Hen splayed out in coop - not able to move - now laid egg

[MandS]

Today she is standing up more often and for longer. Yesterday she could stand for about 4 or 5 seconds, but then her tail would go down (almost like she was about to poop) and then a wing would go out and she would sink back down again.

Today she is standing for about 20 seconds or longer before she sinks back down again, however she is still panting after doing so.

Oddly, today she is not very interested in food. I have given her bran and pellets, both of which she has ignored. Lettuce, sweetcorn and tuna, she has devoured quickly - but they were tiny amounts. 8 sweetcorn kernels, a teaspoon of tuna and enough lettuce to thinly cover the palm of my hand. So I need to watch her for eating. She is still pooping. Could her lack of appetite be down to boredom?

She seems happy enough and is talkative. Today I have given her light this afternoon. She had all morning in a dim room, so have opened the curtains wide and let her see the garden. I may even take her to her run for 10 to 20 mins to see how she gets on. I do not want to stress her but I wonder if going out will do her some good. Do you think it a good or bad idea to do that?

Given her vitamin B and more calcium. Couldn't get her to eat the Rooster Booster stuff. The Power Drops arrive tomorrow. Until then, I've just got to keep hoping and praying that she will recover.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I think getting outside for a while in fresh air/sunshine is always a good idea.

 

[MandS]

It started off well but didn't last long.

She went in and walked about a bit, even jumping over a 6 inch high bar to get to the other side. It was windy and at one point the wind unsettled her but this is what she looked like at first (note that she is holding her wings a bit low).

After that, she sat down a few times. She is the dominant hen, so when someone came over to her, she got up - even if they were cleaning her (cleaning her beak). She eventually slumped in a corned, almost on her side with one of her legs out. She kind of pecked around the ground near her but she was panting.

She did manage to sit properly for a while

However she also tried to go into the coop to get up the stairs. This was going to get risky to her and she could have hurt herself, so I got her (much to her disgust) and brought her back indoors, and I have now darkened the room in case she wants to lay again.

She is not right but better - however I notice that her poop is not solid but more runny. We are feeding her on wet mash, so that might be the reason but it also had some mucus in there too - not much but almost like a runny egg white - it isn't as far as I can tell. She did this yesterday too before laying.

There is no blood in her poop and not much mucus but I am wondering if I need to get her checked for coccidiosis?

She is doing well and has regained a lot of mobility (almost normal mobility) but just doesn't have the strength to keep it up. I gave her scrambled egg earlier and she wolfed it down.

Is it time to try the vet again (if I can get an avian one)?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If you are darkening the room to prevent laying an egg - limit light to 8 hours a day. So she can have 8 hours of light. The rest of the time, it would need to be total darkness.

I'm glad she was able to go outside for a while. Everyone does things differently. For me, I don't separate birds unless their flock is picking on them. I do make sure they are getting fluids and eating, but otherwise I leave them and watch. Reading this, it sounds a bit cruel, but I closely monitor and check them frequently throughout the day.

Your lady may benefit from going out each day as weather permits. I've found that they seem much happier with other chickens.

 

[NatJ]

I have now darkened the room in case she wants to lay again.

I'm a bit puzzled here.

Are you trying to make it feel like she's in a secluded nest, so she feels happy while she lays the egg?

Or trying to provide enough dark that her body thinks it's winter, and laying entirely quits?

She is doing well and has regained a lot of mobility (almost normal mobility) but just doesn't have the strength to keep it up. I gave her scrambled egg earlier and she wolfed it down.

That sounds promising

 

[MandS]

Thanks again.

Your lady may benefit from going out each day as weather permits. I've found that they seem much happier with other chickens.

Yes, she kind of enjoyed it but the risk of her trying to get up and down stairs is significant. I have chickened out (no pun intended - or at least not much) and booked the vet tomorrow. Got my avian vet back.

Are you trying to make it feel like she's in a secluded nest, so she feels happy while she lays the egg?

