Holding tail low, poopy butt

[Lazyhead]

I have a small backyard flock of 5 hens that are about a year and a half old. They seem to not be laying as much--we get about 2-3 eggs a day instead of the steady 5 a day we had for a while.

I noticed today that one of them is walking strangely--with her tail held low and her butt is very poppy. She didn't seem to be in pain when I picked her up and looked her over but I don't really see what's going on with her other than the obvious physical things I'm describing. Thoughts?

I haven't searched the forums yet, so I apologize if this is something that has been discussed at length already.

Thank you!

 

[Lazyhead]

Now I'm scared that she's egg bound! Ack!

 

[Kittymomma]

She might be. First step is to get her cleaned up and soak her bum for 15 minutes or so in a warm sink. You can check for an egg while your cleaning her up. Blow dry on low when she comes out of the sink so she doesn't get chilled and put her in a crate with a heating pad if you have one. Often they'll pass the egg during or a few hours after their bath. If you can feel an egg it can also help to gently apply some vaseline around and just inside the vent.

 

[Lazyhead]

Yes I soaked her butt in a bucket and cleaned her up outside. Then, after reading more about egg bound hens, I brought her in and gave her a long warm bath in the kitchen sink. It was probably about 15-20 mins long. I massaged her abdomen. I didn't feel an egg. I have her in a crate with a heating pad. I'll give her some space after being so man-handled and check on her again in a little while. She did seem to like the warm bath. I thought she might fall asleep! I hope she's going to be ok!!

 

[Lazyhead]

She's just sitting in there, not sleeping. It's dark and quiet but she's awake. No egg.

 

[Kittymomma]

Is she missing a bunch of feathers or looking like she's growing some in? I was re-reading your original post and at 18 months it's pretty common for them to go thru a molt. They often slow/stop laying and can get quite lethargic during a molt. One of mine got very run down and had to come live in the chicken hospital for awhile where I could keep her warm and feed her a high protien diet to help her grow her feathers back in. You should also check for parasites--mites, lice, worms because they can really take a toll, especially if she is already getting run down from a molt.

 

[Lazyhead]

She isn't missing feathers, no. The main thing I notice about her is the weird way she's holding her tail down, the way she waddles around and the poopy butt. She's still in the cat carrier on the heating pad. She has water and she's eating oatmeal. I've given her 2 baths....I'm not sure what else to do!!

Thank you for helping me, Kittymomma!

 

[Kittymomma]

Hmmm, How does her crop look? Does it get full throught the day and empty at night? Does her breath have a sour smell? What are you feeding her? Hopefully we can get this figured out. The oatmeal is pretty good, but I'd give her some scrambled egg too.

 

[Lazyhead]

Her crop seems fine. It seems the same as the other hens.

Her breath does not seem smelly or anything and she seems to be breathing normally.

Normally she eats Layena food, scratch and table scraps like greens & oatmeal. (We eat a lot of oatmeal here so the chickens get some almost every day). When I noticed her weirdness she was out in the yard scratching around eating bugs.

She is a Buff Orpington and she has (as well as her flock-mates) always laid really really large eggs. Everyone who sees them comments on their hugeness and they do not fit in egg cartons--sometimes a jumbo carton is ok.

I'll scramble up an egg for her now.

 

[Lazyhead]

Well she's dead. Turns out she was an internal layer.