Chicken not eating, butt up straining, weird ejection

[DesertChickensPSR]

This is an 8 month old Blue Andalusian. She is a smaller bird but is a little heavier than my other Andalusian. She currently weighs 4lb 2 1/2 oz. This is my first time weighing her so I’m not if this is her normal weight or not. She has been laying regularly with no problems.


I noticed yesterday afternoon that Raven wasn’t coming for grub treats. I observed and saw her standing with her butt raised pumping like she has to poop or something but nothing was happening. She seemed lethargic and was moving much slower than normal. For the rest of the evening she didn’t eat or drink. I lubed up a finger and inserted into her vent and didn’t feel an egg or any other obstruction. She went to her roost with the other birds but I took her inside and I gave her an epsom salt bath anyways just in case and dried her and put her back in the roost. She did poop a big normal poop after the bath. This morning she’s the same still pumping her butt, not eating or drinking. And I found this weird thing underneath where she was standing on the roost (I’ll try to include picture) It’s like the texture of a balloon, a couple inches long and skinny and has a chalky residue on it. It does not look like an egg without a shell, as I’ve seen those before. I currently have her in the house in a cage because one of the other chickens was picking on her. She has pooped several normal poops this morning, but they are getting smaller since she’s not eating.


There are no other chickens exhibiting these symptoms. I should also mention that she is being feather picked on her back and tail. I thought I figured out the offenders and applied peepers to them, but I think there is new damage to her. So she may be under stress with all of that. There are no other injuries or signs of trauma so I don’t know what’s causing this behavior.


CONDITIONS AND CARE: I have 12 hens of various breeds. The chicken coop is 8’x8’ with an attached run that is 8’x10’. They are only confined for about 2-3 hours in the morning and after that are free range. She gets a high quality feed with free choice oyster shells, grit, and crushed egg shells. I put vitamins and electrolytes powder in the water this morning but she’s not drinking.

 

[azygous]

Your hen isn't feeling well due to a soft egg collapsing inside her. It sounds as if it has only partially been expelled and there's also a danger that another egg has been released that could be backed up inside her. The other chickens are probably noticing she's under the weather and are attacking her. It'd be best to isolate her until she recovers from this.

This is conjecture, off course, but I believe I recognize the symptoms as being familiar to those I've experienced with some of my own flock. Very recently, I had a young Cream Legbar go through this, and I was able to successfully treat her and she's now laying normal eggs again. In fact, she's in the nest presently laying an egg.

The treatment is calcium citrate (people calcium supplement found in the vitamin aisle at the store), around 450mg once a day until she's feeling better, maybe three days or so. I also tubed some warm water into her crop and started her on a seven-day round of amoxicillin to head off infection caused by inflammation of the reproductive tract from the collapsed soft egg.

If you're not prepared to tube the water, use a syringe to get at least two ounces of water down her. It's important to hydrate her. Then place her in a quiet crate on a heating pad under a moist towel set to the lowest setting and let her rest.

I also did one more thing, along with the warm water. I gave her about one tablespoon of castor oil into her crop to lubricate things all the way down. Whether or not this actually benefited her was inconclusive, but it can't hurt anything to try it.

Keeping her in an "infirmary" crate will make it easier to spot the remains of the collapsed egg when she passes it. Also, don't be surprised if she follows up with another egg a short time later.

 

[DesertChickensPSR]

Your hen isn't feeling well due to a soft egg collapsing inside her. It sounds as if it has only partially been expelled and there's also a danger that another egg has been released that could be backed up inside her. The other chickens are probably noticing she's under the weather and are attacking her. It'd be best to isolate her until she recovers from this.

This is conjecture, off course, but I believe I recognize the symptoms as being familiar to those I've experienced with some of my own flock. Very recently, I had a young Cream Legbar go through this, and I was able to successfully treat her and she's now laying normal eggs again. In fact, she's in the nest presently laying an egg.

