08/06/2026
Looking for some advice from experienced chicken keepers.
One of my 7-month-old olive eggers (hatched in January) started acting off yesterday, and I’m trying to figure out what might be going on.
Timeline/Symptoms (in order):
* Yesterday: Not acting like herself.
* Yesterday: Laid a normal deep olive egg.
* Yesterday: Loose brown droppings (watery but still chunky, no blood).
* Today: Much slower than normal.
* Today: Fluffed up, especially around her neck and hackles.
* Today: Keeping one eye closed most of the time.
* No facial swelling.
* No foamy eye or nasal discharge.
* Cornea appears clear (not cloudy).
* Comb is still red.
* Crop this afternoon felt about the size and firmness of a tennis ball.
* She is drinking on her own.
* She is eating some scratch and seeds.
* None of my other chickens are showing symptoms.
* They have been scratching in freshly tilled soil over the past week.
She is walking slowly and not her happy self at all
One of the photos may have caught her while sunbathing, but the behavior change and lethargy started before that, so I don’t think that’s the whole story.
I have Corid and VetRx on hand but haven’t started either because I’m not convinced this is coccidiosis or a respiratory illness.
Has anyone had a hen present like this? If so, what did it turn out to be? What would you check next or do first?