March 18, 2010 Author Share Posted March 18, 2010 I did check her crop just before she went to bed and it certainly wasn't full which worried me, I could also see from the amount of food left that she hadn't eaten properly today. I compared her crop to Pippas and it doesn't feel bloated and watery like sour crop is supposed to be (although i have no actual experience of sour crop). Alice has been eating loads of grit today so I wondered if she is trying to sort herself out. Will have to wait till the morning now to see how things are, but I am getting quite concerned - could it be the start of sour crop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 sounds like a softee moight be in the pipes finfgers crossed she sorts it out overnight and when you check her crop it is empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikey Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 My ex-batt Cookie was exactly the same yesterday as how you described Alice. I always know when something is wrong with her as shes quiet Shes still not herself today but her tail is back up and shes scratching around for worms at the moment. Her crop doesn't feel typical of sour crop but it is a bit squidgy and feels like lots of grit in it. Just to be on the safe side I 'm going to give her some yogurt with garlic chopped up in it, in case it is. Might be worth you doing the same.??? Hope Alice is better soon x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lillybettybabs Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 Babs was like this a few weeks back, I brought her inside everyday and gave her some sugared water with some life guard in to keep her energy up, She laid softies for a couple of days, I just kept her energy up and fed mashed eggs with some cod liver oil in and some greens. She's fine now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggasperated Posted March 19, 2010 Author Share Posted March 19, 2010 Alice does seem better today,she got up and went straight to the feeder, she is also jumping up at the hanging greens which she didn't do yesterday. Everyone has laid an egg but one is only a minature 25g egg so maybe that is Alices, although Carol also tends to lay a couple of these a month so I can't be sure. At the moment it is blowing a gale here so I can't really let them out to free range so I can't completely compare Alice to yesterday, although as she's in the run perhaps she will be encouraged to eat her pellets. I guess everyone is entitled to their off days but its always a bit scary when it happens, I'll keep a good eye on her and hope it was a one day blip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickyhazel Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 Probably just a little bit under the weather, we all ahve days like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggasperated Posted March 19, 2010 Author Share Posted March 19, 2010 Alice has had a few hours out free ranging this afternoon and seems to be fine, eating well and scratching about, hopefully it was just an off day yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 she may have laid a softee overnight and they had eaten the evidence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
