GorgeChickenMama
Hatching
- May 23, 2022
- 2
- 3
- 8
1) Name: Bluebell, Breed: Russian Orloff; Age: 1 year old, weight: chicken does not feel lighter or thinner than normal
2) Her behavior was normal yesterday, running around chasing bugs and grazing. I free-range my 4 chickens when I am home, so she was out yesterday for 6+ hours. I do not have a grass yard, I have dwarf clover yard. I thought this might be important when ruling out impacted crop.
3) Exhibiting these behaviors for at least 3 hours, but no more than 12 hours as she was well when she went to bed last night. I went to let the girls out of their hutch this morning, and Bluebell did not come out. I found her standing at the bottom of the cage, hunched over, tail down and head scrunched down. I took her out and she walked a couple steps, then went back to her hunched-over stance. She keeps closing her eyes. I brought her inside and she lets me hold her and falls asleep. When she is awake, she is keeping her mouth open and moving her tongue back and forth. She doesn't appear to be labored or panting. Bluebell is normally a wild girl, chases wild turkeys and stellar jays of our yard, so her allowing me to give her medical care and inspect her vent is very concerning.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma? No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation: nothing that I am aware of.... attempting to rule out impacted crop and/or egg-bound.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all: not today, yesterday she was free-ranging and had laying pellets available to her and of course water.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. All the poop in the hutch looks normal, but she is with 3 other girls so I do not know when she last pooped.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Her crop was tangerine size this morning, so I gave her 10ml of olive oil, massaged her crop. Gave her 10 mls of water, massaged her crop more. The consistency is soft, like dough. Some air came out of her throat and was very sour smelling. I also inspected her vent, she is pulsating her vent and keeps her tail down. The vent appears normal, and there are no mites or feces present. I checked inside her vent and can feel an egg forming in her vagina. I can not feel the egg shell directly, but I can feel the shape of the egg through the vaginal tissue. The cloaca feels normal. Her breed does not lay very often, every 2-3 days. It is hard to tell my chicken eggs apart, but my best guess is that she didn't lay yesterday. I gave her a warm bath around her vent, then dried her. Now I have her in a rubber tub, padded with towels, a heating pad under the towel, and lights out and quiet room to let her rest.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? I would like to treat her myself if possible. I am a registered RN in critical care and was a veterinary tech prior to being a nurse for about 10 years, so I feel comfortable with most home treatments. But I will definitely go to a vet if her crop needs to be opened surgically or if she is egg-bound and needs to go under anesthesia to have it removed. The nearest vet that cares for chickens is about 1 hour away from where I live.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use: 4 chicken moveable hutch, with 2 nesting boxes and a roosting bar. Automatic metal door on a timer, so the girls are locked up tight each night. I use pine-shavings as my bedding and change out about every 2 weeks or sooner if needed. Their cage is on dwarf clover yard and are free-ranged most days.
2) Her behavior was normal yesterday, running around chasing bugs and grazing. I free-range my 4 chickens when I am home, so she was out yesterday for 6+ hours. I do not have a grass yard, I have dwarf clover yard. I thought this might be important when ruling out impacted crop.
3) Exhibiting these behaviors for at least 3 hours, but no more than 12 hours as she was well when she went to bed last night. I went to let the girls out of their hutch this morning, and Bluebell did not come out. I found her standing at the bottom of the cage, hunched over, tail down and head scrunched down. I took her out and she walked a couple steps, then went back to her hunched-over stance. She keeps closing her eyes. I brought her inside and she lets me hold her and falls asleep. When she is awake, she is keeping her mouth open and moving her tongue back and forth. She doesn't appear to be labored or panting. Bluebell is normally a wild girl, chases wild turkeys and stellar jays of our yard, so her allowing me to give her medical care and inspect her vent is very concerning.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma? No
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation: nothing that I am aware of.... attempting to rule out impacted crop and/or egg-bound.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all: not today, yesterday she was free-ranging and had laying pellets available to her and of course water.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. All the poop in the hutch looks normal, but she is with 3 other girls so I do not know when she last pooped.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? Her crop was tangerine size this morning, so I gave her 10ml of olive oil, massaged her crop. Gave her 10 mls of water, massaged her crop more. The consistency is soft, like dough. Some air came out of her throat and was very sour smelling. I also inspected her vent, she is pulsating her vent and keeps her tail down. The vent appears normal, and there are no mites or feces present. I checked inside her vent and can feel an egg forming in her vagina. I can not feel the egg shell directly, but I can feel the shape of the egg through the vaginal tissue. The cloaca feels normal. Her breed does not lay very often, every 2-3 days. It is hard to tell my chicken eggs apart, but my best guess is that she didn't lay yesterday. I gave her a warm bath around her vent, then dried her. Now I have her in a rubber tub, padded with towels, a heating pad under the towel, and lights out and quiet room to let her rest.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? I would like to treat her myself if possible. I am a registered RN in critical care and was a veterinary tech prior to being a nurse for about 10 years, so I feel comfortable with most home treatments. But I will definitely go to a vet if her crop needs to be opened surgically or if she is egg-bound and needs to go under anesthesia to have it removed. The nearest vet that cares for chickens is about 1 hour away from where I live.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use: 4 chicken moveable hutch, with 2 nesting boxes and a roosting bar. Automatic metal door on a timer, so the girls are locked up tight each night. I use pine-shavings as my bedding and change out about every 2 weeks or sooner if needed. Their cage is on dwarf clover yard and are free-ranged most days.
