Egg bound? Hen is sickly and getting worse quickly

[clamccauley]

I have six 9 month old hens in my flock that started laying a couple of months ago. I have five other hens that all laying. I can kinda tell which eggs are my new eggs. One was slightly larger than average, thinner shell than usual that is “wavy”, and has what looks like blood smears on it. I was watching my flock to see whose it may be but never figured it out. She laid this egg every two days for about 6 weeks. All hens acted the same. They free range a half acre and they were all eating together and roaming together. This afternoon I called them all in and a 9 month old barred rock never came in. I finally found her just standing by a tree. I got her to slowly walk back to the coop and her tail seemed bent. Other than moving slow and her tail she looked like all the rest. She ate and just sat down. She lagged behind the group the last two hours before sunset. She got up on her top perch for the night. I lost a hen to an egg bound issue two years ago and it was awful! Any idea what I should check for or how to help? They all eat organic flock crumble (not layer), have oyster shells out, occasional scratch and free range. She seems tone going downhill quickly. That picture is horrible, but I got her to their pen to see if she’d eat and was trying to get her tail without bugging her too much. When I opened the pen back up, they all fluttered out and she just sat around

 

[azygous]

I suggest you isolate her to observe her. It would be good to know if she's been laying the wrinkled eggs, which can be one of the signs of infectious bronchitis. Watch for signs of respiratory issues, as well.

Meanwhile, in case she has an egg stuck, give her a calcium tablet, the kind women take for strong bones. Get it where the vitamins are, and select the calcium citrate with D3 added. Give the whole tablet by slipping it into her beak. She'll swallow it if you place it well back on her tongue and then let her close her beak.

Make her comfortable on a warm towel right out of the dryer, as opposed to soaking her in a tub of warm water. The warm towel works just as well and won't stress her. Replace the towel with a warm one as it cools off.

Watch for the egg to pass. Watch for signs the egg has broken inside. If you see egg yolk dribbling out of her vent, get her started on an antibiotic ASAP.

If you see signs of nasal and eye discharge and she continues to be sick after laying the egg, she may have this virus. You can try to treat the symptoms with an antibiotic, but it's going to live in her cells even if she gets well. She would then be susceptible to getting sick again if she's stressed. Here's info on it. https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...MImdDTsamR6AIVF9tkCh3iBgm8EAAYASAAEgIWEPD_BwE