Concerned by one of my hens, symptoms.

[AraucanaMama]

One of my birds is worrying me quite a bit, and was wondering if anyone could help me figure out what to do. She has been known to have health issues in the past, mainly an iron deficiency when my flock had mites. (Those have since been taken care of.)
There is a currant bird flu outbreak where I live, and while I doubt that that's what it is, some of her symptoms do line up and it is concerning me.
Her currant symptoms include;
-Irregular eggs. (She is still a pretty young bird, and is our most reliable layer. She hasn't been laying for the past 5 days, and the egg she layed before she stopped had a very soft, thin shell with a very thin membrane. Could be nothing, but though I would include since it may be related.)
-Dirty Vent (I have a very large coop for the amount of hens I have and am sure to clean regularly. Despite this, her normally fluffy vent feathers are wet with guano and starting to matt together.)
-Diarrhea
-Straining when trying to defecate (Despite only liquid coming out)
-Head Twitching
-Puffing out her feathers
-Hiding (She is normally a very sweet, cuddly bird but has been hiding from me which I know is a warning sign for illness.)
I'm going to isolate her in case it is some kind of illness, but I feel like it could also be some kind of deficiency. If anyone knows what is going on, please let me know what it is and how to treat it (if it's possible to treat.) Thank you!

!Update: Went out to check on her and she had laid an egg. Seemed to be doing much better, but I will still be keeping a close eye on her and update if anything more happens.

 

[mccmeadows]

She could be egg bound. We had a girl who was a few months ago - she was very lethargic (it makes them walk funny), strained constantly and had her wings dropped and feathers puffed. We gave her calcium and soaked her multiple times in epsom salts. She eventually passed a huge deformed egg and instantly felt better. She returned to normal laying in a few days and we kept up some extra calcium for a few days after that just to ensure all was well. There are definitely more in-depth articles on here with how to deal with egg bound if you give a quick search. Hopefully she gets better soon!

 

[azygous]

Her recent history and current symptoms point to possible egg binding. This can be a life threatening condition. It must not be left to chance or she could die.

First thing would be to give her a calcium supplement in a concentrated dose. I use people calcium tablets for this sort of crisis. Calcium citrate is my go-to form since it works fastest

, but tums will work in a pinch. Give a whole tablet directly into her beak by forcing open the beak by pulling down on the wattles.

Next, she should be placed in a crate on warm towels (dryer warmed or a heating pad) with plenty of water to drink as dehydration is a risk and it could make matters worse. Give her dry food also. She doesn't need to fast.

Leave her to rest in quiet, checking on her frequently. The calcium should produce contractions to help her expel the egg. If the egg comes out collapsed, and yolk has been broken, and especially if yolk is leaking from her vent, she will also need an oral antibiotic in case of infection caused by the yolk rupturing.

 

[AraucanaMama]

She could be egg bound. We had a girl who was a few months ago - she was very lethargic (it makes them walk funny), strained constantly and had her wings dropped and feathers puffed. We gave her calcium and soaked her multiple times in epsom salts. She eventually passed a huge deformed egg and instantly felt better. She returned to normal laying in a few days and we kept up some extra calcium for a few days after that just to ensure all was well. There are definitely more in-depth articles on here with how to deal with egg bound if you give a quick search. Hopefully she gets better soon!

thank you for this! I reviewed some symptoms of egg bound hens and went out to check on her to find an egg of hers in the nest box. It was a pretty abnormal egg, but she seems to be doing better already. I will keep a close eye on her and update if anything happens. Likely was the cause.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Offer her DARK leafy greens, sardines (bone in), canned mackerel or tuna (mackerel is often less expensive), the shell of shrimp (you can give her the shrimp too, but I um... have other uses for the meat... teehee), canned baked beans are all super easy, high calcium food that you can use as "treats" (no more than 10% of their overall diet). Oyster shell or ground/crushed egg shell in a separate dish from their feed, but close to it, if you don't already have that out for your flock. Thin shell eggs often mean she's either not getting enough calcium OR she's not able to utilize it. Vitamin D3 helps with the absorption of calcium, so fatty fish & sardines could do double duty as they're noted for being high in D3.

Or... you can pop a calcium +D3 tablet (from your normal human vitamin supplier of choice) down her throat periodically to supplement / assist in her calcium availability.

 

[azygous]

Sometimes there can be a second egg following the first one. This can cause egg binding. Give the calcium tablet now, regardless of your suspicion she has laid the problem egg. If there is a second egg, it is often shell-less, and even more difficult to expel. The calcium will help.

Also, as @Ebony Rose helpfully pointed out, a calcium deficiency is often behind most egg laying issues. Give a calcium tablet each day until all her eggs are consitently of good quality. Then she may go back to relying on oyster shell for her calcium source.

 

[AraucanaMama]

Offer her DARK leafy greens, sardines (bone in), canned mackerel or tuna (mackerel is often less expensive), the shell of shrimp (you can give her the shrimp too, but I um... have other uses for the meat... teehee), canned baked beans are all super easy, high calcium food that you can use as "treats" (no more than 10% of their overall diet). Oyster shell or ground/crushed egg shell in a separate dish from their feed, but close to it, if you don't already have that out for your flock. Thin shell eggs often mean she's either not getting enough calcium OR she's not able to utilize it. Vitamin D3 helps with the absorption of calcium, so fatty fish & sardines could do double duty as they're noted for being high in D3.

Or... you can pop a calcium +D3 tablet (from your normal human vitamin supplier of choice) down her throat periodically to supplement / assist in her calcium availability.

Thank you! I will be sure to give her vitamin D3, I think that is the main issue there. My flocks shells are normally very nice and thick, as the pellets I provide them contain crushed oyster shells. Will give her a sardine as a treat for a few days, and see if this helps.