What is wrong with this hen?

She is an older hen (about 6) had been laying an egg every other day consistantly for the last year. About a week ago I noticed she had egg hanging from her butt. I got her and cleaned her up, and sprayed warm water on her backside for about 5 minutes. Since then she isn't doing very well. She is quiet, stays in the coop most of the time, sleeps on the ground, and has not laid any eggs. I tried looking, and it doesnt look like she has anything inside...but what do I do? I dont really want to go in manually and find out, but I really feel bad for her. Any ideas? The last egg she laid prior to this looked really weird. It was not her usual golf ball looking egg...but it was very long and twisted at the end like spaghetti? Really weird.

It's called "old age"!!! ^_^ ♥

gee, she is pretty. have you considered that it could be time for her to molt, so she feels like crud and won't be laying a while? it will help with her molting to either force it to get it over with, or to help nutritionally with some high protein high calcium stuff. also some greens and herbs. my hens love teas made from raspberry leaf. good for their female system.

granny, you have ALL the right answers, i love it!

TF, why do you think I'm called "granny"? Been here long enough to know them. (teehee) Next birthday will be #70 for me. Of course I don't feel that old, and the doctor agrees with me, but the calendar does say it.

Thanks girls!

Seriously, Melissa, have you considered a broken egg inside her? If you saw egg hanging from her butt, that would be one cause. I don't know what you could do about it though.

GG

Found this page where this was being discussed. Can't vouch personally for this info. http://www.the-coop.org/wwwboard/discus/messages/5103/3411.html

worth reading though.

MollyD

Interesting link. I may try the bath idea if she still hasnt laid an egg today. I think it has been over a week now, and all the other hens have laid at least 2-3 eggs each this week. She is the only one not laying at all. It is snowing today...so I will wait til tomorrow, and then leave her in the house until she dries.

mcamdenm,

My Paul keeps saying we're in for a blizzard because the deer and turkeys have all been acting oddly the last couple of days. I sure hope he's wrong.

If she doesn't get too scared you can blow dry her on the low setting keeping the dryer a bit away from her.

MollyD

I sure hope she improves, Mel. I have been wanting
to say HI! to you, but wasn't sure where you were.
I read in Storey's about bathing chickens, and the
author said it can take 18 hours to fully dry??? I would
think it would be a chicken desert by then, but- I haven't
given one a bath yet. Maybe that's regular room temp
with no help. I wish you had posted a pic of that egg- sounds
very interesting. My gosh, I hope there's no broken egg
hung up in there, poor baby.

There could be egg bound! Meaning and egg still in and can't get out,
You can try lububg the spot (where egg comse from ) Ky Jelly, grease, glycerin and see if this helps have you wormed her,Lately
Joyce

i think Melissa is sitll gone on her honeymoon... last i heard the hen was OK, it was poor SpongeBoobie she was concerned about [leaving her alone!]

maybe she will turn up soon, it's been just over two weeks.... hello? M?

I really want to see some wedding pictures! Hoping
her honeymoon is pure joy.

I just got back! First of all...this hen is great. She ended up molting (our only hen that did) and now we get an egg every day again. Bob was fine with the younger chickens while we were gone, but the minute we brought home the older hens one of our young roos started crowing. Yesterday he started mating with Bob! Bob cant run away like the hens do. the rooster did this over and over and ended up causing Bob to bleed from the back of the head! I moved Bob back into the house, but now I dont know what to do! Can I put a chastidy belt on him and a hood to protect his neck?

Ok...pictures are around. I will post them on my website as soon as possible. If anyone uses myspace I alreay have most of them on there. The professional pictures wont be in until this weekend. I will post a couple here too.

And the family

Beautiful pictures. You look so nice! Glad your hen is ok, sorry to hear about Bob.

lovely! the groom evens looks good, LOL.

you did a beatuiful job on your dress. where is that veil?

gald you are back. so you really NEED the rooster? or can you get Bob some friends and make a new pen?

is that new DH of yours going to tolerate competing with SpongeBobbie for your attention? LOL

many hugs,
tf

Hahaha...I told him that he needs to show me he will make a good father by showing me how he is going to take care of Bob. I think Bob needs his own house, but DH (Yeah....I ACTUALLY can call him that now) thinks Bob just needs to go live at someone elses house. The veil was there...just low.

WOW! excepot fo rthe lack of your faces, that is a perfect picture!

I say cook that rooster! It's very confused anyway LOL
Gorgeous wedding photos!!

MollyD

Tamara, those are just a few amature photos. Our professional pics just started coming in, and they look FABULOUS! I am so excited.

So far I have been penning up the rooster and just letting Bob out, or letting the roo out, and letting Bob have the whole garage (2000 sqft). But garage is being paved on Tuesday...so I guess penning up the roo until we build Bob his own pen.

Beautiful, gorgeous, and lovely. All that! your
wedding pics are great, even if they are amatuer!
So happy you and DH finally made the big day, Mel.

