8 Month Old Polish-Acting Lethargic, Limited Movement, Only Waddles

[agold08]

Hi there-

We have an 8 month old polish hen that is acting unusual. We let our flock free roam in the backyard most of the day, and we noticed today that she was refusing to move around much. When she did move, it was incredibly slow and she almost waddled. When my husband picked her up he noticed that she seemed a little bloated and he also found a yellow secretion on her feathers. We did some research on here and wondered if she may have EYP. We have since separated her from the flock, brought her inside and gave her a really warm soak, and put her in a large crate where she has fresh bedding, food, and water. She actually seems to be eating fine but still refuses to move, and has her tail feathers dragging if she waddles anywhere.

Any help on what we should do would be greatly appreciated! We won't be able to take her to the vet until Monday (if needed) as it's late Saturday night here. Thanks!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you take a rubber glove, and examine the inside of her vent an inch or so for a stuck egg? Has she been laying eggs? Someone recently posted her that they had 2 pullets under 10 months that died of egg yolk peritonitis, confirmed with a vet's necropsy. Usually we think of it as being in hens over 18 months, but I would try to rule out most other possibilities first. A broken egg inside could have caused the yellow feathers, or internal layers can pass cooked-egg material in dropping. A vet may be of help with antibiotics if it is EYP or internal laying. Does she seem to have lost weight near her breast bone, or does she have a spongy swollen lower abdomen? I think i would try a vet if possible.

 

[chickenstar]

Hi, Yes from what you are describing she is laying internaly and from her slow lathargic behavior she has yolk stroke or otherwise known as peritonitis. The kindest thing to do is make a fast desicion about taking her in to a vet ,where they need to put her on very powerfull antibiotics like baytril and clavamox inconjunction ,and of course drain the fluid from her abdomen and lastly install a desorelin hormone implant into her neck kind of like a microchip in a dog and this. Will stop her from laying anymore eggs hence stopping her pain and suffering and giving her her life back. If you aren't able to do this then I sugest that you humanley put her down as she will die. Without vet care and its a very painfull condition for her to be in, imagine having egg yolk rot inside of you and you have an idea just how auful this truly is , she needs imediate help! Funny thing is that I also have a polish hen with the same problem , she got peritonitis from a ruptured soft shelled egg and is now better thanks to a potent cocktail of antibiotics and a desorelin hormone patch. ,Good luck to you and your girl

 

[agold08]

Thanks for your speedy replies. Unfortunately, our hen ended up passing away late last night We soaked her in another warm bath, probed around her vent a bit to see if we could feel anything but couldn't. She actually perked up and acted like she was feeling much more alert when we were soaking her. We wrapped her up in a warm towel to dry off and she actually struggled a bit (which was more movement than she had all day prior) so we had high hopes that she was feeling better! I went to set her back down into her pen and she wouldn't stand up. She flopped over and batted her wings for about 3 seconds and died! It was the most heart breaking/traumatizing thing! She was FINE one second and gone the next! We think she may have had a heart attack, as that's the only thing that I can imagine would take her that quickly.

This is THE WORST part about having pets! We always get so attached and so it's horrible when we have to see them die. But we take comfort in knowing she had a pretty amazingly cushy life! Free ranging all day, had lots of friends, easy access to fresh food and water, a warm place to sleep at night, etc.

Thanks again for the help. This forum is definitely a good place to be in contact with people who can understand all the awesome ups and downs that come with having chickens