CHICKEN WALKING UPRIGHT AND STRUGGLING PLEASE HELP

chickens and chics

In the Brooder
Apr 1, 2020
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hi one of my beautiful isa brown rescue hens who I have had for about 18 months has been progressively getting worse all week for the last 5 days she has been walking upright like a penguin off balance with her upper legs sticking out the side. she has a pooey bum as well she inst particularly hungry but she is eating and drinking. im so confused and I want to help her!! I love her so much. I got her and 4 other hens as rescue hens from an egg farm one of them died from what we think was mereks about 8 months ago one disappeared 1 has exhibited the same symptoms as the first one twice but got better both times. the other one is fine and now Martha is sick. could the illnesses be connected? the first hen (Henny Penny) never displayed this symptom. I was wondering if she might be egg bound but I don't have any experience with this. should I take her to the vet? or perhaps invest in a chicken wheel chair? its very cold here but should I perhaps put her in some warm water if she's egg bound?
thank you for reading!!
 
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If she's pooping, and it's been five days, then it's unlikely she's egg bound. You can insert a gloved finger 1-2 inches into the vent to feel for an egg. She may have a reproductive problem, it's not uncommon in hens over the age of 2, particularly those bred for heavy laying, isa browns are one of those. Those include cancers, infections like salpingitis, and internal laying. Reproductive problems can make it hard for them to push droppings out and can result in poopy butt feathers. If you feel her abdomen, below the vent, between the legs, does it feel bloated at all? Either water balloon like or very firm? Also feel her crop, is it empty, full, soft & squishy, hard, etc? Feel it first thing in the morning also, before access to food and water, it should be empty then.
 
If she's pooping, and it's been five days, then it's unlikely she's egg bound. You can insert a gloved finger 1-2 inches into the vent to feel for an egg. She may have a reproductive problem, it's not uncommon in hens over the age of 2, particularly those bred for heavy laying, isa browns are one of those. Those include cancers, infections like salpingitis, and internal laying. Reproductive problems can make it hard for them to push droppings out and can result in poopy butt feathers. If you feel her abdomen, below the vent, between the legs, does it feel bloated at all? Either water balloon like or very firm? Also feel her crop, is it empty, full, soft & squishy, hard, etc? Feel it first thing in the morning also, before access to food and water, it should be empty then.
thank you for your help. I felt between her legs but there is no bloating she's just incredibly thin all I can feel is her bone that comes up through her chest. where is her crop? I don't know if she's pooping per say but there is wet poo around her vent in her feathers
 
thank you for your help. I felt between her legs but there is no bloating she's just incredibly thin all I can feel is her bone that comes up through her chest. where is her crop? I don't know if she's pooping per say but there is wet poo around her vent in her feathers
DD3B9CA7-A4B3-4B52-8136-64E764E3ECB5.jpeg

This is a chickens crop. It is where the food goes. It should feel like a golf ball kind of and if it’s just squishy it means there is some kind of digestion issue or something like sour crop
 
You said there is poo around her vent. This is a sign of bugs sometimes. Check her feathers. Are they dirty? Any mites or lice to be seen?
 
crop3-1024x900.jpg

Have you ever wormed your birds, or had a fecal done to check for internal parasites?
This sounds more like a reproductive problem to me, but trying to cover everything.
How the crop feels may provide some help.
 
thanks for the images, her crop is quite hollow and her bone is very predominant there to wich is odd as she's still interested in food. I havnt ever wormed them or had a fecal done is there a particular wormer I should be using? if it is a reproductive issue is there something I can do or is it likely she will pass away? do you think there is any point to checking her vent for an egg?
 
When you were asked to feel between your chickens legs did you just feel the keel bone or the abdomen? When you feel the long bone underneath her go until it ends and then feel the space between her vent and the keel bone. If there is an jiggle, kind of like a water balloon, she has ascites
 
It won’t hurt to insert a clean finger into her vent up to 2 inches to feel for an egg, just to rule that out. But it sounds more like a reproductive disorder with her walking upright with a wide stance. Cancer, salpingitis, and other disorders are common, and they can affect how well the crop empties overnight. Valbazen 1/2 ml orally and again in 10 days is a good wormer.
 

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