Help 8 yo hen having trouble walking/staggering

[PrincessCleo]

This morning when I let everyone out of the coop River was the last to come out. She's usually #2 out the door. She is having trouble walking and is staggering around. She takes several steps and tips over and puts her wing out to catch herself. Then she takes several more steps, tips over the other way and puts her wing out to catch herself. It's like she can't keep her balance. I watched her go get a drink and then go eat before I came inside. She's around 8 years old. (Yes, years.) She does have a dirty butt and from what I understand has always had this issue off and on. (She was given to me about a month ago by my mother-in-law, along with a rooster and four other hens.) She did poop while I was out there and it was liquid.

Everybody else looks just fine. They are all walking normally and eating and drinking.

It has been smokey here for the last several weeks due to wildfires in our state and elsewhere. (We're in Washington.) I'm not sure if this is contributing to things or not.

I'm a newbie to chickens so I'm out of my element. Especially with such an old bird.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This morning when I let everyone out of the coop River was the last to come out. She's usually #2 out the door. She is having trouble walking and is staggering around. She takes several steps and tips over and puts her wing out to catch herself. Then she takes several more steps, tips over the other way and puts her wing out to catch herself. It's like she can't keep her balance. I watched her go get a drink and then go eat before I came inside. She's around 8 years old. (Yes, years.) She does have a dirty butt and from what I understand has always had this issue off and on. (She was given to me about a month ago by my mother-in-law, along with a rooster and four other hens.) She did poop while I was out there and it was liquid.

Everybody else looks just fine. They are all walking normally and eating and drinking.

It has been smokey here for the last several weeks due to wildfires in our state and elsewhere. (We're in Washington.) I'm not sure if this is contributing to things or not.

I'm a newbie to chickens so I'm out of my element. Especially with such an old bird.

I'm sorry to hear about River.

I would check her crop to see if she has anything going on there - sour smell, full/squishy or air filled.
Does she still lay eggs? When was the last egg?
Feel the abdomen for any bloat/swelling or feeling of fluid and look through her feathers for any lice/mites.

Since she has only been with you about a month and she is new to your property, consider getting a fecal float to rule out Coccidiosis overload - while she should have resistance to Coccidia where she did live, she may have encountered a different strain in her new home. The fecal float will also let you know if she has any worms.

Lastly, with her age, she may be just slowing down and the end is near, but I would try to rule out everything else. If she is struggling, you may want to separate her so she is not picked on, this can stress a bird, so use your judgement on this - most birds even when sick are happiest/calmest when with or caged next to the flock.

I would keep her hydrated, offer some poultry vitamins and offer her food once she is drinking. If she has a really poopy bottom, give her a clean-up, inspect the vent and surrounding tissue while your at it.

Here is a good article about aging hens https://hencam.com/henblog/2013/11/caring-for-feeble-old-hens/

 

[PrincessCleo]

I'll get out in a bit and try and check her out. I've got a sick human child here as well so I still haven't eaten any breakfast. I'll report back anything I find out.

 

[PrincessCleo]

She has lice! *shudder* Lice give me the heebie jeebies.

Otherwise she feels like she's a good weight and I didn't feel anything weird in her crop. It took a few tries to catch her. She's still pretty spunky.

As far as egg laying goes, I'm not sure when she last laid an egg, or if she is even still laying. As far as I can tell the only hen that is laying right now is the Welsumer. (River is an EE.)

I'm now going to research treating for lice. Any suggestions would be great. I know we're going to have to strip out and clean out the entire pen and coop and treat those as well.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She has lice! *shudder* Lice give me the heebie jeebies.

Otherwise she feels like she's a good weight and I didn't feel anything weird in her crop. It took a few tries to catch her. She's still pretty spunky.

As far as egg laying goes, I'm not sure when she last laid an egg, or if she is even still laying. As far as I can tell the only hen that is laying right now is the Welsumer. (River is an EE.)

I'm now going to research treating for lice. Any suggestions would be great. I know we're going to have to strip out and clean out the entire pen and coop and treat those as well.

You can use a Permethrin based poultry spray or dust to treat the lice. Dust/spray in 7 day intervals a few times. You can use the same to treat your coop/nesting boxes.
If you found lice in your older gal, I would just go ahead and treat the whole flock if possible.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1151513/pesticides-approved-for-poultry

 

[PrincessCleo]

I planned on treating everybody. I figure if she's got them then they all do. Especially since they all love to sleep practically right on top of each other. My husband is going to help me clean everything out today and treat everybody. We've got a break in the smoke so that will make things easier on all of us.

My biggest question that I haven't really be able to find anything about is do I need to toss any eggs laid while we are treating or are they safe to eat?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I planned on treating everybody. I figure if she's got them then they all do. Especially since they all love to sleep practically right on top of each other. My husband is going to help me clean everything out today and treat everybody. We've got a break in the smoke so that will make things easier on all of us.

My biggest question that I haven't really be able to find anything about is do I need to toss any eggs laid while we are treating or are they safe to eat?

If you are using a Permethrin based spray or dust that is labeled for use in poultry there is no egg withdrawal.

 

[PrincessCleo]

Ok. Thank you. We got the Y Tex Garden and Poultry dust.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ok. Thank you. We got the Y Tex Garden and Poultry dust.

 

[PrincessCleo]

We got the first treatment done yesterday. Got their pen and coop cleaned out and treated yesterday morning and then dusted the chickens after they went to bed. It was way easier to get the treated that way instead of chasing them around the pen. I figure we'll treat at least 2 more times and then reevaluate things and see how it's going.