Listless chicken. Thoughts about where to start?

[benthere-donethat]

I have a bantam hen - about a year and a half old. Yesterday, she was sitting in the corner and I assumed she was broody - she seems to go broody every couple of months. But, she doesn't puff up when you go near her or make the normal broody noises. She's pretty listless with her eyes half closed and I can hear her breathing, which is a little raspy. She normally runs away when you try to catch her, but today she is easily picked up and closes her eye while you're holding her. When she was sitting on the ground, her tail was pointing up (everything I've read here talks about tails drooping...)
I felt around her crop, etc, and everything seems normal. Have not examined poop yet, but wonder if you can point me in the right direction of where to start?

She seems her normal weight.
No other birds have these symptoms.
No signs of trauma.
I switched food brands earlier this week because of availability.
We have three, month old ducks and I noticed that the straw bedding was a little wet the other day. (we have recently moved them into the regular coop, so the watering system has changed). I removed the wet straw and it is not damp any more.

Thoughts?

 

[benthere-donethat]

I just examined her again. Tail is pointing down now. When I gently squeeze the sides toward her vent, I think I can feel an egg and she seems to be straining. I'm assuming that this is the problem - does that sound right to you? I'm going to give her a warm bath and try to get some calcium...

 

[K R 2709]

Hope that it all turns out ok

 

[Eggcessive]

If you have rubber gloves, you can lubricate a finger and gently insert it into the vent to feel for an egg. Be careful if there is one there not to break it.

 

[benthere-donethat]

I tried all the above. Gave her calcium, warm bath and searched for the egg - and didn't find it. She died about an hour ago. Mostly, I just want to make sure that I'm not missing anything. If it's an odd case of egg trouble, no worries. But, if these are symptoms of something bigger that could affect the rest of the flock, I want to make sure I'm looking in the right places.

When she died, a tiny bit of egg yolk (and white?) came out of her vent. Is that normal or a sign of a broken egg inside? If you have thoughts, please share...

Thanks!

 

[Haunted55]

I tried all the above. Gave her calcium, warm bath and searched for the egg - and didn't find it. She died about an hour ago. Mostly, I just want to make sure that I'm not missing anything. If it's an odd case of egg trouble, no worries. But, if these are symptoms of something bigger that could affect the rest of the flock, I want to make sure I'm looking in the right places.

When she died, a tiny bit of egg yolk (and white?) came out of her vent. Is that normal or a sign of a broken egg inside? If you have thoughts, please share...

Thanks!

It sounds as if the egg did break. Had she been laying normal up to now? What about other hens, are they laying normal? What did you use for calcium? Vitamins or other supplements?

I'm sorry you went through this only to lose her. Thats an awful thing and I feel so bad. If you can give some info on what you are feeding and such, we may be able to figure this out a lot more and help with anything in the future.