Help my hen looks really sick, please help me diagnose her!!!

[Soot the silkie]

I have a hen who this morning was running around and very happy, and how looks very down and can't even walk. Her feathers are fluffed up and she has a small bit of diarrhea running down her vent feathers. I can't tell whats wrong with her could you please help me diagnose her?!!! If it has any significance she molted only her neck feathers this fall and just started laying eggs recently within a month. Please help!!!

 

[11ChickenGirl11]

Was it very cold after she went outside? A similar thing happened to one of my easter eggers, Nutty; She was very happy and energetic in the morning and then Nutty just stopped moving and had her neck very close to her body while slumping and her feathers drooping down. I noticed this and then put a heat lamp into the coop. The next day she was perfectly fine. Do you have heat lamps in the coop? You could always remove them after a week or turn them off during specific times of the day.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would bring her inside to watch her closely. Check inside her vent with one finger an inch or so for a stuck egg. Sometimes egg binding can cause temporary lameness. Certain reproductive disorders can also cause problems walking. Make sure that she takes some water and feed, perhaps use some electroltyes or gatorade.

 

[Soot the silkie]

Was it very cold after she went outside? A similar thing happened to one of my easter eggers, Nutty; She was very happy and energetic in the morning and then Nutty just stopped moving and had her neck very close to her body while slumping and her feathers drooping down. I noticed this and then put a heat lamp into the coop. The next day she was perfectly fine. Do you have heat lamps in the coop? You could always remove them after a week or turn them off during specific times of the day.

It was very rainy but not below forty degrees

 

[Soot the silkie]

I would bring her inside to watch her closely. Check inside her vent with one finger an inch or so for a stuck egg. Sometimes egg binding can cause temporary lameness. Certain reproductive disorders can also cause problems walking. Make sure that she takes some water and feed, perhaps use some electroltyes or gatorade.

I'm sort of scared to put my finger in her vent, I have never done that before... when I feel her hips she doesn't seem to have anything stuck, but the diarrhea is yellow, could she have broken an egg? She won't eat so how can I give her food?

 

[Eggcessive]

The vent check is pretty easy. I've never felt an egg before, but supposedly it is usually felt only an inch inside. My hen had nothing there, so it just felt like soft tissue. You can't make her eat, but you can try to get some fluids into her by dipping her beak, holding a small cup up to her beak, or placing some on her beak with a spoon. Tube feeding is a possibility if you get a few items. Casportpony has a good thread called "go team tube feeding." Is the stool bright or light yellow? Pictures help, but there can be droppings that look like cooked egg or a broken egg.

 

[Soot the silkie]

The vent check is pretty easy. I've never felt an egg before, but supposedly it is usually felt only an inch inside. My hen had nothing there, so it just felt like soft tissue. You can't make her eat, but you can try to get some fluids into her by dipping her beak, holding a small cup up to her beak, or placing some on her beak with a spoon. Tube feeding is a possibility if you get a few items. Casportpony has a good thread called "go team tube feeding."  Is the stool bright or light yellow? Pictures help, but there can be droppings that look like cooked egg or a broken egg.

Thanks! She laid a egg with no she'll and then a few moments later laid a soft shell. She's looking much better.

 

[Eggcessive]

Excellent.

 

[11ChickenGirl11]

That's good she is looking better.