Help! Sick Buff Orpington

[The BurkeGirls]

Today I noticed that one of our 3 chickens wasn't in the run. When I took a peek in the nesting box (because she's prone to broodiness) she got up and stumbled out of the nesting box. When I took her out of the coop she made some sad pathetic peeping/squeaking noise. Her eyes were only half open and when I set her on the ground, she fell over. She's at the bottom of the pecking order so she's bullied a lot by the other girls but it hasn't seemed to affect her before. Just yesterday she was perfectly fine and playing in the yard!

She's a buff orpington and she'll be three in June. She's never had any health problems before this so I don't know what could be wrong! Please help!

 

[Judy]

She could be egg bound or an internal layer. You could separate her to see if she is laying. If she is an internal layer, her belly will probably feel full or swollen. Or she could have any of a number of other problems. But at her age, especially if she is from a hatchery, internal laying and ovarian cancer are fairly common, unfortunately.

 

[The BurkeGirls]

She just got over a real bad broodiness case a couple of weeks ago and she hasn't layed in over a month. Her belly didn't feel swollen though, any thoughts?

 

[Bryans flock]

Give her a dose of about 3-5 cc's of olive oil and that should loosen her up and she will pass the egg or it will help with any intestinal blockage.
Start reading about illnesses that affect coordination too. Just google your question and start reading. Good luck!

 

[The BurkeGirls]

We gave her some bread with antibiotics and she made a full recovery! Right now she's out in the yard, good as new! Turns out she just had to lay an egg because this morning I found one with a really thin shell in the nesting box. Thanks for all the advice!