Barred Rock seems crippled

[chkn]

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All the larger breed hens I have usually start out with small eggs. It's probably a blessing for them actually.

 

[ChooksChick]

I had a girl break her pelvis on a fall from the roost last year. It took 6 weeks to heal and she was up & about after. She broke an egg in the fall and didn't show it on the x-rays, so she passed from yolk peritonitis 6 mos later, never having resumed laying. Yours not laying yet can be a blessing if this is what happened.

Give her something to lie on that is soft, so her keep doesn't get sore, and keep her inside and babied for a bit after you eliminate the possibility of parasites.

 

[chickfan]

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She doesn't seem disoriented at all. She wants to walk and tries over and over, but can't seem to take but a very few steps. I looked at her again....didn't see any bugs at all where I looked. Around her vent there was some crusty stuff right at the base of a couple of feathers, but it sure looked and felt like dried poop to me. I dusted her with Sevin and put her back out. Tonight I lifted her into the coop and she made her way to the corner. There is some sand in there....they have never had sand before, and her problem started after we added the sand. There isn't a lot of sand yet.....just enough to barely cover the floor to catch the poop. She might have jumped from the roost and slid on the floor with a bit of sand on it. She has her head up and is alert, but just can't get her legs to cooperate. I don't think she will attempt to jump up on the roost at all. Tomorrow I'll bring a cage in the house and pamper her. I hope she will still be OK then! We have plenty more sand to add to the coop...I was just waiting until we can put a board at the door and beneath the lower ventilation places, so they can't kick it out. I was planning to maybe have it only 2-3 inches deep.
I did find an egg with no shell, in one of the pens where the others stay at night (only 8 of them stay in a coop at night) and it was under the roosts. Felt weird...perfectly formed and covered with a membrane, so it was very pliable in my hand. I assume a hard squeeze would break it. I wondered if that might have come from her...maybe she went into that pen during the day, since the door is open all day. I'm just guessing here.
All of the chickens except the 4 younger ones, are on layer feed. Even the roosters, the 3 ducks, and 4 guineas. I'm almost afraid to say we have had so few problems with the chickens until now, so all fingers crossed!! I do have starter feed that I'm still feeding the younger ones who are in a cage, waiting for their coop to be ready for them. They were hatched in March and are growing very fast. DH said the protein in the starter food was only about 2% more than in the layer feed. But maybe it is the feed. Blazes!
We have 25 chickens and 9 roosters, if I've counted right. You'd think if one was having trouble with the food, others would too, Yes? Or no? I hate this helpless feeling I have! I think I love my chickens too much!
Thanks for the replies. Any other thoughts will be welcome. I don't want to be a pain in the #$, but I do need some help. If DH wouldn't explode, I'd probably take her to the vet! LOL

 

[chickfan]

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She most definitely could have broken something. I tried to feel around to see if anything felt "off" and tried to visualize what I was feeling. I've cut up enough chickens in the past, so though I might know if something wasn't right. When I'm holding her, she pushes on my hands with her feet very hard, which doesn't make a lot of sense, since she can barely stand.
I would love to baby her! Another thought I'm having is bringing her inside after being out in the 90-95 degree weather....will the a/c be too much of a shock for her? I can switch her to starter feed easily enough, when she is by herself. I guess it would be OK to do that.

 

[ChooksChick]

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She most definitely could have broken something. I tried to feel around to see if anything felt "off" and tried to visualize what I was feeling. I've cut up enough chickens in the past, so though I might know if something wasn't right. When I'm holding her, she pushes on my hands with her feet very hard, which doesn't make a lot of sense, since she can barely stand.
I would love to baby her! Another thought I'm having is bringing her inside after being out in the 90-95 degree weather....will the a/c be too much of a shock for her? I can switch her to starter feed easily enough, when she is by herself. I guess it would be OK to do that.

If you have an old pillow or cushy dog bed, preferably the kind with bolsters around it, that would work great. The A/C will be as much a relief to her as it is to you when you're out for awhile. I lined the dog bed with several old ragged hand towels and then when she pooped I could just switch it out- often it was so pasty I could just shake it out into the toilet and reuse it.

When she's not eating or moving much, she won't poop much. It's not bad at all. I'd just bring her in and let her comfort dictate the treatment and care. I gave Georgie a half 81mg aspirin every 6 hours or so as she needed for pain. She demonstrated pain by panting. It went away for hours, then would start up again, letting me know it was time for another. I also gave her lots of yogurt to combat the harshness of the aspirin on her GI system.

She really recovered well and was out bouncing around w/ everyone else. It was just the hidden evil of the peritonitis. If we had known about the broken egg we'd have really done something for her- it was awful to lose her after all the care, especially since she was always the special one, anyway. Georgie was a great hen.

 

[chickfan]

I'm sure it was horrible! Those who say "it is just a chicken!", just don't know how it hurts to lose one.
I'm thinking probably that this one has an injury of some kind. I'll work hard tomorrow, to get her comfy in the house...will give her treats, etc. I really want to trim her nails, just in case they are making her feet sore...that may not even be realistic though, but it can't hurt to try. I just don't know how far to cut because I can't see where the quick starts. The whole nail is white, and it looks like the quick comes all the way to the end of the nail.
Now is when a diaper would come in handy. I did make a saddle, which has come off. I need to replace it. But never quite got the hang of how to make a diaper.

 

[chkn]

Yeah, the peritonitis is just the pits. So Chickfan, those rubbery eggs indicate some calcium deficiency. The rubbery eggs can break easier inside and cause peritonitis. It might be a good idea to get some oyster shell in the food. Some people use Tums or Calcium tablets crushed up in some treats to get them a quick shot of calcium. You don't need to use too much but I noticed my chickens are slow to use the oyster shell. I'm just finding out those rubbery eggs and weak shells are bad news.

 

[chickfan]

I wish I knew which one of the chickens laid that shell-less egg, but there is just no way to know.
I have a lot of crushed egg shells....I might put some in a treat for her and see what that does. I understood that when they free range, they don't really need anything else for grit. And the starter food has grit already in it, so I understand.
It is plain yogurt to give her, isn't it? I've never gotten than for the chickens at all. I will get some when I'm at the store next. I can scramble and egg for her, which I'm sure she will eat. And will sprinkle some egg shells in that.
Thanks for the ideas!

 

[chkn]

I tell you what my chickens love is grapes and cherries. You could crush up a tum and dip some pieces of fruit in it (I break the fruit in half and pit if necessary). In fact you could do the same with the rest of the hens just to give them a boost (nip whoever's plopping a 'softie'). A little extra calcium never hurt. Probably a half or quarter tablet per hen and maybe repeat once or twice over the next couple days.

btw: I've never tried yogurt, I tried the scrambled egg thing tonight and the hen I'm doctoring wasn't interested. Cherries or grapes please....

 

[chickfan]

My grapes stay frozen for the grandkids, but I did chop up some into small bites not long ago, and gave it to the chickens. They didn't go after it like I thought they would.
Have you tried oatmeal? I've never fixed enough at once for all 41 fowl we have now, but have given it to some that were separated in cages for whatever reason, and they love it. I've noticed that hard boiled eggs are more of a hit than scrambled eggs. I wish I could just once make enough for all of them, (either eggs or oatmeal) and sprinkle in a lot of eggshells, so I would know they all are getting at least a bit of the shells. I'll have to give that some thought.
However...the food they get is supposed to have enough of everything in it, so there really should not be a deficiency of anything. We use feed from Tractor Supply.