Hello,
First thing this morning I noticed something was wrong with my Rhode Island Red. In the mornings when I go down to let her out of her coop she will be pacing back and forth in the run by door ready to go out and have a great day in the yard, but this morning she didn't even make it out of the actual coop itself. She was just standing up behind her roosting bar head drooped and not wanting to move at all. I tried to coax her out of the coop with some oats ( her favourite treat ) but she didn't pay them any attention, not even take a step forward to try and come out. Thus, I took her out of her coop to the communal water bowl and feed for my other chickens but when I put her on the ground she just stood there, not paying attention to the food, water, other chickens, or any of the yard work my family was doing. She won't eat or drink and hasn't all day ( I checked on her at 7 a.m. and it's currently 12 p.m. ).
I checked her for mites by lifting up feathers, looking for marks, blowing on her skin to see if any would appear, and all seemed well. No signs at all. I checked for a stuck egg and I couldn't feel anything hard or egg-like around her vent area and underbelly. Her crop doesn't seem impacted, it has a little in it, but it's nothing out of the ordinary, although I am massaging it every now and again just to make sure that isn't the problem and if it is i'll be fixing it. At this point i'm not sure what to do. Maybe she is sick? We're in a tough position because we're very short on money and I don't know of any avian vet or farm animal vet around where I live.
Any suggestions? all are welcome and appreciated. It hurts me to see Thelma suffer and I want to do anything I can, and if nothing can be done I will have to take her to be put down, I don't want to let her suffer any longer.
Thank you all,
M
First thing this morning I noticed something was wrong with my Rhode Island Red. In the mornings when I go down to let her out of her coop she will be pacing back and forth in the run by door ready to go out and have a great day in the yard, but this morning she didn't even make it out of the actual coop itself. She was just standing up behind her roosting bar head drooped and not wanting to move at all. I tried to coax her out of the coop with some oats ( her favourite treat ) but she didn't pay them any attention, not even take a step forward to try and come out. Thus, I took her out of her coop to the communal water bowl and feed for my other chickens but when I put her on the ground she just stood there, not paying attention to the food, water, other chickens, or any of the yard work my family was doing. She won't eat or drink and hasn't all day ( I checked on her at 7 a.m. and it's currently 12 p.m. ).
I checked her for mites by lifting up feathers, looking for marks, blowing on her skin to see if any would appear, and all seemed well. No signs at all. I checked for a stuck egg and I couldn't feel anything hard or egg-like around her vent area and underbelly. Her crop doesn't seem impacted, it has a little in it, but it's nothing out of the ordinary, although I am massaging it every now and again just to make sure that isn't the problem and if it is i'll be fixing it. At this point i'm not sure what to do. Maybe she is sick? We're in a tough position because we're very short on money and I don't know of any avian vet or farm animal vet around where I live.
Any suggestions? all are welcome and appreciated. It hurts me to see Thelma suffer and I want to do anything I can, and if nothing can be done I will have to take her to be put down, I don't want to let her suffer any longer.
Thank you all,
M
