[kyz1981]

 I am worried about my Aruacana Tilly, she is lowest in the pecking order and often is a bit of a loner, lately she has been a bit subdued sleepy - she is still active and is eating and drinking, but at other times she just seems Hunched and sleepy and depressed.

There is no sneezing, she looks bright eyed wormed with flovenent a few weeks ago, house is  cleaned with poultry shield every four weeks so don't think its Mites, she also takes herself off to bed  earlier than the others.

I am reluctant to take her to the vet as she is a nightmare to catch so would have to spend the night and morning in a cat basket which would cause a lot of stress- any ideas welcomed xx

[helens-hens]

Is she laying still and do her droppings appear normal? Is she physically active & walking around normally?

If she appears physically OK then I think hens can become depressed, not quite in the same way as us humans but simply losing a bit of interest in life. When I 1st got 2 hens in 2010, one of them, Henrietta, was slightly younger & very much at the bottom of the pecking order. Like your Tilly she appeared well but would stand around hunched up. I started giving her the odd treat & making a bit of a fuss of her and she perked up. Three weeks ago our other hen died and Henrietta started showing the same signs of just standing around, reluctant to come down from the hen house in the morning & going back up there long before the light was starting to fade. We went & got her a new friend 2 weeks ago and it has given a new lease of life  .

Let us know how she is.

[kyz1981]

Thanks she is walking fine and active at times, she appears a bit better this morning as My Cochin is telling the bully hen off a lot and seems to be hanging with him a bit more.

She has never laid and is probably only about 24 -26 weeks old. (None of my girls have yet - got them in July when they were very young).

Can't see any abnormal droppings and I checked both the dropping trays and followed her about yesterday.

We lost my Welsummer Hillary (Top Hen) about a month ago (To an internal infection) and I think they were close, so I am down to 5 chickens, However I am in the process of getting 4 new Hens and one of which is going to be a black Aruacana so I am hoping that may give her a friend of the same breed as she has always been picked on a bit.

That's great news that Henrietta perked up and has given me hope - I will pop in to the local pet shop and pick up some meal worms and see if the gets her going a bit .

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond.

[helens-hens]

Getting new hens will mean the pecking order business will start again from scratch (at least I think I have that right!) which could be a good thing for Tilly so I really hope it works out for her.

Be prepared for flying feathers in the early days though. Henrietta always appeared quite a timid quiet bird, that was until she first met Florence, her new 'friend', when we saw a different side to her! Things settled down quite quickly though & it was worth the effort.

[darkbrowneggs]

Coming into lay can be a stressful time for pullets, and they sometimes mope about a bit before producing their first eggs, especially if there a soft ones to come out first. 

But keep an eye on her especially when the new girls arrive as if she is feeling low she will find it difficult to "fight her corner"  and may end up as the lowest in the pecking order.

[kyz1981]

Thanks - I have a separate coop to house the new girls in for the first few weeks as to ease the transition period due to the fact that all my girls are around the coming in to lay age and I am going to keep them in a fenced omlet netting run for a week or two before letting them mix.

That's good to know that moping can happen before they come in to lay- I did wonder but thought that Tilly not being a hybrid I would be waiting until next yr.

Is there anything I can do to help my chickens through this time?

I have seen her a bit more with the crew today so that was good and she came running for her corn with the others this afternoon, But I still seem to swing from shes not quite right to shes fine every time I see her, I am going to have a good look at her tonight when she goes in roost.

Thanks for all the advice - gratefully  received

[Number 7]

Hope things pick up for her soon. Its not good seeing them unhappy or sick.  Trust its just the coming into lay thats making her a bit sad / timid.

We have just introduced 2 new girls to our exsisting gang and it's a nightmare, feathers flying and the newbies being excluded from the coop at night.  It's all very stressful but hopfully it will work it's self out soon and be all worth while!

Good luck!

[kyz1981]

Tilly looked really out of sorts today and appeared to be much slower and waddling - so much so that she let me pick her up- Alarm bells rang at this and I figured she must be poorly.

So off to the vets we go- The Vet examined her and she was not egg bound or had any signs of eggs being broken inside her, she had no resp symptoms but the Vet was  Worried about her head shaking (not noticed it before) and the fact that she was slow to correct her feet - for example the vet lay her on them and she was slow to correct it.

She did have a temp of 43 so was given some painkillers- and have got some batrill so have been advised to put her on that for 5 days- However the vet feels it could be neurological and that if she does not improve with the above treatment the kindest thing to do will be to lay her to rest.

She is still alert and active and is eating a drinking and the vet said her poo was normal.

Fingers crossed but its not looking good

[helens-hens]

Hi there

I really don't want to worry you any more than you are already but you mention waddling - if you mean waddling in the way that a duck walks then this is can be a sign of egg peritonitis. Does she have any abdominal swelling? You mention that she also has a temperature which is another sign of this problem.

I know she hasn't started laying yet but I don't think that necessarily rules this out as it is conceivable that she has produced an egg but it has gone the wrong way (which is generally what causes this).

It may be worth checking it out by ringing the vets? I could be totally wrong it is just that waddling is a sign (a search through this forum will tell you that) and it is very serious.

Hope everything works out OK, will keep everything crossed.

[kyz1981]

Hi, Thanks for your reply- I called the Vet and she informed me she had checked for that by feeling her tummy and examining her internally- she said there was nothing she could feel.

The head shaking has stopped so I think that may have been the stress of the vets, she is still slow on her feet and stares blankly in to space and walks slowly  at times but on the whole seems a lot brighter and even flew down to catch the others for treats earlier.

So now I have no idea whats wrong apart from she has had a temp, I am hoping the Batrill will kill any infection (if there is one) but other than that I am at a loss to what is wrong.

Still she seems in a better place today as she did yesterday.

Thanks again

[helens-hens]

Good, glad she seems to be getting better. Re the head shaking, one mine started that at the vets and it went after a while - I think it was stress too.

Hope all goes well & keep us updated

[kyz1981]

Tilly did not make it - she was sleeping constantly yesterday and refused all food- I think she had pretty much given up  , She passed away last night.

However Contacted the Breeder as they are coming to Swap my sneaky Roo! and she is going to give me another Aruacana to be friends with the new one I had ordered for Tilly so that was nice.

Have spent the day cleaning the coop and disinfecting the ground and setting up my new coop and netting for the new girls.

My poor girls wont know whats hit them they will go from 5 in two days down to three.

My 5 New girls arrive tomorrow.

I have decided to keep my new girls apart from the oldies as I want to introduce them slowly.

Thanks so much for all the support and advice - I hope I am through with all my poorly chickens for a while and I can start to enjoy them again without worrying so much!