Buff Hen with possible egg shell broken inside her- nothing working! Help!

[dinahmite89]

Hello All!

I have a sick hen that I have been treating for a week now and nothing seems to be progressing. Anyone have anything similar to this?

Hen Info: buff, 5 years old, runt of the pack (always gets picked on) always friendly, yet shy.

Here’s a short story to tell you what has happened.

Last Tuesday(one week ago) I noticed she was acting strange- she usually isolates anyways because the other girls are mean to her but this time she was laying down in corners and not coming in at night- then I saw she was INFESTED with poultry lice! The worst!!! So obviously she was in pain and tired from the biting. I treated her right away and the other hens (showed no signs of lice) and washed her, brushed her, got rid of the lice completely.

Couple days go by and she finally is drinking and eating again if I show it to her. Then on Friday she stops eating completely. Still drinking.

Saturday she ate baby food fruit and ritz crackers but not interested in drinking.

So I start researching symptoms, and think it could be that she is egg bound. But she’s not heaving or pulsating at all. No loment from her vent. But she is lethargic, puffy, can’t stand up on her own, closes her eyes, and is distressed when I massage her belly.

Sunday I give her the crackers and baby food, soak her in an Epsom salt bath, crushed up calcium tablet in pedialite and force it down her throat, and rub olive oil on her vent. I have been doing this for 2 days now, and also having her sleep on a heating pad and under a heat lamp to keep the moister to help her pass anything- NOTHING HAS HAPPENED! she poops either all black liquid and last night and this morning it is bright like green and white paste with liquid...

She ate scrambled eggs this morning(Tuesday) Not interested in drinking. She also ate some calcium vitamins. I have liquid calcium coming in the mail today.

I stuck a gloved finger in her vent last night during her bath and felt hard spiky things on the inside... no egg. Could that be a broken egg shell!?

Sorry for the rambling- wanted to give all the info!!

Ps- she is separated from the other hens because she attack her every time they see her... even more than usual now that she is weak.

 

[azygous]

First of all, this is a very unfortunate situation and you shouldn't get your expectations up that it can be resolved happily. The hard, spiky things you feel may indicate even worse things happening farther up the line.

The only thing to do, unless you can find an avian vet to open her up and clean her out, is to give her an antibiotic and hope she will live. Even if she lives, she may never be able to lay eggs again.

You say you massaged her "belly". Can you tell me where on her body that would be? "Belly" on a hen is the abdomen, located just below the vent. Is that where you massaged? Is it noticeably more swollen than normal?

To rule out a crop disorder, have you checked to see if it has emptied overnight? Sometimes we assume we have a hen with an oviduct issue when it's actually a crop issue. Of course, both may occur at the same time, but both can make a hen equally sick. Check the crop in the morning before you give her anything to eat or drink.

Meanwhile, get her on an antibiotic, continue with the heating pad, but place a moist towel over it to produce moist heat that will penetrate deep into her oviduct and hopefully loosen any material so she can expel it. Continue with the calcium, too, and while hoping for the best, try not to expect it.

 

[dinahmite89]

Thanks for your reply! I contacted my vet but he has not answered me yet. She was doing well today, sat her outside in the sun for a long time and she walked around, only in a circle and took a nap here and there. She did eat and drink a lot today. Baby food, salteens, calcium gummies, scrambled eggs, and pedialyte. She pooped more frequently but it is all very very runny and green. She’s back on her heating pad now. No bath tonight.

Now... I am thinking she is just very malnourished. Her keel bone is insanely pointy! I examined the other hens for comparison and it’s no where near the same. Maybe she was affected by the lice longer than I knew and wasn’t eating for awhile. But she is eager to eat now. Maybe she is too weak for anything because she was starving.

 

[azygous]

You're right, but you have it backwards. She's weak and starving because she has something going on. Even a vet may not be able to tell. They could do x-rays to see if her crop has issues or there is egg material where it shouldn't be, or if there are obvious tumors, but there are still lots of other things it could be that only a necropsy after death would reveal.

An antibiotic would only address bacterial causes. That still leaves it open for plenty of other things we can do little about.

Lice feed off skin and feather dander, not blood. It could have been mites, but you would see red skin and sores if the infestation was as bad as you've described. She could have worms, and the vet could verify with a fecal float test. It would also indicate if she has coccidiosis.

If you can't get an appointment, find out if you can at least bring in some poop for them to test for parasites. If they have the means to do it, in addition, a gram stain test on the poop could detect a bacterial infection. These tests could give a lot of information without needing to bring the chicken in. Then you could proceed with the appropriate treatment if there is one.

 

[dinahmite89]

I have a vet that visits the home so hopefully he can come tomorrow or I can meet him. She seemed her best today but I hope she makes it through the night. Her poo is runny diarrhea so it’s hard to gather enough for a sample- I’ll take the towel she dirties tonight! Thank you so much for all of your knowledge!!!

 

[dinahmite89]

Here’s photos of her today

 

[chickenluver10]

Poor Baby!! I had a hen that had something like that with all the same symptoms except I didn't feel any broken eggshells. Unfortunately, she died, but I didn't take her to a vet. I hope yours makes it!!

 

[azygous]

Her behavior indicates she's very sick. Those eyes and posture show a hen that feels totally unwell. But she's got a few more days in her at least.

The vet needs only a smear of poop on a cotton ball for the tests.

 

[4 ever Orpington]

Hello All!

I have a sick hen that I have been treating for a week now and nothing seems to be progressing. Anyone have anything similar to this?

Hen Info: buff, 5 years old, runt of the pack (always gets picked on) always friendly, yet shy.

Here’s a short story to tell you what has happened.

Last Tuesday(one week ago) I noticed she was acting strange- she usually isolates anyways because the other girls are mean to her but this time she was laying down in corners and not coming in at night- then I saw she was INFESTED with poultry lice! The worst!!! So obviously she was in pain and tired from the biting. I treated her right away and the other hens (showed no signs of lice) and washed her, brushed her, got rid of the lice completely.

Couple days go by and she finally is drinking and eating again if I show it to her. Then on Friday she stops eating completely. Still drinking.

Saturday she ate baby food fruit and ritz crackers but not interested in drinking.

So I start researching symptoms, and think it could be that she is egg bound. But she’s not heaving or pulsating at all. No loment from her vent. But she is lethargic, puffy, can’t stand up on her own, closes her eyes, and is distressed when I massage her belly.

Sunday I give her the crackers and baby food, soak her in an Epsom salt bath, crushed up calcium tablet in pedialite and force it down her throat, and rub olive oil on her vent. I have been doing this for 2 days now, and also having her sleep on a heating pad and under a heat lamp to keep the moister to help her pass anything- NOTHING HAS HAPPENED! she poops either all black liquid and last night and this morning it is bright like green and white paste with liquid...

She ate scrambled eggs this morning(Tuesday) Not interested in drinking. She also ate some calcium vitamins. I have liquid calcium coming in the mail today.

I stuck a gloved finger in her vent last night during her bath and felt hard spiky things on the inside... no egg. Could that be a broken egg shell!?

Sorry for the rambling- wanted to give all the info!!

Ps- she is separated from the other hens because she attack her every time they see her... even more than usual now that she is weak.

 

[dinahmite89]

Hello everyone! I just had the vet come over and he said she was very very thin. Probably starving for 2-3 weeks. Thinks it’s probably cancer. Said that since she is she eating and drinking she’s not sustaining any of it because of a sickness. Decided to have her put down to end her suffering. Now I’ll know the signs for next time. Thanks to you all for the support and advice! I appreciate you!! RIP LADY