Is it her time?

[Ascholten]

She seems to be getting a bit better. She's still listless, weak, wobbly when she walks and walks like a penguin. She still falls over a bit etc, but is eating better and starting to nip at the other girls at the food dish, a very good sign she's returning back to semi normal.

With that said though. The penguin walk. THis has been going on a good week or so now. If she was eggbound, that would have killed her by now wouldn't it have? I checked her and she is not but she just acts like it. What else would have her wings drooping a bit walking like a penguin besides egg bound? She's not constipated either, she's pooping like normal that I can tell as well.

Aaron

 

[dawg53]

Try soaking her in a container of warm water up to her sides for about 30 minutes. The warm water will relax and expand her innards. After she has been soaking for awhile, place your hand under her abdomen while she is soaking and gently massage her underside front to rear, do this for about 5 or 10 minutes. This will encourage her to move the stuck egg along.

Then remove her from the water and pat dry her with an old towel if you wish.
Then put on a disposable glove and put a little olive oil or vegetable oil just inside her vent. It will make it easier for her to lay the egg.
You can repeat this procedure as needed and hopefully she'll lay the stuck egg if that's the case.

 

[Ascholten]

Try soaking her in a container of warm water up to her sides for about 30 minutes. The warm water will relax and expand her innards. After she has been soaking for awhile, place your hand under her abdomen while she is soaking and gently massage her underside front to rear, do this for about 5 or 10 minutes. This will encourage her to move the stuck egg along.

Then remove her from the water and pat dry her with an old towel if you wish.
Then put on a disposable glove and put a little olive oil or vegetable oil just inside her vent. It will make it easier for her to lay the egg.
You can repeat this procedure as needed and hopefully she'll lay the stuck egg if that's the case.

thank you dawg. Im not sure it is a stuck egg. ive already felt around and don't feel anything, not to mention she's not been laying for some months now. I'll give this a try tomorrow morning and see if we can get something to shake out. Worse case, she is not egg bound, but gets a massage and a courtesy reach around :/ Id think if it was a stuck egg, she'd be getting worse, not so much better over time.

By soaking her you really mean holding her in the water I am sure, as I can NOT see her just standing there. I'll fill the tub and give it a try but if it's anything like when trying to give the terrible too a bath, there is going to be a mess... minus the screaming tho...

Aaron

 

[dawg53]

It would be best if you had a plastic container to put her in, rather than the tub, easier for you as well.
The warm water seems to calm birds when they are soaking in it.
Some folks have actually had hens lay an egg in the water while soaking.
The penguin stance usually indicates an eggbound hen. It's also possible she could be egg impacted, then her days are numbered.
Is her abdomen hard and swollen? If so, it would most likely be ascites.

 

[Tookie]

I think its most likely ascites.

 

[Ascholten]

I think its most likely ascites.

If thats the case what can I do about it. She's not retaining water that I see, if anything she's probably dehydrated and underfed as she's not eating anything near how she used to.

Aaron

 

[Tookie]

If thats the case what can I do about it. She's not retaining water that I see, if anything she's probably dehydrated and underfed as she's not eating anything near how she used to.

Aaron

Check her abdomen again, its under the vent in between the legs. Also compare her abdomen to another chicken.
The only thing you can do for ascites is to drain her abdomen to make her more comfortable because there is no cure for ascites, sadly.
You may want to start tube feeding her.

 

[Ascholten]

she's eating on her own, no need to tube feed i dont think, and drinking on her own, just more of picky pick not the gobbling piggy they normally are.

Ill check again, when I bathe her but her abdomen is not swollen, I checked her very well when I checked for egg binding... compared to one that is laying eggs, her pelvic bones and everything else was very tight in comparison and there are no lumps or bodies that I could feel that could possibly be eggs either probing or massaging her belly to check for egg binding. If she had water retention Im pretty sure id see / feel the swollen belly and slushy tummy. Just to be safe im going to call the vet tomorrow too that I bring the rottentoo to and see if she can get me in for a quick visit.

Aaron

 

[Chookchicken]

It sounds a bit like a stroke. Especially considering her age I think a stroke is very likely possibility. There isn’t anything you can do to treat it.

 

[Ascholten]

Well I got back from the vet.
First off, she's a LOT older than I originally thought she was. When I got her, I got her already laying, I wanted chickens that were laying already, long story short, I have a friend who has some chickens and has a friend who had some chickens and said Ill ask him if he wants to sell any. Good ole boy said umm I think they are a year or so old. Turns out, she was probably 3 or 4 when I got her. She is VERY old. I showed the vet pictures I took when I got her and he was like, yah that is NOT a yearling, that's already a well maturing hen. he did x ray her and also pointed out some other stuff on the x ray which I did not really understand too well saying, yep, she's old.

The vet also said that she had a stroke.

So here's where I am sitting at with her.
She's eating, she's drinking. Enough now to sustain herself. Her waddle is getting redder so health is returning, what you can call healthy after a stroke. She droops and kind of drags,.. the stroke thing, but she's not in pain, does not seem to be suffering, and generally seems happy.

I walk out in the morning and she comes back out to greet me now. She's back to picking at the other girls if they DARE try to nibble food at HER table !! She does not run around with them anymore, but she'll waddle right into the plants and essentially hide way back in the bushes, in the shade, plop down and watch what's going on, and seems content with it. She'll come out if she sees me and thinks I brought snacks... but she KNOWS she can't run anymore, and is vulnerable so stays well hidden.

Bottom line, she is not suffering that I can tell, is much more active and does not seem to be in any pain and is eating again and seems relatively happy. Im going to keep her comfortable, and keep her around. Now of course things could change at a moments notice but as long as she seems well and happy, I don't see any reason to put her down yet. I'll give it a little bit to see how it works out. She'll never be out w/o my supervision again since she can't run to defend herself but I spend the last hour of the day out anyways doing the gardening / beekeeping thing so we can 'exercise' then.

If she worsens, then I'll have to put her down but since she's more of a pet, and not a 'production bird', I don't see any reason to kill her yet.

On the bright side, at least now, she can't get into my blueberries anymore......

Aaron