Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: robinson on September 06, 2010, 17:01

Title: Lethargic chicken
Post by: robinson on September 06, 2010, 17:01
Today one of my new POL chickens was very lethargic.  We have had them 7 weeks now and they settled in very well with our year old girls. Our 8 girls all hybrids of varying types are kept on the allotment so are not very tame but today Bumble was just sat under the wheel barrow and didnt move when we approached. 

Her eyes were bright and her temperature felt the same as the others so having been a regular reader of these pages for a year or so I brought her home and we put her in a bucket of warm water.  She seemed to let us know after about an hour that she wanted to get out by standing up and shaking.  I dried her off with a hairdryer and then put her in the childrens wendy house along with cat basket full of bedding.  She did a pooh which we decided was a to hot from the pooh pictures.  She then went into the cat basket and laid an enormous egg for a newly laying chicken. 

Having laid an egg I took her back to the allotment and left her with her friends, although she stayed in the cat basket.  I didnt want her to be seperate for the others for to long.

Hopefully this large egg was her problem, should she be back to normal tomorrow or should I repeat the treatment if she is still lethargic tomorrow?

We have also had several nights of teenager prowlers on the plots so they could have been a bit stressed as well.  ALthough the others are all behaving normally.  The nearest chickens 2 plots from mine, they cut the wire and let the chickens out and the fox in, so I'm stressed even if they are not.

Many thanks for all the useful knowledge I have gained and hope someone can help me.

Paula
Title: Re: Lethargic chicken
Post by: joyfull on September 06, 2010, 19:57
the over size egg could have been the problem in which case she should be ok tomorrow. Make sure your coop is vandal and fox proof if you have idiots doing stuff like that  :(
Title: Re: Lethargic chicken
Post by: Spana on September 06, 2010, 20:03
Have you checked the coop for red mite.

If they always roost in the same spot on the perch she may be first in line when red mites start looking for breakfast just after bedtime.  she may be anemic which would account for her being lethargic.