Help! Something is wrong with my hen and I don't know what it is. She's breathing hard and acting li

I don't know what could be wrong with her unless she's egg bound or something like that. She was fine when I put her in her pen today at around 4:00pm. She didn't lay an egg today, and she usually does every day, there have been a few times that there wasn't an egg in there, but she usually free roams. Today we didn't let her free roam since her sister got attacked a couple of days ago and we were scared to let her out, but I did let her into another pen by herself for a while today, and she was doing fine, the whole time. I was watching her outside my door. I did have to catch her in the net to put her back, and it did scare her, but didn't hurt her at all. She was fine when I put her up. When I went out about 30 minutes ago, she was not on her roost as usual and was down on the floor acting like she couldn't walk, and is breathing very hard. She had some poop stuck to her back end, and it was white, but was normal looking to me, and was not stopping up her butt, but underneath it. I cut it away. Her butt is breathing hard too! I tried to feel and see if I felt anything lumpy or anything in her stomach or anything but I can't tell if anything is wrong. What could it be to have affected her that quickly just since 4:00 this afternoon. She seems hot like maybe a fever. Does anyone have a clue what it could be. There are no sick chickens here that I know of. We don't have many and they all free roam. I did notice that she sneezed today once, but didn't think anything of it. I did put her in an area where other chickens have been before, but these same chickens go all over the yard and so does she. And it's a pen that usually stays open where chickens just go in and out, none usually just stay in there. Could she be affected by being in that area today, that quick? Really need some help quickly. She is not sneezing or runny nose or anything except breathing hard and won't walk.

I just wanted to say, I wish I had some ideas, but I don't I am relatively new and am still learning, but I wanted you to know that I have read your thread and hope that some more experienced, knowledgeable ppl can help you out...good luck

Thank you so much for at least answering! I have been sitting here on pins and needles waiting for someone anyone to answer me so I would at least know that my post is being seen. I am so worried about her. I can't imagine what has happened just in a few hours since I put her up for bed. She was fine. She's not very old not even a year old yet, but she's a big hen. Takes after her daddy. It's so terrible. A couple of days ago her sister got attacked by something that took her brother off while he was trying to protect, and I've been doctoring her ever since, now something is wrong with her too. We only had those 3 of that kind of chicken. They are special breed. The rooster got taken and now the 2 girls are having problems. I'm just wondering if my putting her in the other pen was the cause. I'm at a loss. She may not make it till morning though if I don't try something or get some kind of idea of what's happening, because she really has labored breathing. I'm so sad and worried. Thank you for talking to me though. That helps at least, my feelings.

Did she get attacked? Do an internal exam of her vent with a lubricated finger, see if you feel an egg. She sounds like she may already be in the process of dieing.

I am wondering if she is Egg Bound? Especially as you say her vent is breathing heavy as well and she feels hot? you could try to sit her in a tub of warm soapy water

Make sure the vent is submerged for about 30 minutes, this may seem like a long time, but you have to relax the vent area and make is subtle for the egg to pass through, it really does help the hen, 85% of the time this will be all that you will need to do for her and the egg will pass out with a little push from her (if she is egg bound)

You can rub some lubricant around the vent area this can help too, KY jelly, petroleum jelly, Vaseline or Olive Oil all work fine.
Make sure you isolate her from the other hens, or they will peck at her vent causing more damage

Put her into an isolation cage, put plenty of news paper down first and then put heated towels down they will act like a heat pad for her, no drafts when she is wet or she will catch a chill, after she has sat quietly in a warm area for 15 mins or so post soak, towel dry her a bit and keep her warm

You can heat up towels in your microwave, works a treat
If you have a heat pad that would be even better, put plenty of towels over it or it will get messy
Leave her for a little while to see if she passes the egg, if not, repeat the warm water and soap again

Giving her a human calcium or tums helps egg bound hens as well.

No she didn't get attacked, but she probably felt like she was getting attacked when I was catching her with the net. She has never had anything like that happen before. We usually just let her roam and do whatever she wants. But because of the attack on the others, we made her stay on the penned porch where she usually sleeps at night. Could my scaring her with catching her in the net make something like being egg bound happen? I didn't know that of I would never have done it. It didn't hurt her though, just put the net over her and picked her up and took the net off. She raised cain though and didn't like it at all. She usually just walks right up to me, but now she's scared of me because of that. I have never examined a chicken before, really new at all of this stuff. Do I put my finger in her butt and what, just feel around, or is there a special way to do it? This happened so fast. She was fine at 4:00 when I put her down in the pen. Do you think that's what is the problem? That she is egg bound.

How would I give her the tums? Crush up in water and give it to her through a syringe without the needle? She may not eat anything. She's picky anyway all the time, and now probably couldn't get her to eat anything on her own.

Quote: What do you mean by "doctoring" her?

I will try to help if I can, but as someone already suggested, she sounds like she's possibly already fairly done in.

What position is she in? If she's crouching or squatting it's almost definitely egg binding. Please describe as best as you can.

What colors are her face, wattles and crest? If the main color is red but there are white or grey or blue or purple patches please note this as well.

Egg binding won't cause a fever unless there's an infection so far as I know. About her vent appearing to breathe hard, because birds have fixed skeletons their vents move with every breath as their bodies are rather solid, so unlike us they don't flex elsewhere as much. So if she's panting her vent will be moving as well, but it does so with normal breathing too. It's not a sign of anything... Unless you notice it's not just moving with her breathing, but is making motions like she's trying to expel something.

This bit of advice here is useless to you right now, but may help in future. I get all my poultry used to being handled for just such a case, when an animal needs tending but its fear of you can prevent it from coping with being handled or receiving the care it needs, so it dies unnecessarily. By the time a damaged animal that is afraid of humans lets them handle it, it's usually too late. I strongly recommend you get your birds used to being handled to prevent future trouble whenever you have to handle them for any reason whatsoever --- and there will always be a reason, sooner or later. You don't have to handle them lots, or chase them first, even just touching them on the perch at night can help, but starting when they're chicks is generally easier on them. As a general rule I always prefer to check my birds on the perch at night time before locking them in, so if I see anything amiss I can check its weight and other signs immediately, not wait a week to catch it after chasing it around a yard.

Anyway, please get back with some more info as soon as you can, and I hope someone can help you in time. Best wishes.

Have you checked her for being egg bound? To check for egg binding,put on gloves w lubricant,insert finger into vent see if you can feel an egg or broken pce. If yes,give her a tums or calcium tablet orally(broken into pieces)or liquid calcium,keep her quiet,keep her warm and somewhere dark,this should help pass egg. Is she able to poop b/c with egg binding there is no poop or watery poop as egg binding interferes with the ability to poop.

Have you checked for any crop issues,such as an impact?

NO to bathing her in this condition(heavy breathing/stress plus she is not used to being held) as it could push her over the edge.

You are 100% sure she was not attacked along with your other girl? Have you checked her over from top to bottom,looking for wounds? Explain attack on your other girl.

How hot is it where you live? If hot,heat stress is also a possibililty and can be deadly.