... because Lily, my friendly red hen, is not her self. I have read up and am not sure whether she is broody or sitting or unwell. I coaxed her out of the hen house this afternoon and gave her a tray of water as she didn't seem to want to reach into the water bowl. Then she lay down again and after a few minutes went back inside. When I was holding her, she seemed really light but she doesn't look any different.
Any ideas from fellow chicken keepers?
Poor pretty red hen :o( The two main things we looked out for when I had chickens as a child was whether they were crop-bound or egg-bound. When they are crop-bound something is stopping the food they have eaten from passing from their crop so they feel thin but have a swollen front where you can feel the grain or pellets. When they are egg-bound they have an egg stuck.
ReplyDeleteObviously neither of these might be the problem - it's just what we always looked for first.
Here are some links that might help:
http://www.poultry.allotment.org.uk/Chicken_a/chicken-crop/impacted-bound-crop.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_binding
Hope she's better soon!
Lucy xxx
I have no suggestions,but I hope Lily is feeling much better soon.
ReplyDeleteoh poor lily, hope you can help her feel better soon x
ReplyDeleteWhen I first got my new batch of hens this year one was really ill. She was as light as a feather and not eating or drinking much. I took her to the vets who said she was a very sick hen but had no advice on what I could do. I didn't expect she would live. I gave her a warm bath in a bowl in case she was egg bound, gave her water from a syringe to make sure she was getting enough fluid, gave her pro-biotic yoghurt mixed with layers pellets, put cider vinegar in her drinking water, made sure the henhouse was clean, massaged her crop in case something was stuck etc! I will never know what was wrong with her except in the early days she was laying softee eggs which can make them feel off colour. Anyway, she is still with us, bright and perky and her ilness is a complete mystery to me. I would suggest that you give her lots of TLC. There is not much else you can do. There is an excellant forum over on the 'Omlet' site and you can email or phone Barbara who is a chicken expert over there!!! x
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