Emergency!! Chicken in distress ~

[mhoefler]

One of my hens is in distress. Yesterday she was fine, clucking and such, she is still young and has just started laying eggs. Today my husband found her, unable to hold her head up, or stand up on her own, He immediately removed her from the rest of the chickens and placed her in an empty baby pool. She won't drink or eat, doesn't keep her eyes open, does anyone know what could be wrong with her? She slept last night on the floor of the coop, instead of up on the branch, could that have anything to do with it?

 

[donnavee]

Not sure but I'll give you a bump. Might help if you can provide a picture. What you describe could be a number of things - possibly even being egg bound. The fact that she slept on the floor probably isn't the cause of her illness but a result of it. I would make sure she is in a warm, quiet place and see if you can at least get a little water in her. If she is pooping, what do the droppings look like? Any additional info would help in the diagnose. Perhaps someone else can offer more help.

 

[J-Sanders]

Sorry about the chicken. Read this from UF poultry (Common Poultry diseases).

Sounds like Newcastle virus from your description. But it could be other diseases.

Jim

 

[dawg53]

Since your hen just started laying, I suspect she is eggbound or egg impacted. Try soaking her in a container of warm water up to her sides and gently massage her underside for 20 minutes while she's soaking. Hopefully she'll lay an egg.

 

[mhoefler]

Our neighbor is a vet, she came over and looked at our chicken, it turns out she had a severe ear infection. On the outside on the side of the chicken's head was this dime size crusty looking growth. This was the infection. When she tried to soak the "growth" in some perioxide, and remove the puss from it, it caused the chicken to go farther into distress and unfortunately she passed away. According to her, she had this for some time and most likely was sick before we noticed the symptoms. Such a shame. Thank you everyone for all your helpful advice. Hopefully this issue will help someone else in the future.

 

[Joe Jordan]

I'm sorry for your loss, but thank you for providing us with this information so we can watch out for the same.

 

[dawg53]

Sorry for your loss.