4 year old hen not walking

[ricksault]

Lilo our light brahma hen hasn't walked in 2 1/2days. her wings work and she can still lay, but she doesn't want to move. Her legs don't appear broken and she has no apparent wounds. Does anyone have any advice? thanks.

thanks for the concern, We have more info as requested.
41/2 year light brahma about 6 pounds
day one...Wants to lay down in hen yard all day, 1st night placed her in well ventilated ( open window) empty bathtub in box with straw. Next morning wattle very hot and she was panting, once outside she drank water constantly and panted. She was able to flap out of her box and immediately sank back to ground. She laid egg and pooped all over it not wanting to move. Treated her with homeopathic oscillococcinum in her water. By the afternoon she stood up, actually more like squatted, by the evening. Temperature seems to be back to normal and hasn't spiked since.
Day two...stands up and walks feebly (squats) tail feather down, doesn't scratch at all. Lays down often, continues taking water and homeopathic remedy.
Day three...More of the same. Upright more often, still thirsty. By third evening she goes into hen house on her own and sleeps through evening
causes...poop not raked in 2 months.
Food...chicken scratch and oyster shells, and chicken crumble, and of course all of our veggie scraps on a daily basis. We also let them have our grass clippings.
Poop....twice as big as normal, green like wet grass and brown, firm as usual...None of the other birds have similarly colored poop.
Goal.....Will treat bird oursevles without vet if possible.
Housing....indoor wooden roosts above ground with chicken wire bottom. Straw lined nesting boxes, however she likes to sleep on a wooden shelf with a couple of her sisters in pen above ground.

 

[Judy]

You need to give us a lot more information. Read here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3569

And remember this is the middle of the night for most of us.

 

[threehorses]

Any updates on the information?

 

[Judy]

Food: I wish you had told us where you live in your profile. Are you in the US? Scratch is not a real feed, it is a treat, deficient in many nutrients. Laying hens need layer feed and a calcium supplement such as oyster shell. What is "chicken crumble?" Is it labeled as starter, grower, or layer? If it is labeled as layer, this should be her basic feed, offered free choice, and scratch should only be offered as a treat, in small quantities.

Since she laid an egg, I am hoping this is not an egg laying problem.

At her age, my first thought is intestinal worms, unless you have your chickens on a worming program. Here is a good thread on worming, if you are in the US:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2525157#p2525157

Also, you need to check for mites or lice. Do this at night, off the roost, around the vent, with a flashlight or similar light, as some of them only are on the bird at night. If you see any tiny crawling critters, or clumps of tiny eggs, get some poultry dust (permethrin or permethrin/pyrethrin) from the feed store and dust her and your other chickens, or use Sevin 5% dust. DE regularly applied in the coop will prevent severe infestations, and is an organic alternative, but probably not sufficient if she has a severe infestation. Ivermectin is another alternative, but heavier duty stuff than poultry dust. If the problem turns out to be mites/lice, you will need to clean out the coop and treat all surfaces, and you will need to repeat the treatment in a couple of weeks to kill hatched eggs.

Many on here use straw for nesting boxes, but if the chicken eats enough of it, it can cause crop problems. You need to feel her crop in the evening and the morning, and let us know if it does not go down overnight, as it should.

Meanwhile, I would make up a meal of live culture yogurt, a bit of feed and applesauce, and a bit of cooked egg or egg yolk, and water to moisten, and offer this, while we sort this out. This will at least boost her nutritional status.

Hopefully this will at least get her started on a road to recovery.

Let us know.

 

[ricksault]

We live in Fair Oaks California, a suberb of Sacramento, Scratch is tossed on ground everymorn by one of our daughters. crumble is in hanging feeder. All 12 hens are layers and eat same diet. None of the other birds are showing any of these symptoms. Haven't noticed any mites. Perhaps we need to get a de-wormer. You'd think that all of the hens would get the worms at the same time. Sure do appreciate your input. I'll keep you posted
Rick

 

[Judy]

In a way I hope her problem is worms, because that's easy enough to fix. Probably any chicken that age has some worms; it's a matter of how heavy the load is. Of course, she could have another problem that makes her less able to handle a worm load.

Crumble, mash and pellets are the form of feeds, referring to the size of the pieces, and whether they were formed into pellets. Starter, grower and layer are some terms that refer to the nutritional formulation. So crumble isn't really a full answer, you see?

Good luck.

 

[Judy]

Also, please look over this thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=213191

It is a somewhat similar situation and has some additional suggestions from people a lot more experienced than I am.