yellowbttrflies
Chirping
- May 26, 2016
- 27
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We have a Rhode Island Red hen that is almost a year old and took a sudden turn 3 days ago. She lost weight recently, but nothing too drastic. All of the chickens were solely in the coop/run for a few weeks while we replanted grass seed and were giving it a chance to grow a bit. Other than being a little lighter, she had no other symptoms prior to Sunday. On Sunday morning we found her lying on her side in the coop looking like she had died. We thought she might be egg bound based on how she responded when her belly was touched. We gave her an epsom salt bath. We were then able to massage out a few giant clumps of hay-filled poop and an egg. (There is hay in their run.) Over the past 3 days we have given her olive oil and more epsom salt baths. She is still just lying on her side, flexing her leg, as though she is trying to force something out of her body. It seems like she may have some sort of intestinal blockage. Today she had a big diarrhea blow out, but her status hasn't changed after that. She has been like this for 3 days now, so she still has a will to survive. But without eating, we're concerned about how long she can do so. We've been giving her syringes of nutri-drench and that's been the only thing she has drank (or eaten), other than the olive oil. Her comb is still mostly red. She is vaccinated for Marek's. We have 5 other chickens (we've separated them) and they all seem fine, other than being a little underweight. I have searched extensively online, but can't find anything that matches her symptoms. Has anyone experienced this in their flock or have any advice on how else to possibly treat her?
