EMERGENCY CHICKEN SICK REPLY ASAP

[zojo262000]

Hi,
I have a around an around 8 month old Rhode Island Red hen. She has only just started laying and laid her first egg a couple weeks ago. She was egg bound for two days before but then was fine after that.
A couple days ago we let the chickens out into the yard to free range and when we went to put them back into the shed she was missing. We could not find her anywhere so thought that maybe she was caught by a fox or somehow escaped But later that night my mum was having one more look before going to bed and saw her under the house there was no way of getting her out so we let her stay there until the morning. The next morning we went to go look for her under the house and could not see her anywhere. So that night we decided to look again and turns out she was under the house but around the corner (unable to see). So with great struggle we ended up getting her back into the shed. The next morning she was acting a bit strange, she didn't get down from her perch in the morning, so we just let her be. When I got home she was sitting on top of the nesting box (not in it) and it looked like she had been there all day since there was quite a bit of poo around her, her comb was pale and floppy. I tried putting some food in front of her thinking she probably hadn't eaten. She was acting quite strange because normally she is terrified of people but she was not moving. This morning we came out to find that she was still on top of the nesting box and had not budged. We put the water up with her figuring that she was probably quite dehydrated. When I got home this afternoon she was out in their yard but lying down in a corner in the mud (it had been raining) with her eyes shut and not moving. She had ice on her back (from the water). She looked dead, the only thing giving it away her breathing. I then came back 5 minutes later (after calling my parents) and she was still in the exact same position but this time opened her eyes. I went into the yard and tried to get her to move she stood up and took a couple steps but she was very unbalanced and fell over. I then picked her up (very unusual for her letting me) and placed her inside the shed. She then immediately laid down. I brought over the water but she was not moving at all. I put her beak in the water but she still didn't move at all. I'm hoping that some of the water got down her beak but I'm not sure. I then picked her up and placed her inside the nesting box where she laid down and is still there to this moment. Please help I don't know what to do

Thank you and sorry for all the words,
Zoe and the sick chook

 

[QueenMisha]

The first thing you need to do is get her somewhere warm and quiet. A box or crate lined with towels does nicely as a sick bay. If you have a laundry room or similar place that is relatively warm, that's a great place to keep her.

Have you checked her over for injury or abnormalities? You should do a complete physical check - make sure she has no wounds, cuts, or sores, check all her bones and joints for breaks or dislocations, feel her abdomen, crop, and neck for swelling or strange proportions, check her for lice or mites (this can be done by parting the feathers beneath the vent and on the neck between the wattles, if she is infested you will see crawling insects and egg nests), listen to her breathing carefully, and examine the eyes/nose/mouth for anything strange.

You can add Sav-A-Chick electrolytes (Gatorade works if you don't have SAC) to her water to help her perk up.

Unfortunately she has relatively generic symptoms of "something's gone wrong inside". Because she was egg-bound in the past (at an unusually early age as well) it could easily have something to do with her reproductive tract. For now all you can do is keep her as warm and comfortable as you can, do a physical check to rule out external possiblities, and hope for the best.