[Maccbean]

She's the top hen who, over the past week, goes between acting normally, eating and drinking and being a general pain, to standing in the hedge for an hour at a time looking generally miserable.  She's not laid for a week, and has been in the nesting box a couple of times (but not lots),  I've felt for an egg in case of egg boundness, but there doesn't appear to be anything there.  She's back in the hedge on her own at the moment and I'm really not quite sure what to do.  Any advice would be appreciated.

[Aunt Sally]

Vet would be my choice.


How old is she ?

Does her abdomen feel a bit swollen ?

[joyfull]

what is her comb like? floppy? pale? or normal?
check her temperature under her wing then using the same hand compare that to one of the others.
Is she eating?
Is she drinking?
What does her crop feel like?
How old is she?
What are her poos like?
Is she snotty?
Bubbly eyes?
Rattly chest?
sorry but you haven't given us much to go one at the moment  
Do you have a vet nearby?

[Aunt Sally]

Thorough as always is our Joyfull 

[joyfull]

one tries ones best 

[Maccbean]

It's odd, because she seems fine.  Comb normal, temperature the same as the others, eating and drinking, crop normal, no symptoms.  She is just having these unusual periods of standing on her own away from the others.  There are no vets locally that know about poultry and TBH I can't afford to pay for one to guess at what might be the problem.  It's odd but worrying.

[joyfull]

how old is she? if she is about to lay a soft egg then this can make them off colour for a few days (you may not have seen the egg as the other hens will eat it up quickly).

[Maccbean]

She's almost two.  She's been like this for a week now.  Mind you, I have five hens and I've not had an egg in two days.  Two are producing softies regularly and they are eaten or squashed when I find them.  Erica (the one that's off colour) and Suzie consistently lay daily so it has been unusual behaviour recently.  As I say, Erica goes from being completely normal and quite naughty as she was this morning, to the other extreme.   She has been sat underneath the hedge in the garden with her back to the others for the past hour.