My chicken is not eating, drinking, or walking around

[lindsayt44]

My one year old partridge rock is sick. I found her out in the middle of the yard under a bush just standing there. She wont drink any water, but I have been able to get her to eat some hard boiled eggs. This happened around 2:00 pm today. I immediately brought her inside and looked her over. I checked her vent and cleaned up some dried poop on it. I put her in a warm bath for around 15 minutes and rubbed some kY jelly on her vent. She keeps clenching her vent over and over. I felt inside it, but I didn't feel an egg. How far should I be reaching in there? I went about 2 knuckles deep and didn't feel anything. Like I said, she will eat some egg, but she won't drink anything and she isn't moving around at all. She has pooped once since 2, but that doesn't seem like enough. I was able to put a few drops of electrolytes into her beak, but not much. Does anyone have any other thoughts or suggestions as to what might be going on? Thank you.

 

[seminolewind]

Chickens vent pulsate. I don't know why.
First thing I would think of doing is treating for Coccidiosis.

 

[lindsayt44]

Thanks. She just pooped again and along with it being brown and white normal poop, there was a blob of yellow jelly like substance.

 

[lindsayt44]

Well, we finally gave in and took her to the vet yesterday. We decided to stay on the safe side and make sure nothing was wrong in our coop or yard. Vet said not egg bound, no worms, looked her over and said she looked good. She wanted to take an x-ray, but we decided that would be a waste of money since if something was wrong internally, we probably wouldn't go any further with any costly treatment. Vet gave her an IV with some electrolytes and fluid and also gave her a shot of calcium. We took her home and she almost had a 100% turn around. Immediately eating, drinking, clucking, and moving around. That was $140 down the drain!! Haha! But I am glad we took her in. Thanks for the advice!

 

[cafarmgirl]

Just be prepared that she might relapse. They often perk up quite a bit with fluids and electrolytes but whatever issue was causing this in the first place is likely still there. X-rays can be helpful, depending how far you want to go with treatment. I agree with your feelings about that. I've had a couple chickens x-rayed, I doubt I'll do it again. When they have internal stuff going on it's hard to save them unless your prepared to spend big $$$ at the vet.

 

[lindsayt44]

Thanks for the heads up cafarmgirl. Yesterday she actually laid a partially formed egg. I've decided she was egg bound, since she has never laid an egg that looks like this and she is back to acting like her normal self. Here's a pic. Thanks for your help!

 

[lindsayt44]

Well, I clearly don't know how to add a photo in my reply because it just attached itself to the thread. So, if you'd like to see the pic, it is there.