- May 17, 2009
- 154
- 2
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Reader's Digest:
1 1/2 yr old RIR hen
no eggs from any hen in flock X +/- 1 month
RIR 3 weeks tail down, all others look act perfect
RIR 1 week tail clamped down, acting uninterested in food
ALL molting and regaining feathers beautifully
ALL on layer mash w oyster shell grit- yogurt, scrambled eggs, baby vits, cooked squash, greens from garden as treats
Interventions: 1 week ago brought RIR in to house and soaked in warm bath X 1/2 hour. Wrapped in warm towel and cuddled until almost dry before returning to coop. No poop- nothing passed. No change- tail down
Today- Hen laying on ground awake and alert but slow to rise- Soaked again for 15 minutes or so, towel dried and placed inside in large rubbermaid, prewarmed with light, pine shaving bedding, water, food, oyster shell available- covered partially to darken, using red light suspended to warm mildly-
Full scoop:
I have a 1 1/2 yr old RIR hen. Began laying around the 26 week mark- Lovely medium brown eggs. (We had brought her home as a day old and she was then added to an established flock of 3 healthy BO hens and was joined by a day old BPR) One of our BO's has been laying thin shelled, watery white eggs for a year now- Symptom of infectious bronchitis, I know but there is no sneezing or other sign of illness and all the other hens have been well.
Come the shorter days of winter all of my gals have stopped laying- We don't use supplemental lighting (though this never stopped the BO's before but they are 2 1/2 yr olds now, so maybe that explains it?)
For weeks now the RIR has been keeping her tail down a bit- She seemed otherwise fine (active, eating, her normal chipper self) so I stupidly left her alone. Gave the flock yogurt w/ baby vitamins, greens, oyster shell grit- They are on layer mash pellets. She has been molting and gaining feathers back beautifully. Last week she started showing signs that she wasn't well- not running for treats, tail clamped down- So I brought her in and soaked her in a warm bath for about 1/2 hour, then cuddled her in a towel until she spooked- returned her to coop without resolution-
Today she's basking, but slow to rise. It's cold out. The other gals rush to greet me, she remains seated. I scoop her up and bring her inside- soak her again and feel her abdomen seems distended it is constantly pulsing or spasming- Her vent looks perfect- perhaps the tiniest bit of egg yolk???. No poop passes or anything though as she soaks despite all these contractions of her belly and vent. I towel dry her as much as she'll allow (I don't want to stress her) and put her in a rubbermaid box with pine shavings, food & water, cover it mostly so it is dim, and suspend a light (red so as not to make it too bright) to keep her warm)- This is where she is now.
I really think she is egg bound (could she have become an internal layer if she used to lay?) , but I don't want to do anything horribly invasive. Is there something I can do at this point that might save her? If she doesn't pass a huge amount of stuff today I would think she'll be dead in a day or two.
1 1/2 yr old RIR hen
no eggs from any hen in flock X +/- 1 month
RIR 3 weeks tail down, all others look act perfect
RIR 1 week tail clamped down, acting uninterested in food
ALL molting and regaining feathers beautifully
ALL on layer mash w oyster shell grit- yogurt, scrambled eggs, baby vits, cooked squash, greens from garden as treats
Interventions: 1 week ago brought RIR in to house and soaked in warm bath X 1/2 hour. Wrapped in warm towel and cuddled until almost dry before returning to coop. No poop- nothing passed. No change- tail down
Today- Hen laying on ground awake and alert but slow to rise- Soaked again for 15 minutes or so, towel dried and placed inside in large rubbermaid, prewarmed with light, pine shaving bedding, water, food, oyster shell available- covered partially to darken, using red light suspended to warm mildly-
Full scoop:
I have a 1 1/2 yr old RIR hen. Began laying around the 26 week mark- Lovely medium brown eggs. (We had brought her home as a day old and she was then added to an established flock of 3 healthy BO hens and was joined by a day old BPR) One of our BO's has been laying thin shelled, watery white eggs for a year now- Symptom of infectious bronchitis, I know but there is no sneezing or other sign of illness and all the other hens have been well.
Come the shorter days of winter all of my gals have stopped laying- We don't use supplemental lighting (though this never stopped the BO's before but they are 2 1/2 yr olds now, so maybe that explains it?)
For weeks now the RIR has been keeping her tail down a bit- She seemed otherwise fine (active, eating, her normal chipper self) so I stupidly left her alone. Gave the flock yogurt w/ baby vitamins, greens, oyster shell grit- They are on layer mash pellets. She has been molting and gaining feathers back beautifully. Last week she started showing signs that she wasn't well- not running for treats, tail clamped down- So I brought her in and soaked her in a warm bath for about 1/2 hour, then cuddled her in a towel until she spooked- returned her to coop without resolution-
Today she's basking, but slow to rise. It's cold out. The other gals rush to greet me, she remains seated. I scoop her up and bring her inside- soak her again and feel her abdomen seems distended it is constantly pulsing or spasming- Her vent looks perfect- perhaps the tiniest bit of egg yolk???. No poop passes or anything though as she soaks despite all these contractions of her belly and vent. I towel dry her as much as she'll allow (I don't want to stress her) and put her in a rubbermaid box with pine shavings, food & water, cover it mostly so it is dim, and suspend a light (red so as not to make it too bright) to keep her warm)- This is where she is now.
I really think she is egg bound (could she have become an internal layer if she used to lay?) , but I don't want to do anything horribly invasive. Is there something I can do at this point that might save her? If she doesn't pass a huge amount of stuff today I would think she'll be dead in a day or two.
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