Distressed Hen

[ruattis]

One of my hens was in distress and under attack, I brought her in. Once in and warm she passed a membrane similar in color to her eggs. She is drinking and eating some but passing odd stools. Her comb is a good pink and she is sassy not used to being handled. This morning the stool was clear to white. I could use some help. Thank you.

 

[Perris]

hello @ruattis , welcome to BYC

Sorry to hear about your hen; some photos of her and her poo would help us to help you.
Also more information on her, e.g. age? was she laying normal eggs before? what do you feed her? what kind of attack did she suffer? and anything else you think might help us to understand what's wrong with her.

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you seen any droppings with yolk or albumen in them? It sounds like she is having some reproductive problems now, and might benefit from getting some human calcium with D3 tablets, such as Caltrate or similar 1 daily given orally for a few days. She could have also been egg bound with a shell-less egg, and the egg broken side. In another condition, they can lay different parts of an egg. When they have these problems they can become weak and feel puny, have a lowered tail, and lie around. Let us know how she gets along.

 

[ruattis]

hello @ruattis , welcome to BYC

hello @ruattis , welcome to BYC

Sorry to hear about your hen; some photos of her and her poo would help us to help you.
Also more information on her, e.g. age? was she laying normal eggs before? what do you feed her? what kind of attack did she suffer? and anything else you think might help us to understand what's wrong with her.

Sorry to hear about your hen; some photos of her and her poo would help us to help you.
Also more information on her, e.g. age? was she laying normal eggs before? what do you feed her? what kind of attack did she suffer? and anything else you think might help us to understand what's wrong with her.

The ages of our girls is approximate. When we purchased our home four years ago 18 hens came with it. The previous owner said they were 10 years old back then. We are now down to just Seven. The hens had heavy molts this year and they haven’t laid in months not unusual in winter for them. We feed them layer pellets and treat them with meal worms and sunflower seed. In season I feed kale with chopped garlic and fresh herbs. I saw her cowering in the run when the other hens jumped her and pecked her. Her comb was pale and something was not right. We picked her up and brought her in. Later I noticed something hanging on her feathers I picked it off it was the texture of a soft shell with her blue color not a formed egg.

 

[ruattis]

See pictures of Sandy.

 

[ruattis]

The ages of our girls is approximate. When we purchased our home four years ago 18 hens came with it. The previous owner said they were 10 years old back then. We are now down to just Seven. The hens had heavy molts this year and they haven’t laid in months not unusual in winter for them. We feed them layer pellets and treat them with meal worms and sunflower seed. In season I feed kale with chopped garlic and fresh herbs. I saw her cowering in the run when the other hens jumped her and pecked her. Her com was pale and something was not right. We picked her up and brought her in. Later I noticed something hanging on her feathers I picked it off it was the texture of a soft shell with her blue color not a formed egg.

 

[Perris]

The ages of our girls is approximate. When we purchased our home four years ago 18 hens came with it. The previous owner said they were 10 years old back then. We are now down to just Seven. The hens had heavy molts this year and they haven’t laid in months not unusual in winter for them. We feed them layer pellets and treat them with meal worms and sunflower seed. In season I feed kale with chopped garlic and fresh herbs. I saw her cowering in the run when the other hens jumped her and pecked her. Her comb was pale and something was not right. We picked her up and brought her in. Later I noticed something hanging on her feathers I picked it off it was the texture of a soft shell with her blue color not a formed egg.

She is a relatively old bird then, and there may be a variety of different issues going on here. Eggcessive's advice above is good advice for the egg problem. It is probably a good idea to keep her separate from the others who were attacking her until she's better, but within sight so they don't treat her as a stranger when she's back with them. If you have a dog crate, that's ideal for giving her protection within the coop area.

 

[ruattis]

I want to thank Perris and Eggcessive for their input regarding my distressed hen I am going to follow their suggestions. My hen seems better and as soon as the snow melts I’ll start to reintroduce her to the flock.

 

[swamphiker]

@Perris @Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

I want to thank Perris and Eggcessive for their input regarding my distressed hen I am going to follow their suggestions. My hen seems better and as soon as the snow melts I’ll start to reintroduce her to the flock.

You’re welcome. You are also welcome to continue posting on your other thread about how she gets along, and I will link it here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/distressed-hen.1508140/