A heavy heart

[Guest]

Sorry to be so dense, proper new Mum here! One of my three is very sleepy, June spent most of yesterday either standing eyes closed or laying down sleeping when the others were scratching about. She seems to be doing more of the same today.

 

Should I worry or is this fairly normal behaviour in some?

[chelsea]

make sure she is eating and drinking.

 

My 2 "power nap" during the day, but the majority of their 12 hours out free ranging they are awake and causing mayhem. So for 2 days on the trot for June I would maybe keep a close eye on her.

 

let us know how she goes

[Guest]

Thanks - she is eating and drinking well. Just sleepy a lot. I'll keep a close eye on her.

[Guest]

Bump

 

June is still very sleepy, eating and drinking fine and coming out of the Eglu (seems in there most times I look) whenever there is a bit of corn about. She seems at the bottom of the pecking order but always gets her share. She also looks a bit bedraggled, like she isn't grooming well and her feathers do not feel lovely and soft but a bit hard and unclean. I got this snap of her earlier , when she came out for corn but right after she retreated again to the Eglu. She looks like she is posing but you can see from the piccie that her feathers look a bit rough.

 

[chelsea]

mmmm..... Im not an expert on poorly chickens but to me it doesnt sound right that she should be in the eglu all the time.

 

In the daytime/sun the only time my chickens go in the eglu is to lay.

 

This would worry me...

 

maybe someone else will have an idea

[Jools]

She looks like a real stunner to me

[Guest]

It sounds to me like she is having some trouble in the egg-laying department. She is in the eglu frequently - therefore feeling the need to lay - but nothing is happening.

 

Other people here would be able to tell you more expertly about feeling for a stuck egg - I hope they see this soon! You may well need a vet and I wouldn't leave it too long, certainly not until next week. She may have an egg stuck, in which case she needs help, or she may have an inflammation/infection, which would also need help.

Edit: I didn't ask about laying! As they are new, maybe they haven't started yet and maybe June is preparing herself. I can't remember mine having any problems, but maybe others have experienced something similar.

[Guest]

Thanks, they havn't laid yet but June does have a redder comb that the others. She does lay down a lot when she is in the run too - or stands and closes her eyes!

[chelsea]

as her feathers look/feel rough...have you had a look to see if you can spot any lice? maybe tomorrow have a look apparently they look like tiny bits of rice. Maybe thats making her feel down in the dumps

[Snowy]

Fizz behaves a bit like that sometimes. Her laying is a bit erratic anyway, usually every other day. But recently she has stopped laying for about a week. She then started what you describe - sleeping a lot during the day, in and out of the eglu but no egg. Last time I dunked her in warm water then blow dried her to see if a bit of heat would stimulate things. She promptly laid an egg. This time I left her to it. She actually fell asleep out on the lawn whilst I was mowing it the other day! But then yesterday she laid again and has been perky as ever since! So she could just be gearing up to lay, but worth giving her the once over as well. I figure that if they perk up for food there can't be too much wrong, but don't ignore your gut feelings about her.