911....I think shes either at the end or sick...ASAP

[pierce652]

I have one of my older girls, one who was mature when we got the chickens (2+ years ago) and the last of the mature ones..., who has been acting wierd for almost a week. At first she was not moving, her eyes were half closed and was squatting all the time. Now, a few days later, she is eating, her eyes are open and she is reactive but she is still squatting a bit and there is poop hanging off her vent.

I dont know whats wrong and will try what it takes to fix her if anything...perhaps a warm soak? I dont know. I lost two of the other older ones in the past...one to picking the other just dropped one night.

She seems perky enough...shes just hobbling around like shes got an egg stuck of something...

 

[bigstack]

Im so sorry!!! I wish I could help! Im sure some one more knowledgable will post soon!!! Here is a BUMP!

Good luck and God Bless!!!

 

[AHappychick]

maybe she is eggbound can you feel around and see if there is any thing hard perhaps an egg stuck? how is her crop, any change in diet? is it possible that it is crop bound, have they eaten straw or anything weird?

if eggbound a warm bath might help. and I would make a probiotic mash and feed her that as well.

good luck

 

[prncs13]

Feel her abdomen and see if she is egg bound. Do you know when she laid last?
Michelle

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

sounds like she might be eggbound, its very painful for then hen. Just feel around her abdomen and see if you can feel an egg. A warm bath helps too if this is the problem

 

[jjthink]

If she is eggbound the situation may well be urgent at this point. I don't want to alarm you but they can easily have heart failure if they can't get the egg out. Crush up a Tums, mix with a little water and gentle dribble the slurry with a dropper along her beak line, so she swallows on her own and doesn't choke. The warm bath also seems to help some hens (do a search here on BYC under 'eggbound' and you'll see lots of threads about this). If she has a broken egg inside her she is in grave danger of infection. Watch her very closely and see if you can keep her separated enough so that you know what she is eating, drinking, pooping, laying.........perhaps some way that she can still chat with her buddies but be separate.
JJ

 

[Margot]

Feel her downunder her belly...between her legs. My mature girl had the same symptoms. I checked for egg and she was not egg bound, but was retaining alot of fluid. I simply inserted a needle and with a syringe drew off the liquid. It was clear with a slight yellow cast. Sort of like very watered down urine. I drew off a good 2 or 3 cups and within a few hours she was picking up. By the next day she was back to normal. She has since passed, but was such a sweetie.

Margot

 

[Terri O]

Margot I did the same thing with one of mine. I read the threads on ascites and they helped a lot. Thanks Goodness for this site I will say! Terri O

 

[regina1994]

Could be an internal layer also...Ive had several older chickens past recently with same symptoms... I thought egg bound but after reading several posts here decided it could be internal layer.... when opened one up found Large mass Of like cooked egg in her. Good luck...I know it's hard to watch one of our girls go through this!

 

[pierce652]

Still no improvement on her. I checked her all the way down and there does not seem to be an egg stuck anywhere. She is eating and drinking but not acting normal. She is squatting when walking and not roosting at night. Her eyes appear fine. She stumbles sometimes and doesnt appear to be too sure on her feet.

There hasnt been a change in diet except that I began giving them oyster shell again as the eggs were too fragile.

Anyone have any other ideas?