[Tiggs]

HI

I have come home from work today to find one of our two hens looking under the weather. She has a mucky bottom, is hunched up and is not interested in the corn, that she usually loves!

She is now 25 weeks and has still not laid. So could this be something happening or is it likely to be more sinister?

Neither of our hens are easy to handle, they are both nervous and flighty!

Our other hen Indi seems fine!

I thought I would keep them just on pellets and corn for a few days, rather than tomatoes, apples etc.

Any ideas what it could be or what I can do?

[themagicaltoad1]

You need to sort out her mucky bum before the flies lay eggs on her, you'll need to bathe her rear end to clean it. Is she showing any other signs of illness, gaping, respiratory problems, is her comb pale? Have you wormed them, checked for lice, red mite etc? what's her poo look like? it could be any number of things, they go downhill fast. I would cut out all treats and stick to the pellets with some poultry spice in their water.

[Tiggs]

Hi and thanks for your reply

No other symptoms, today she is still not so energetic in her pen or as chatty as normal. She seems to be abit vacant.
Her poos have been runny but seem to have always been like that, since we got her in June.
I haven't wormed them yet, I was planning to do that in October and April.  May be I should do that now and try the poultry spice too.

Thanks for the advice