lbgreenfield
Songster
Hi everyone. Lots of things going on with my 2.5 year old Buff Orpington hen, this is a long post so please read through everything for background on the situation. I am also re-posting this with some added detail from an earlier post to the Chicken Behavior and Laying forum.
1. My 2.5 Year Old Buff Orpington has had a bad limp for about 1.5 months with no improvement. Still eating, drinking, pooping, and laying an egg every other day, up until yesterday. I put her in a large dog crate within our run for a few days (Thurs, Fri, and Saturday AM only). I believe on Thursday or Friday she was pecked by someone while in the crate, because her comb was all bloodied and bleeding (I treated with Vetricyn and Blue-Kote). I think this is where the sudden problems started.
2. Before putting her in the crate yesterday (Saturday), I would let her lay in the coop nesting boxes. On Saturday, I decided to keep her in the crate all day, putting a portable nesting box in there for her. I put her in at 8am, and at 11am I come out to check on her to find her panting, pacing, butthole pulsing really fast, and all puffed up. I immediately open the crate and she runs into the coop, sits in a dark corner on the floor (not in a nesting box), and sits there without laying for over 1 hour. I panicked, thinking she is egg bound, I can feel the egg inside with a gloved, lubricated finger. Proceed to epsom salt soak her for 15min, administer 2 mint Tums hidden inside blueberries, and after 30min, put her back in the coop where she lays an egg on the floor after 1 hour. After she leaves the coop, she and my other 4 hens all start fighting with each other, ripping neck feathers out, getting all puffed up near certain other hens. I’ve never ever witnessed something like this, as they have all been raised with one another. I should mention as well that we just put our 10-week old chicks into their “transition” pen within our run, so that the adult hens can see them but not hurt them. Chicks have been in there for 2 days (since Thursday).
5. Today (Sunday), my Buffy has been just sitting in the corner of the coop where she laid the egg yesterday for almost 8 hours now. No egg, no panting/puffiness/pulsing like yesterday, just sitting with lots of head shaking. I honestly don’t think she is broody, as she doesn’t puff up or screech when I go to pet her. I picked her up and put her outside where she pooped (pretty normal poop, no worms, not watery or discolored, I have pictures I can post if necessary), then she hobbled under our truck, the slowly came out and started eating grass. I took her back into the pen where she puffed up her neck feathers when the top hen (Barred Rock) cane close to her and the she hobbled back into the coop. I checked her vent, and I think I can feel an egg, so I did the epsom salt soak for 10min. and attempted to give her some Tums hidden in blueberries and a crushed Tums within 1 scrambled egg. She didn't eat too much of either today. She is now just sitting in the corner of the coop floor, butthole slightly pulsing and panting every so often, but not as bad as earlier. She has been in the same spot for almost 8 hours now, with no egg laid.
I have no idea what is going on since all this seemingly happened overnight. Everything was fine as far as I could tell with behavior. They were all getting along prior to me putting my Buff in the crate. My Buff is/was 2nd in the pecking order and that still seems to be the case because she was fighting with the lower hens yesterday after she laid. She laid an egg yesterday (Saturday) and acted completely normal for the rest of the evening (except for the fighting). Today she is huddled up into the coop, not moving for almost 8 hours now. She is completely terrified of the Barred Rock now, her neck feathers get all puffed up when the BR is around and she makes these weird clucking sounds.
Any thoughts or advice on this?? If I am doing anything wrong or ill-advised, please let me know as I’m really stressed about this (as my poor hubby can vouch for!)
Thank you in advance for your help!
1. My 2.5 Year Old Buff Orpington has had a bad limp for about 1.5 months with no improvement. Still eating, drinking, pooping, and laying an egg every other day, up until yesterday. I put her in a large dog crate within our run for a few days (Thurs, Fri, and Saturday AM only). I believe on Thursday or Friday she was pecked by someone while in the crate, because her comb was all bloodied and bleeding (I treated with Vetricyn and Blue-Kote). I think this is where the sudden problems started.
2. Before putting her in the crate yesterday (Saturday), I would let her lay in the coop nesting boxes. On Saturday, I decided to keep her in the crate all day, putting a portable nesting box in there for her. I put her in at 8am, and at 11am I come out to check on her to find her panting, pacing, butthole pulsing really fast, and all puffed up. I immediately open the crate and she runs into the coop, sits in a dark corner on the floor (not in a nesting box), and sits there without laying for over 1 hour. I panicked, thinking she is egg bound, I can feel the egg inside with a gloved, lubricated finger. Proceed to epsom salt soak her for 15min, administer 2 mint Tums hidden inside blueberries, and after 30min, put her back in the coop where she lays an egg on the floor after 1 hour. After she leaves the coop, she and my other 4 hens all start fighting with each other, ripping neck feathers out, getting all puffed up near certain other hens. I’ve never ever witnessed something like this, as they have all been raised with one another. I should mention as well that we just put our 10-week old chicks into their “transition” pen within our run, so that the adult hens can see them but not hurt them. Chicks have been in there for 2 days (since Thursday).
5. Today (Sunday), my Buffy has been just sitting in the corner of the coop where she laid the egg yesterday for almost 8 hours now. No egg, no panting/puffiness/pulsing like yesterday, just sitting with lots of head shaking. I honestly don’t think she is broody, as she doesn’t puff up or screech when I go to pet her. I picked her up and put her outside where she pooped (pretty normal poop, no worms, not watery or discolored, I have pictures I can post if necessary), then she hobbled under our truck, the slowly came out and started eating grass. I took her back into the pen where she puffed up her neck feathers when the top hen (Barred Rock) cane close to her and the she hobbled back into the coop. I checked her vent, and I think I can feel an egg, so I did the epsom salt soak for 10min. and attempted to give her some Tums hidden in blueberries and a crushed Tums within 1 scrambled egg. She didn't eat too much of either today. She is now just sitting in the corner of the coop floor, butthole slightly pulsing and panting every so often, but not as bad as earlier. She has been in the same spot for almost 8 hours now, with no egg laid.
I have no idea what is going on since all this seemingly happened overnight. Everything was fine as far as I could tell with behavior. They were all getting along prior to me putting my Buff in the crate. My Buff is/was 2nd in the pecking order and that still seems to be the case because she was fighting with the lower hens yesterday after she laid. She laid an egg yesterday (Saturday) and acted completely normal for the rest of the evening (except for the fighting). Today she is huddled up into the coop, not moving for almost 8 hours now. She is completely terrified of the Barred Rock now, her neck feathers get all puffed up when the BR is around and she makes these weird clucking sounds.
Any thoughts or advice on this?? If I am doing anything wrong or ill-advised, please let me know as I’m really stressed about this (as my poor hubby can vouch for!)
Thank you in advance for your help!