The treatment is calcium citrate (people calcium supplement found in the vitamin aisle at the store), around 450mg once a day until she's feeling better, maybe three days or so. I also tubed some warm water into her crop and started her on a seven-day round of amoxicillin to head off infection caused by inflammation of the reproductive tract from the collapsed soft egg.

If you're not prepared to tube the water, use a syringe to get at least two ounces of water down her. It's important to hydrate her. Then place her in a quiet crate on a heating pad under a moist towel set to the lowest setting and let her rest.

I also did one more thing, along with the warm water. I gave her about one tablespoon of castor oil into her crop to lubricate things all the way down. Whether or not this actually benefited her was inconclusive, but it can't hurt anything to try it.

Keeping her in an "infirmary" crate will make it easier to spot the remains of the collapsed egg when she passes it. Also, don't be surprised if she follows up with another egg a short time later.

Thank you so much! I just looked in my cabinet and all I have is Calcium Carbonate so I’ll have to run to the store and get the Calcium Citrate. How do I administer it? I used to be a vet tech, but am unfamiliar with treating chickens so I have no experience with tubing. I do have some 3cc syringes but that is it.
Where would I get amoxicillin? I live 90 minutes from town and I don’t think the vet there treats chickens. Is there some alternative? Thanks so much for your help. I’m trying to post a photo of the weird ejection.

 

[azygous]

You may use the calcium carbonate. Tubing a chicken is one of the easiest things to do once you learn it. Here's where I learned it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-pics-for-visuals-very-detailed-post.805615/

If you're in California, you will need to go to a vet for a prescription. (You can also get the tubing kit from them.) Or get an out-of-state friend to order some for you and mail it to you. That will take a while. But here's where I get my antibiotics for my chickens. https://pet-healthcare.revivalanimal.com/search?p=Q&ts=custom&w=fish antibiotics

 

[staceyj]

Thank you so much! I just looked in my cabinet and all I have is Calcium Carbonate so I’ll have to run to the store and get the Calcium Citrate. How do I administer it? I used to be a vet tech, but am unfamiliar with treating chickens so I have no experience with tubing. I do have some 3cc syringes but that is it.
Where would I get amoxicillin? I live 90 minutes from town and I don’t think the vet there treats chickens. Is there some alternative? Thanks so much for your help. I’m trying to post a photo of the weird ejection.

If you don’t have access to an avian vet you can order “fish mox 250mg” online without a rx.

 

[azygous]

Just pop the pill into the beak. Giving pills to chickens is easier than giving them to a cat or dog. Chickens may spit the pill back out, but it won't travel at warp speed to the far wall.

 

[DesertChickensPSR]

Just pop the pill into the beak. Giving pills to chickens is easier than giving them to a cat or dog. Chickens may spit the pill back out, but it won't travel at warp speed to the far wall.

The calcium carbonate that I have on hand is in powder form, so I’m not sure how to best administer. My husband is in town today so I can have him look for pills if that will be easier.

 

[azygous]

You can sprinkle the calcium powder over grated carrot or another favorite treat. The advantage of tubing is that you can combine water, calcium powder, antibiotic and castor oil all in one syringe and shoot it into the crop. (Of course you want to administer it slowly and gradually.)

I was very nervous about tubing my first time. After actually doing it and discovering the inevitable glitches such as how to keep the chicken from spitting the tube back out, it's my preferred way of administering essential meds and vitamins and food and water to a sick chicken that may not be willing to cooperate.

Once you learn where the esophagus is (on the chicken's right side of her throat) and how to avoid the airway (in the center of the throat), it's easy to slide the tub in. Also, making the tube short enough to be able to control it, from six to eight inches long, depending on the size of the chicken, you can hold the chicken's beak closed on the tube so she can't eject it. Using a syringe in the tube makes it easy to get everything inside the chicken rather than all over her and you.

 

[staceyj]

Just pop the pill into the beak. Giving pills to chickens is easier than giving them to a cat or dog. Chickens may spit the pill back out, but it won't travel at warp speed to the far wall.

Very true.
Well said.