Chicken bobbing tail feathers with diarrhea

[JosiAnnele]

Hello!
My chicken has been laying down a lot outside lately, and she has poop covering her butt. It looks normal, but soft. I started giving her some extra calcium and tried giving her a water bath, but she would not put up with it. She keeps raising and lowering her tail feathers, kind of like she is bobbing them. It looks like she might be bloated. Also, she is closing her eyes. She is still eating food. Any advice on what it might be?

 

[FamilyOfSeven]

@azygous @Wyorp Rock @speckledhen
Welcome to BYC. These users should be able to help your chickens!

 

[azygous]

How much calcium and what kind? It should be around 350mg. Calcium citrate works quickest.

That was a good move as the hen shows signs of possible egg binding. It would benefit the hen to be installed in a pet crate with absorbent towels and water to drink, placed in a dim, quiet place to lower her stress.

 

[speckledhen]

Could be egg binding or even far advanced internal laying, which builds cheesy masses in the belly and puts pressure on the nerves/abdomen and makes them sometimes strain. They also usually bloat up when that happens, but not always. Egg binding has a chance of being fixed if you can get to the egg and ease it out, while internal laying does not (it's terminal). I've seen this way too many times, but almost exclusively with my hatchery hens, not the breeder quality ones.

 

[Sweettimesonthefarm]

Could be egg binding or even far advanced internal laying, which builds cheesy masses in the belly and puts pressure on the nerves/abdomen and makes them sometimes strain. They also usually bloat up when that happens, but not always. Egg binding has a chance of being fixed if you can get to the egg and ease it out, while internal laying does not (it's terminal). I've seen this way too many times, but almost exclusively with my hatchery hens, not the breeder quality ones.

I just made a post about my egg bound hen- can you tell me any other differences when it’s internal laying vs bound?

 

[speckledhen]

I just made a post about my egg bound hen- can you tell me any other differences when it’s internal laying vs bound?

Here are two videos from my YouTube channel that shows what you're asking. Egg binding is literally an egg stuck in the oviduct, either because it was too large, positioned badly or maybe it just crushed and is hard for her to push out. Internal laying is something you cannot fix and sometimes, you won't know which it is but usually, an egg-bound hen will stand upright and strain trying to push out the egg. It's less likely for a hen who is internally laying to do that, but it can happen, just with no chance of expelling an egg.

 

[JosiAnnele]

Great, thank you all!