Help Please - 1 year old silkie, panting, shaking bottom acting strange

[markntracy3]

I came home today and noticed HayHay was not out in yard with rest of chickens, She was in house in box, she wasn't making any noise as she is usually very verbal and she was shaking her bottom up and down and seemed like she was panting. I checked her bottom and she looked ok when i picked her up and pooped a lot very watery and ran down my side. I decided to take her in the house and monitor her. she is not eating, drinking and is very quiet. Could she be bound or is something else possibly wrong. Please help!

 

[Jessica Thompson]

I love the name but this is also happening to one of my chickens and I really don't know it sound like eggbound to me but I could be wrong I hope you get the help you need!

 

[markntracy3]

I remember my grandmother would give chickens little bread soaked in olive oil and that helped them pass it, i am not sure what I should do, but thank you and good luck with your chicken

 

[Saaniya]

Can u explain shaking like how ..like acting drunk? Stumbling?

 

[Saaniya]

Maybe she eat something wrong

 

[markntracy3]

acting out of character.

 

[rebrascora]

Is she shaking her bottom or is her back end pulsing or spasming? Chickens have air sacs as well as lungs and there are two large ones along the sides of her abdomen. If she is in respiratory distress, her back end may appear to pulse as she draws air through those air sacs or her cloaca/vent could be spasming, trying to expel and egg. Soft shelled/shell less eggs can be particularly difficult to pass and can really take it out of them and will make them pant and strain. She might benefit from a warm Epsom salts bath and a calcium supplement, like a human calcium tablet crushed and offered mixed into peanut butter or sprinkled on scrambled egg or however you can get it into her. It may be worth examining her vent to check for possible prolapse and perhaps lubricating her up a bit to help if it is an egg.

Watery poop is usually urates..... the white topping on normal poop. Just urates being expelled can be an indication that the gut is blocked by a mass of some description like an egg or reproductive malfunctions can lead to a build up egg material in the abdomen or oviduct which can constrict the gut. Hopefully it is just a soft shelled/shell less egg and she will manage to pass it and feel better soon.

Another possibility I guess is that she is broody. Often they flare up their tails when they are broody which might be construed as shaking her bottom. A video might shed more light on what it could be. It would need to be up loaded to the likes of You Tube or Vimeo and then a link posted here.

 

[markntracy3]

Well I took her in last night and gave her some yogurt, (45% calcium) which she loved, put some electrolytes and probiotics in her water (which she drank after eating). This morning she seems better, no more panting, talking little more, no more bottom moving up and down and more her normal self. looks like she had very good poop movement brown and white. So hopefully she will be okay, I will keep her in for most of today to make sure she is okay before putting her out in run. I am thinking she was not getting enough calcium and possibly passed the eggshell less egg. It is my fault she was put in with 2 month old chicks and I did not think about putting oyster shells out (which I Will starting today).
Thank you so much for your help I do appreciate it immensely

 

[rebrascora]

So pleased she is feeling a bit better and has had a good poop .... always a positive sign. I hope it is as simple as that and she continues to improve and your actions have now remedied the problem