Pullet hunched, drinking excessive water

[MenelausMontrose]

We were able to feed her some Calcium citrate this morning; another 100-200g in chunks. I think she aspirated one chunk which was unfortunate, but was able to sneeze it out.

We then soaked her for 30 minutes. I prodded a bit to see if I could massage the egg out, but didn't use much force at all and felt no movement (and hopefully I was actually prodding the egg and not the tailbone or something). The pullet was pulsing, but not sure if that was contractions or just labored breathing due to the stress of the bath.

She's back in her crate now with water. I don't want to give her much if any food given how backed up she is, but would sugar water be a good idea to keep her energy up?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sugar water is fine. If you think she is constipated, you can offer some chunks of chilled coconut oil, or 5 ml of olive or veg oil in some scrambled egg. There should be no reason to limit her food.

 

[MenelausMontrose]

Sugar water is fine. If you think she is constipated, you can offer some chunks of chilled coconut oil, or 5 ml of olive or veg oil in some scrambled egg. There should be no reason to limit her food.

I was thinking we might want to limit food if she is eggbound and cannot defecate properly.
She's still squirting water out the vent (at least 1x that we witnessed this morning) so I don't think she is constipated. I'll work some more calcium pills into some egg yolk and give that to her.

 

[AidKD]

I was thinking we might want to limit food if she is eggbound and cannot defecate properly.
She's still squirting water out the vent (at least 1x that we witnessed this morning) so I don't think she is constipated. I'll work some more calcium pills into some egg yolk and give that to her.

Yes, at this point don't give her solid food. That'd do more damage then good. Sugar water is fine to give her. Make sure you repeat the process of soaking her bottom and massaging the egg down every few hours until she passes the egg.

 

[MenelausMontrose]

Goblin (the pullet) is moving around more and is being vocal. There has been some flapping and exploration of our kitchen.She did another watery poop (see photo). Her crop feels squishy and like there's probably just water in there.

I did give her 1/3 of a yolk with another 50-100g or so of Calcium citrate.

She's not displaying the same physical distress that she was last night. I tried massaging the rear and am not sure if I have been feeling in the right spot.

Is this where we massage, up high under the tail? Primarily where my 1st and 2nd fingers are?

Or is it down here on the abdomen?

If the 2nd photo is correct, I am not feeling an egg. That coupled with the lack of egg being felt when my wife probed her makes me wonder if I have misdiagnosed her.

 

[Eggcessive]

You can insert a clean finger (or use a disposable glove) up to 1-2 inches into her vent to feel for an egg. Her tail is up, and that is a good sign. I would let her out to roam some. Check her crop early in the morning before she eats or drinks to see if her comb has emptied as it should.

 

[AidKD]

Goblin (the pullet) is moving around more and is being vocal. There has been some flapping and exploration of our kitchen.She did another watery poop (see photo). Her crop feels squishy and like there's probably just water in there.

I did give her 1/3 of a yolk with another 50-100g or so of Calcium citrate.

She's not displaying the same physical distress that she was last night. I tried massaging the rear and am not sure if I have been feeling in the right spot.

Is this where we massage, up high under the tail? Primarily where my 1st and 2nd fingers are?
View attachment 3747844
Or is it down here on the abdomen?
View attachment 3747848
If the 2nd photo is correct, I am not feeling an egg. That coupled with the lack of egg being felt when my wife probed her makes me wonder if I have misdiagnosed her.

It would down under the vent that you check for an egg. Or as Eggcessive said you could also feel inside her vent for an egg.

 

[MenelausMontrose]

So just a little update -- Goblin seems to be doing much better. After we kept her indoors for a couple of days, the watery poops cleared up, and she stopped drinking so much. She was defecating normally by Thursday morning.

I think her being in the egg box earlier in the week was a red herring. We should have realized after we checked her vent that it wasn't egg-binding, and the bath therefore was unnecessary.

My guess is she ate something bad, and was drinking excessively to clear her system. I don't know if chickens flush themselves, but it would make sense if they did. She's still moving a little bit slow, but is generally keeping up with the other chickens outside, and we hope for a full recovery.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[MenelausMontrose]

The mystery continues. Goblin is now acting fine, but another of my reds is being fluffy and low energy, and had this thing hanging off her butt. Is this a worm or something else? It's kind of large. Over an inch if stretched out.

 

[AidKD]

The mystery continues. Goblin is now acting fine, but another of my reds is being fluffy and low energy, and had this thing hanging off her butt. Is this a worm or something else? It's kind of large. Over an inch if stretched out.


View attachment 3752516View attachment 3752517

Is it poop? Or a weird egg?