Lethargic & In nesting box all day, not broody

[Cparkermarie]

Hey everyone,

My pullet (she hasn’t laid yet but she’s overdue) has spent the majority of the last 2 days in the coop/around nesting boxes. When she’s out she’s a lot slower, she used to run everywhere. She’s eating & drinking but not from her normal feeders only from foraging. I saw her attempt to poop and just a little white foam came out (looked like spit). No one else in the flock is behaving any differently.

Her crop feels soft & smooth, she doesn’t smell any differently. I very carefully felt inside her vent for an egg and nothing. I’ve had her soak today and yesterday and gave her a little oil olive to lubricate anything.

Any ideas?

 

[azygous]

Have you measured her pelvic bones to see if she's at point of lay? If two fingers fit between the bony protrusions on each side of the vent, she's ready.

If she's ready to lay, she may be having a bit of a struggle with the first egg. Give her a calcium tablet, a Tums will work. That will help her contractions.

 

[Cparkermarie]

Have you measured her pelvic bones to see if she's at point of lay? If two fingers fit between the bony protrusions on each side of the vent, she's ready.

If she's ready to lay, she may be having a bit of a struggle with the first egg. Give her a calcium tablet, a Tums will work. That will help her contractions.

Measured her pelvic bones and it’s almost 2 fingers but not quite, she a mutt of a bird and probably part bantam (she has 5 toes & some fluffiness) so she could be ready to lay.

I gave her a tums last night and she seems the same this morning. She did finally poop but it’s really watery & yellow. I’ve been finding bbs in the yard so I’m worried she ate one or a piece of something else that’s not stuck & causing issues. Could that be the case? Photo is of her recent poop.

 

[Cparkermarie]

And she just did this poop too.

 

[azygous]

The yellow yolky stuff is worrying. It could indicate an egg issue, perhaps a collapsed egg.

The BBs are also concerning. If they're lead, it's a major problem as she would suffer heavy metal poisoning from it. If they are steel, not so much of a danger, but she doesn't need those in her gizzard.

So, I suggest treating for two things. First, give her a calcium tablet, Tums will do if it's all you have. Calcium citrate is best. Give one a day directly into the beak until the yellow poop stops appearing.

To try to get the BBs out of her system, give her one teaspoon coconut oil directly into her beak.

 

[Cparkermarie]

Closing this thread, she passed this morning. We did a very careful autopsy and didn’t discover an egg but it does look like her stomach had a blockage.