HELP! Hen suddenly sick and injured *UPDATE* 3/15

[bigstack]

Oh, I wish I could help! Poor girl!!! Is it too early for antibiotics? Or is that more of a last resort? Im still new and learning. I hope all goes well! Wishing you the best!

Good Luck and God Bless!!!

 

[Robin'sBrood]

I've been reading this https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=219296&action

Got on the floor and felt her belly and all I can feel is flesh (she feels chubby, thank goodness) and bones... can't feel anything that feels like an egg or a mass. Should I try giving her a warm bath?

 

[speckledhen]

I'd try the warm bath for her, Robin. Then you'll have to feel inside the vent, just go upward a bit rather than down since upward is the egg tract that runs along her back and down goes to the intestines. If you can't feel an egg, there could be infection inside the oviduct further up. Hard to say really, but start with a relaxing bath. It should feel warmer than your skin since their body temps are around 102.

 

[Dar]

it couldn't hurt to give her a warm bath and make sure she is dried well... also if you have any lube you can lube a gloved finger and see if you can feel anything...... like an egg,

 

[Robin'sBrood]

She is very alert and drinking lots of water. She has pooped a little and it looks normal. I'll give a her a bath now. I have gloves and olive oil so I'll try checking her vent. This is definitely a learning experience!


BTW, I've given up on YouTube for now. Over an hour to upload a 40 second video, with no progress, is ridiculous.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Barbara enjoyed her bath very much...

She seemed to enjoy the blow drying part too, didn't get pics of that though.

I lubed up a gloved finger and gently put it inside her vent (making sure that I went up along her spinal area) as far as I could go... couldn't feel a thing. I'm at a loss... what should I do now?

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Update on Barbara. She seems to be sleeping unless I go in the bathroom with her. She has eaten all of her scrambled egg, her yogurt and a big handful of layer pellets. She is still drinking water with no problem. The wheezing has stopped... I think that came from her accidentally sticking her head too far in the water dish this morning. Her poops have all looked perfectly normal.

Is keeping the room fairly dark a good idea or should I turn on the overhead light for her? I thought a darkened room would help her to rest. Any more suggestions or is it better just to wait and see with her?

 

[CountryMom]

I had one that started that stance kind of like yours. I found her about 30 minutes before I was to leave for a 2 day horse show. Since all the other hens in the coop were laying with her and keeping her warm I left her in the coop. I checked her all over, but couldn't find any evidence of egg bound either. That was my first thought. I didn't have time to do anything other than to check her for eggboundness unfortunately. Anyhow, I had my girlfriend check on her the next morning when she came to feed and she called me to ask which one it was. She looked over all of them and said they looked normal to her. When I got home I checked them all over also. No sign of any illness in the hen. I haven't seen anything like that since. I hope you have the same recovery.

 

[sciencechick]

Maybe another option:
Do your birds free-range and could possibly have been visited by a hawk? Any lost feathers in the yard?

In that case, she may have wounds underneath her feathers. Particulary punctures and tears. But you wouldn't necessarily see them.

I had a white silkie attacked by a Coopers Hawk a few weeks ago and you couldn't see anything from just looking at her. Well, apart from some caked blood on her face.
I put her under the shower and got her completely soaked. That was the only way to find out that she had multiple puncture wounds, a long deep cut on her back and under her wings and whole chunks of flesh missing from her butt. She also seemed to be blind and had one eyeball intact but filled with blood.
I cleaned all wounds out with a lot of water under the shower, desinfected, gave her antibiotics and kept her inside for a few weeks.
She regained her eyesight within 4 days and now after 3 weeks, she's back in the coop with her friends and started laying again yesterday. You can't even see any scars under the feathers anymore!

So, if your girl seems to enjoy the bath, maybe it's worth getting her wet all over and giving her body a good full inspection.

Good luck

 

[Robin'sBrood]

I sure am hoping for the same kind of full recovery, CountryMom, that would be great! Glad yours got better while you were gone.


Sciencechick, they do not free range and their run is covered with bird netting. I did look her over while she was in the tub and didn't see any injuries except to her head. I saw one of my bantam hens pecking on her yesterday evening. Now that I think of it... while my roo is mating with a hen my Australorp hen, Betty, always runs over and pecks the poor girl in the head. I wonder if Barbara could have gotten hurt while he was mating her (is that possible?) and Betty was able to peck her head more than usual... then others joined in until she was bloody and kind of beaten up. That could explain why her comb and the top of her head is so damaged while the rest of her body looks fine. But it doesn't explain why she can't walk normally today.