New Hampshire Red Hen Staggering and Sitting

[Bullard]

Hello,

We a New Hampshire Red hen that is about 3.5 years old. She was found today sitting on the floor of the coop when the other hens were out and about foraging. She is having trouble walking and will only take a few wobbly steps then sit back down. When she sits down we notice her toes sort of curl into a fist. There are no obvious signs of trauma anywhere on the bird. At first I thought maybe she is egg bound. I cant completely rule that out as we haven’t tried feeling for an egg up inside but we have given her gentle squeezes and massages and we dont feel anything firm that seems abnormal. She had a Marek vaccine when she was a chick otherwise i would suspect that as well. She did poop while we were watching her. It was chalky white and watery. I will attach a photo. We have taken her from the coop and have her isolated in a crate with food and water in the basement for now. A few of our other hens are molting but otherwise seem to be acting normal. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[LaFleche]

Hello Bullard,

can you feel if the crop of your hen is bloated and squishy or rather hard?

When did you last deworm her?

And when did she last lay an egg?

 

[RainbowHen]

Curled toes? I would be strongly considering Marek's disease. Unfortunately the vaccine is not a guarantee. I am so sorry you and your bird are going through this

 

[Bullard]

Hello Bullard,

can you feel if the crop of your hen is bloated and squishy or rather hard?

When did you last deworm her?

And when did she last lay an egg?

I would say the crop does not feel squishy and bloated.

We haven’t dewormed them. Only a permethrin dusting once a year.

We aren’t sure when the last time this one laid and egg. We have a few other reds and there seems to have been a normal flow of eggs.

 

[LaFleche]

The picture of her droppings showed a lack of normal poop, there is mostly urates to be seen which makes me wonder if she really is eating at all?

If she does not pass normal poop when at the same time eating normally, there might be a blockage somewhere down the digestive tract, maybe caused by worms or a tumor or an accumulation of eggs/internal laying.

I would take the food and water out for the night to see if her crop empties properly overnight and will be flat in the morning. Take note of her droppings as well.

In any case you could add some poultry vitamins to her water which will help with vitamin related deficiencies she might have.

 

[Bullard]

The picture of her droppings showed a lack of normal poop, there is mostly urates to be seen which makes me wonder if she really is eating at all?

If she does not pass normal poop when at the same time eating normally, there might be a blockage somewhere down the digestive tract, maybe caused by worms or a tumor or an accumulation of eggs/internal laying.

I would take the food and water out for the night to see if her crop empties properly overnight and will be flat in the morning. Take note of her droppings as well.

In any case you could add some poultry vitamins to her water which will help with vitamin related deficiencies she might have.

Thank you. She definitely hasn’t been eating today but seemed to be eating normally up until today. Ill take her food out for now. I added some vitamin+ electrolytes to her water when we isolated her earlier today. I can’t tell if she has drank any at all. Ill leave the water with her for now.

 

[LaFleche]

You could weigh her food before and after feeding her to get an idea of how much if at all she has ingested.
Sometimes sick chicken will just move the feed around without actually ingesting it.

If she has eaten and her crop fills up, she should produce normal droppings unless there is a blockage as mentioned before.

Then I would proceed with deworming her thoroughly.

 

[LaFleche]

Next thing would be inspecting the coop for poultry mites as they can leave a chicken anaemic and listless in a short time sucking their blood at night. This is best done at night with a flash light as they hide in cracks and crevices during the day and only come out at night to feed on the roosting chicken.

 

[Eggcessive]

The large amount of white urates in her poop might be from not drinking or dehydration. For that reason, I would not worm at this time, but try to get her drinking water. Have you added any other new birds to the flock recently? Could she have been injured by a rooster trying to mate her? Have you had any unexplained deaths in the flock before? If you can get some vitamins with riboflavin (b2) I would start some in the water. Human vitamin b complex can also be used and half a tablet crushed into a little water or a little food orally. Offer wet chicken feed, scrambled egg, or some canned cat food. Water is most important, and something like Poultry Cell or electrolytes with vitamins are good.

 

[Bullard]

The large amount of white urates in her poop might be from not drinking or dehydration. For that reason, I would not worm at this time, but try to get her drinking water. Have you added any other new birds to the flock recently? Could she have been injured by a rooster trying to mate her? Have you had any unexplained deaths in the flock before? If you can get some vitamins with riboflavin (b2) I would start some in the water. Human vitamin b complex can also be used and half a tablet crushed into a little water or a little food orally. Offer wet chicken feed, scrambled egg, or some canned cat food. Water is most important, and something like Poultry Cell or electrolytes with vitamins are good.

Thanks for writing. Very healthy small flock of 7 birds. We have never had a death (Only one disappearance, we suspect predator) and this is our first sick bird. We dont have roosters and there are no new birds this year. It is possible another animal could have hurt her while she was out but it is unlikely. They aren’t out unless we are home. We cant find any cuts/bruises, swelling or anything like that.
I have her crated with a bowl of hydro hen. I tried dipping her beak into the water but she didnt seem interested. Ive checked on her a few times over night. I can see a little water spilled but I haven’t actually seen her drink. I will try offering some irresistible wet food in the morning. Maybe some water mellon they seem to love that.

I definately have not ruled out her being egg bound. I’m going to try to investigate that again in the morning. Ive never done iit but we have been reading and watching videos about how to check. Worms or a blockage is definitely a possibility too. I am hoping she poops in the crate and i can maybe scoop enough to have it tested. We shall see.

I dont think its mereks at this point. I dont see the grey iris, pupils dilate or irritated feathers that I have read are other signs.