Listless hen, almost white comb. What’s wrong?

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

Hello all!

I found my 2 year old hen in my goat shed laying down in the straw. At first I didn’t think much of it until she never got up. I looked more closely at her and was shocked at her almost white comb color. She never quite got her dark red comb color back after her last molt in January, but nothing like this.

Right now I have her in my barn bedded down in some hay. She is so listless, and just flops down wherever I put her. Her crop feels empty, but she won’t eat.

All my other fowl are fine, it’s just her. Any help would be much appreciated!!

 

[tlcmurphy]

Give her a calcium tablet ASAP. I just lost my Welsummer under these exact circumstances, she was likely egg bound and I didn’t get her the calcium in time.
@Wyorp Rock @azygous

 

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

Give her a calcium tablet ASAP. I just lost my Welsummer under these exact circumstances, she was likely egg bound and I didn’t get her the calcium in time.
@Wyorp Rock @azygous

Uh oh! Ok thanks. I will check if I have any! I know I have powdered calcium citrate. Would that work?!

 

[tlcmurphy]

Uh oh! Ok thanks. I will check if I have any! I know I have powdered calcium citrate. Would that work?!

I’m sure it would, but you need to get 600mg into her. A pill is easier

 

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

Will these work?

 

[azygous]

That's fine to give her. Also, give her a cup of water with one teaspoon sugar stirred in. This treats shock. There's no definite indication what's going on with your hen, but those are two good things to try.

 

[tlcmurphy]

Will these work? View attachment 3819923

View attachment 3819924

Yes!

 

[tlcmurphy]

I hope she pulls through

 

[SummerTheAnimalGirl]

Thanks so much you guys. She died when I was giving her the pills. That was so strange, she was fine this morning, and then died twenty minutes after I found her. She was so sick, that she wasn’t even swallowing the pills at all once I got them half way in her throat. She was just limp, and then suddenly started flapping around and died five seconds later. It was a bit traumatic! Poor dear. Do you think she was egg bound? Or is this something contagious I should be concerned about?

 

[azygous]

The only way to discover if she was egg bound is to cut open her abdominal cavity and look.

However, when I've had a hen like this one, when I opened her up, I found a cavity full of infection and sometimes tumors. You would gain a lot of insight by mustering the courage to cut her open.