Or trying to provide enough dark that her body thinks it's winter, and laying entirely quits?

Yes to the former and no to the latter. Just conscious that she has somewhere dark and quiet and the only way I can think to do that is to keep the room dark. Tomorrow I will give her light to start with (7am) and then give her dark from 9:30am so she will have an hour to possibly lay before the vet. Else, she will need to do it when she comes back but that might (will) freak her out. She is not a daily layer any more, so possibly we are now into the days off period.

Just because I am going to the vet, please don't give up on the advice. I store it up and use it and then pass it on to others who have issues if I can.

She is now bedded down for the night but you can see from the first picture, her colour (eyes, comb and wattles) are all very good. I have just collected a little pot of poop to take with me tomorrow. Some of it is a bit slimy but it is not horrific and certainly no blood or anything nasty, although it is a bit loose and not a "lump".

Thank you again!

 

[MandS]

Today she is bright and standing up but watery poop. This is likely to be down to the change of diet. However she is not standing all the time and will now sit back down after about 2 or 3 minutes, panting. It's good progress though.

We took her to the vet. Annoyingly this was as she was nesting to lay and he felt an egg (hard shell) in her but she still hasn't laid it yet despite being home nearly 2 hours.

He thinks the issue is due to something physical. He thinks it likely she got spooked in the night and flew up or did something to hurt her back. He explained that a chicken only has one vertebra with the rest of the spine being a single fused piece of bone, so if she has damaged it, it would explain the inability to walk but the progress over a few days to start again.

He can see no signs of coccidiosis or anything else infectious and expects her to make a full recovery.

We will keep her in the house/cage for another 4 or 5 days and gradually introduce her again to the coop, making sure she is able to walk up and down stairs safely first.

I will keep you all posted but today there feels like a weight has lifted somewhat!

As always, thank you for help, advice and kindness.

 

[coach723]

Glad it was mostly encouraging news. Fingers crossed for you and her.

 

[MandS]

Just when you think things are getting better, I find this when I changed the towel that is lining her cage

I don't know if that was from overnight or not, but it looks very much like egg yolk. We change the towel in the afternoon (unless it is really horrible) and I didn't spot this earlier, however she was doing some strange coloured poop today but this looks odd. It's cold here - about 15'C so I would have been surprised that this set rock solid in 4 hours (which is when she came back from the vet's and to when I changed her bedding).

I can see she has tried to eat it too as some of the treads are pulled (and hopefully she hasn't eaten any or hardly any cotton strands....). No sign of shell or soft egg, so I don't know. The vet said he could feel an egg inside her and when he felt it (and again, reiterated it was not soft) it popped back up (ie it was near to being laid but she retracted it). So the expectation was she would come back and then lay this afternoon but that has not happened as far as I can tell - unless this is the signs of it and it dried very quickly.

So I am hoping that it hasn't broken inside her and that this is either something else or she passed it and then ate it. Now to look out for other signs as well as mobility.

It seems like I can't win.

 

[MandS]

2 days later.....

She passed a semi soft egg (very thin shell) which was either broken inside or on the way out. She seems none the worse for it.

We are keeping her in still (as per the vet's recommendation) but putting her in the run for about 4 or more hours per day. She is scratching around and has had dust baths but still gets tired and flumps down. Having said that, she established her dominance pretty quickly again, chasing and jumping (yes, jumping!) on another of the flock.

So, not quite out the woods but considering she could not even stand up for 2 days, she has progressed very well indeed. We will keep her in her cage at night for the next 3 days or so, just in case she is in any danger of falling on the stairs in the coop.

Still giving her 1 x Vitamin B tablet, Meloxicam, and 1/2 TUMS tablet.

She has had nearly 8 hours outside today and done very well. Bringing her back indoors again and maybe tomorrow, if she looks very steady on her feet (as she does today) then will leave her to roost with the others on a perch in the sleeping area.

Thanks again for all the help and concern.