Acting weird and standing upright

#lovemychickens

Songster
Jul 24, 2017
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I have a two and a half year old a Rhode Island Red who was almost standing upright but with her bottom low to the ground. She isn’t eating much but is drinking a lot. I wormed them twice with Valbazan and it’s been 14 days since the last worming. She hasn’t laid an egg for at least a month or longer. Her comb is light pink. I brought her in and let her soak in an Epsom salt bath because she had white stuff dried up on her bum feathers.. her crop is medium in size and squishy.. no foul smell from her beak and no drainage or wheezing. I’ve recently lost one to heart failure and do not want to lose another one. Please Help!
 
It does sound like she has a respiratory issue. Maybe rigging a steam tent with towels and hot water with a little peppermint oil in it would help.
 
Is she standing and walking like a penguin? I think this sounds like being egg bound, egg peritonitis, or some sort of reproductive issue to me. I would have tried an epsom salt bath first as my own approach to this as well, did you feel her abdomen while she was soaking? Did she feel swollen?
Maybe @Eggcessive or @Wyorp Rock can help.
 
She does feel swollen a little bit.. I checked and there is no egg that I can feel. I was thinking maybe vent gleet because she had the white stuff dried on her bum feathers ?? I felt her crop and it’s gurgling when you squish it. She doesn’t act like it hurts when you touch it. I just gave her some bread with olive oil and she ate that.. I read somewhere to give that to them but am thinking if she has sour crop I shouldn’t have done that because of the bread and yeast. It sounds like she burps sometimes if that makes sense.
 
She does feel swollen a little bit.. I checked and there is no egg that I can feel. I was thinking maybe vent gleet because she had the white stuff dried on her bum feathers ?? I felt her crop and it’s gurgling when you squish it. She doesn’t act like it hurts when you touch it. I just gave her some bread with olive oil and she ate that.. I read somewhere to give that to them but am thinking if she has sour crop I shouldn’t have done that because of the bread and yeast. It sounds like she burps sometimes if that makes sense.

Be careful if you hear gurgling because chickens can aspirate quite easily if she has fluid built up in her crop but did her crop feel squishy like a balloon?
Has she gone to the bathroom since you brought her inside?
I'm hoping that one of the more experienced BYC educators for emergencies will step in with advice for you.
 
It feels similar to a water balloon. She did go to the bathroom but it’s all white and liquid but I’m thinking it’s because she has drank a lot of water.?? I put her in a warm dark area so she can rest. She has a medicine like smell to her. Not sour or foul smelling.. almost like a dentist office smell.
 
It feels similar to a water balloon. She did go to the bathroom but it’s all white and liquid but I’m thinking it’s because she has drank a lot of water.?? I put her in a warm dark area so she can rest. She has a medicine like smell to her. Not sour or foul smelling.. almost like a dentist office smell.

What you're describing with her crop does sound a lot like sour crop or crop impaction. I've never heard of a hen standing the way you described due to an impaction though so it's possible she's contending with more than one issue.
Sour crop can also lead to vent gleet, they're both yeast infections.
 
An impacted oviduct salpingitis can be possible. They can stop laying for a time and have egg material,sell and membrane back up inside the oviduct. These are common reproductive disorders in hens, and unfortunately cause deaths eventually. Honestly, most times we can’t know what exactly is happening unless vet care is available, or a necropsy is done after death. Here are a couple of articles that may help:
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/oviduct-impaction
https://the-chicken-chick.com/salpingitis-lash-eggs-in-backyard/
 

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