Hen can barely walk - bum scraping ground

[ooper]

Rhode Island Red - 1 year old - She can barely walk and her bum is always on the ground. She walks like a penguin kind of. No other birds have issues, just her. Steady supply of crushed grain and water. Feathers look fine, weight seems normal. Lives in a coop with wooden floors and roosts and about 20 other birds (2 roosters).

 

[FrankieDoodle]

Welcome to BYC! She might be egg bound. Hopefully someone with more experience will come along.

 

[enoryz]

I had one that walked around like that. Eventually she popped an egg out. Mines walked like that for a few minutes though. If she continues to do that maybe check her for egg bound like @FrankieDoodle said.

 

[ooper]

She has been like that for at least 2 days now...

 

[staceyj]

The penguin look is NOT GOOD.
At 48 hrs in, if your bird is egg bound, this would definitely be deemed an emergency that is a threat to her life.
Things you should be doing:
Gather supplies.
Chair
Towels
Epsom salt
Lubricant
Tums or Rolaid's broken into small bits
Flashlight
Reading glasses if you need them
Hairdryer
Dog crate or laundry basket.

First things first. Bring her inside into the light.
See if she'll eat some bits of tums. Really try to get her to eat some. It'll help her expel the egg.

Sit down and gently lay her across your lap.
Take a look at her vent. Use the flashlight if needed.
What do you see? Can you see an egg?

Is the tissue down there swollen and red?
Apply some olive oil or other lubricant to your fingertips and GENTLY insert a finger into her vent a little bit.
GENTLY. DONT POKE.
if the egg is near you'll feel it without rooting around in there.
do you feel an egg ? Or bits of broken shell?

Next step is to fill the sink with nice warm water and add a handful or two of epsom salt to the water. Soak her in this quite warm water for about a half hour.
Yes she'll fuss for a minute when you first put her in but then she'll enjoy it.
Sometimes this relaxes a bird enough to allow the egg to come out.

After the soak, towel her dry as best you can, but reapply some lubricant into and around her vent again. Sit her on a dry towel or in a laundry basket on a towel (for grip) then use a blow dryer to dry her thoroughly, which takes a while, so get a chair. Or you can put her in a crate and sit a space heater near her.
She'll get a little sleepy from all this plus the warmth.
Letting her rest for a little while might give her the time she needs to work the egg out.

I'm really hoping someone with a more dynamic approach might come along soon with another idea. In the meantime I'd definitely get her soaking because it is a tried and true method, often with good results.

 

[micstrachan]

Just saw this thread. Is your chicken OK?

 

[staceyj]

Please give an update this morning.

 

[ooper]

I let her sit in a small bath tub of warm water with epsom salt for about 45 minutes. She drank the bath water, so she must not be getting around well enough to get water. She would not eat any crushed Rolaids. I dried her off and inspected her vent. I didn't see anything to be concerned about. I massaged her belly a little. Nothing has happened.

I felt her abdomen and the area right around her vent and I could not feel an egg in there, at least not one with a shell. Maybe she has a shell-less egg?? I have found an occasional shell-less egg in the nesting boxes over the past month or two.

Could she have a shell-less egg that she can't pass? Are those harder to pass?

I have her on a towel in a laundry basket in the house for now. I gave her a bowl of water and a bowl of 18% crumbles mixed with oyster shell. She started eating it, so hopefully we can get through this.

 

[staceyj]

Calling @micstrachan can you assist?

 

[staceyj]

It's possible that she's been layiing internally. Was her diet up to this point just crushed grain and water ...without the 18% crumbles and oyster shell available?
I'm not asking in an accusatory way, I'm thinking out loud that the problem may have started because of a nutritional deficiency, and lack of calcium.