How's the old hen. Granny says when its time to stop laying they will.
Have you wormed her with ivermect

She is doing fine. She has been laying eggs out in the grass and DH found a clutch of them while weedwacking the other day. We have kept them penned up for the last few days to remind them they need to use those nesting boxes. We have not wormed any of our chickens. A few of the other are molting now it looks like...but not sure. I dont think they are laying, and they have feathers pulled out around their necks, and wings.

Any idea how to teach chickens not to go in the garage? I have been keeping the hose in there and spraying them down real well whenever I catch them, but they are adamant about coming in and dont seem to be learning too quickly. We just had it paved, so I am tired of cleaning up poop.

i gave up... they love the cool concrete...

I think it is just that they enjoy getting sprayed with the hose. The hens normally run from me, but the rooster just stood there the other day and let me completely soak him. Its not THAT warm here...so I dont know. I was thinking we need to borrow a cattle dog to keep them out, but the dog might eat them.

We have to keep our garage closed up, or they will go in there so they can hide their eggs. We might be locking ours up soon too....for the last 2-3 days were are getting about 15 less eggs a day than we should be getting....can't find any more anywhere!

DH is okay with chicks in the bedroom and 6 week olds in a swimming pool in the guest bedroom--but he hit the roof when two of my 16 week olds got in the garage! He claimed they were pooping everywhere--I had to crawl around on my hands and knees behind storage boxes to trap them and take them out. There were only 2 poops. He is very, very sensitive about the garage:0)

MIne was the same way. Since we just had the floor done it looks beautiful, and the first thing that happened was for a hen to run in there and leave some messes. He is not happy about it, but our garage here is more like part of our yard. We hang out in there alot since the roof is two stories tall, and it is the only place we dont have to walk on rocks. We have 20 acres of tall grass and fresh dirt for them to play in...but I guess the garage is just more fun for them.

Must be a Y chromosome thing. Paul treats the barn as if it were a garage. No animals allowed in there! This week the goats got into it and pooped everywhere. You'd have thought the barn was contaminated for life! It's a cement floor so easily cleaned!! Hysterics was what I got as though I had 'ALLOWED' them in there!

MollyD

Hahaha...well mine seems to think it is all a conspiracy, and I am inviting them in. I have been keeping the hose in there all day to hose out anything they leave behind...but it is hard to keep up with it.

gee, goat poo is nothing compared to fowl... my goat tries to follo wme into the house, even climb in windows! our actual garage is a storage area with a dirt floor, half was cleare dout for DH tools. the chickesn can't find their way in the way he enclosed it.

but the center of the pou.try shed, which, um, is FOR the poultry, now houses some of his tools for convenience sake. during the heat one hen didn't want to go in the hen house, there is more ventilation in the shed. DH found a nice leghorn egg on the fourth metal shelve right up against a HUGE metal drill!

i just keep sweeipng it out...

LOL I can just picture his face when he found that egg!!

mcamden yep we're conspiring with the animals to get into their precious space! LOL

I keep wishing I would hit the lottery. I would build him the world's biggest garage for all his mechanical stuff and take over the barn. Make it into what it should be. A place where animals live.

MollyD

Gee, I must be pretty lucky. My chicks don't go anywhere near the garage, although we have the guineas and little roos in there in their pen. After we take them out to the temporary coop and hen shed, we will clean it out and then it will be a garage again. But, since we keep the doors closed unless we are using something in there, our hens don't go there. They also don't go into the shed where the "guy toys" are. At least they haven't so far.

GG
♥^_^♥

GG the day the goats got into the barn I was sure I had locked it. I don't know if they kicked it so much the lock slipped but now Paul insist I padlock it too. A real pain. The lock not the man ^_^ but I could be wrong ;-)

MollyD

Of course we don't have goats so I wouldn't know if they can kick that hard.

GG

GG they not only kick but they tackle the door with their full body weight like a football player tackles another player. That's over 100 pounds of running force aimed at those doors!

MollyD

I saw a buck at the auction last week that was in such a tiff that he stood back on his hind legs, aimed his head down at the fence and WHAM.....came down on it. I had never seen anything like that before....and he did it over and over and over....I thought he was going to bust his skull wide open for sure! I wouldn't have brought him home if the owner had paid me too! I'm just crossing my fingers that this is was 'odd' behavior for this buck and mine don't grow up and do that!

Well we have been chasing them out when we catch them. the other day however, I went to chase, and I didnt realize I had not shut the door to the house fully...so instead of running back outside, they ran into our living room! One even jumped up on a chair and scared our cat half to death. Lukily they were not in long enough to have any accidents, but I do not want them thinking they can come indoors...that is when I will have to put my foot down!

Whew! I've never seen a buck do that sort of thing and I sure hope I never do!

mcamden LOL sounds like an old movie! LOL

MollyD