[Feesie]

Can anyone give me some advice?  This morning one of my silkie chickens didn't come out of the hen house as usual.  She's not broody and with a bit of temptation she wandered out but was very listless.  Tonight she is still listles but is eating a drinking OK albeit with less enthusiasm than usual.  She doesnt appear to have the symptoms of being egg bound and to the best of my knowledge her poos are normal.  She's gone back into the hen house already tonight which is also very unusual for her.  Any suggestions?

[frenchliving]

no advice sorry, how is she today?? could it be the heat and shes staying in the shade??

Hope she perks up soon!

[ANHBUC]

Hi Freesie and welcome to the site.

It is difficult to tell what could be wrong but I would check as frenchliving said that she is not overheating.  Normal ventilation in a coop is probably not enough in this extremely hot and humid weather.  If it is safe to do so leave the coop door open at night to help keep the hens cool.  If it is not safe make a mesh coop door to replace the normal one while it is so hot.

How old is your hen?

[Feesie]

Doris is 4 1/2 now.  She's a wee bit perkier today but I took her to the vet this morning who confirmed that she's definitely not egg bound and gave her an injection against any infection so fingers crossed.  It was ridiculously hot yesterday and only got worse with the thunder storms surprisingly so it may well be the humidity and heat that affected her.  Unfortunately for the first time in four years we had a fox in the garden yesterday, eyeing her up so cant leave the door open but will look to sort something out to keep them cooler.

[ANHBUC]

Lets hope it is just the weather and the extra ventilation should help.  If it has not rained you can cool the coop down on a night by hosing it down.