Buff Orp pullet resting with butt high in the air - not developing well

[cephalophile]

Hi all!

One of my buff Orpington pullets has been acting strangely for a while now. At around 4-5weeks we noticed that she seemed to have labored breathing. We separated her and get her a round of penicillin but she showed no improvement. We also noticed when she sits on the ground, her butt is high in the air - much higher than her head still with labored breathing. She is now 10 weeks old. Since she's been like this for so long, could it be a developmental issue? She's the smallest chicken, and some of her downy feathers just haven't fallen off the tips of her big-girl feathers yet. She looks a little crazy!

Other than the very slow development (our only other Buff we think is a Roo, so kinda hard to compare for the time being), and labored breathing she's doing all the normal chicken things and seems ok - eating fine, her keel bone is well ...meated? lol Poop looks normal. She's just small and sickly looking. Any idea what could be causing it or maybe it's just a genetic thing? If that's the case, should I alert Murry McMurray (here she was purchased from)? All of our other birds are fine, no symptoms, no issues, and they've been together for weeks now.

Attached video of sickie chickie:

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes it is hard to know what is wrong with them until they die and a state vet can do a necropsy. She might have a heart problem, or she could have a respiratory disease from mold or something like that. A liver issue causing ascites or water belly could also be a problem. Ascites is also sometimes due to heart failure. Her breathing is pretty labored, so she doesn’t look like she will survive to be a productive hen. Does she eat and drink, or have any runny poops that might be a case of coccidiosis?

 

[cephalophile]

Sometimes it is hard to know what is wrong with them until they die and a state vet can do a necropsy. She might have a heart problem, or she could have a respiratory disease from mold or something like that. A liver issue causing ascites or water belly could also be a problem. Ascites is also sometimes due to heart failure. Her breathing is pretty labored, so she doesn’t look like she will survive to be a productive hen. Does she eat and drink, or have any runny poops that might be a case of coccidiosis?

Eating, drinking, roosting, dust bathing, taking treats, running away when trying to pick her up.... normal chicken behavior. Normal poops, none of the usual symptoms of Cocci (and honestly, if this were cocci she'd definitely have passed by now, 4+ weeks on). I'm not concerned about her ever laying eggs. Our girls are more like pets anyway, I just want to make sure she has a decent quality of life while she's here.

She seems to be enjoying chicken life as normally as possible, just was wondering if there's a way we can make it better for her/help her overcome this. Maybe time will tell.

 

[cephalophile]

Just circling back to this thread for anyone in the future reading:
She was just a weird chicken. She grew into the biggest hen we have, is healthy, bossy, and broody. lol.

 

[Lor]

Just circling back to this thread for anyone in the future reading:
She was just a weird chicken. She grew into the biggest hen we have, is healthy, bossy, and broody. lol.

LOL... That's interesting.