Chicken walking like a penguin

[trailblazn]

im reposting this in this area of the forum.

My Americauna is walking like a penguin. i have read a lot about impacted eggs. she has a bulge between her legs and it is soft when i felt it. I'm thinking the only thing i can try incase its a soft shell impaction is soaking her in warm water like i have read. she walks but you can tell she really doesn't want to if she doesn't have to but she does try to keep where the other hens are. she will eat. maybe, i just need to keep an eye on her? any help on this would be appreciated.
i have also read about putting a little oil below, but i really don't want to do anything i don't know how and make things worse.
i am new to chickens so it makes me sad to see her like that.

 

[dkosh]

Sorry to hear about your girl. Not long ago I had a hen that started walking like a sumu wrestler. She looked like she was uncomfortable. It ended up being ascites (fluid in her abdomen). By the time I realized what she had it was too late and she died. I opened her abdomen and she gushed fluid. I was amazed. Unfortunately if that is what is wrong with her it isn't a good prognosis.

 

[trailblazn]

its hard for me to know if it is an egg or maybe fluid. I'm going to try and give her a warm bath and have her drink some olive oil. i could try and help her expel it, if i knew for sure it is an egg but i just don't know.

 

[dkosh]

What I was going to try was to cut a small hole in her abdomen to see if I could get any fluid. I never got the chance. I though it was worth the try. If it is fluid you'll know right away. Did you check internally for an egg?

 

[trailblazn]

Ok, update on my penguin chicken. Today it looks like the lump has moved down more towards her rear. So instead of it being upfront by her legs it's now behind her legs. I have been giving her olive oil and I soaked her once in a bath. Today I tried holding pressure and pushing on the lump to see if I could see anything, just some poop that I was pushing out. Lol
i didn't want to push on it to hard but I couldn't see anything. Maybe it is an egg since it seems to have moved down some????????
im just going to continue to keep doing what I'm doing and see what happens. I thought of taking a syringe with a needle and sticking into the egg suck out the yolk and then she can pass the the empty egg on her own. The only problem I have with that is Im not completely sure it's an egg.

 

[kathyinmo]

Walking like that can mean mites. I have seen it.

 

[Mayflower girl]

One of my Rhode Island Reds was recently walking like a penguin. After a couple of weeks getting worse, she finally got to where she could not stand up and collapsed at the water can. Did some checking on BYC and here is what I did. First, I didn't think she had a egg inside because the large bulb between her legs felt like a water balloon. I sat her in a bucket of warm water for 15 minutes and that really relaxed her. I had a small syringe and put her on my lap and started inserting the needle and withdrew yellow fluid from the "balloon" - I lost count after 50 needle sticks! Fluid was not smelly or anything and sick chick did not seem to be in any discomfort. I thought "what have I got to lose - she was probably going to die if I did nothing". Most of the needle holes were leaking the fluid. Most of the fluid was out of her at this point and she was able to walk around and leaked fluid all day. That evening I soaked cotton balls with antiseptic from our medicine cabinet and quarantined her. I put poultry antibiotics in her water for 4 or 5 days and she had a hefty appetite. That was about 3 weeks ago and sick chick is getting fat and sassy. She thinks she deserves special treatment now and demands to be hand fed her morning scratch. She is very tame all of a sudden and is doing just great. Well worth the effort. If the fluid returns, I have since purchased larger syringes so I won't have to stick her as much. Hope this helps anybody with a sick chick that walks like a penguin.

 

[CasadasHens]

That is so interesting! Thank you!

 

[Strader]

One of my Rhode Island Reds was recently walking like a penguin.  After a couple of weeks getting worse, she finally got to where she could not stand up and collapsed at the water can.  Did some checking on BYC and here is what I did.  First, I didn't think she had a egg inside because the large bulb between her legs felt like a water balloon.  I sat her in a bucket of warm water for 15 minutes and that really relaxed her.  I had a small syringe and put her on my lap and started inserting the needle and withdrew yellow fluid from the "balloon" - I lost count after 50 needle sticks!  Fluid was not smelly or anything and sick chick did not seem to be in any discomfort.  I thought "what have I got to lose - she was probably going to die if I did nothing".  Most of the needle holes were leaking the fluid.  Most of the fluid was out of her at this point and she was able to walk around and leaked fluid all day.  That evening I soaked cotton balls with antiseptic from our medicine cabinet and quarantined her.  I put poultry antibiotics in her water for 4 or 5 days and she had a hefty appetite.  That was about 3 weeks ago and sick chick is getting fat and sassy.  She thinks she deserves special treatment now and demands to be hand fed her morning scratch.  She is very tame all of a sudden and is doing just great.  Well worth the effort.  If the fluid returns, I have since purchased larger syringes so I won't have to stick her as much.  Hope this helps anybody with a sick chick that walks like a penguin.

How far did you insert the needle when doing fluid removal?

 

[Strader]

Very good reading and advice. just had this exact problem and hopefully after 30 needle draws the hen is on the way to recovery with antibiotics.