For the second day I found one of my hens in the coop looking distraught. Wings down hunker down not looking happy. She's about 2 years old and we have an urban flock of three birds. She's a Rhode Island red. Two of them have started laying recently, not laying during the winter.
They're on a good quality feed we've used for years and years, lots of water plenty of room to spread out and nice nesting boxes. Our flocks have always been very healthy. I found her today in the nesting box looking really distressed with a pale comb. I brought her in, gave her a warm bath for about 20 minutes or more. There was an odd piece of something attached to her feathers that looked almost like a large piece of corn, almost like a piece of hard yolk. It was a bit rubbery. I got her cleaned up and let her soak. Dried her with a blow dryer and towel. She wouldn't drink any water. I mixed up some electrolytes and was able to give her a tablespoon or two with a dropper. Then I added some broken up cooked spaghetti to get her to drink and eat something, which work great! She is resting but has not laid an egg. I'm not feeling any eggs when I massage her stomach gently. She does look like she's straining a little bit like she's trying to lay. I just did an exam in her vent and did not feel any egg but some yellowy liquid did come out . No odor . A little bit of that drained . I went ahead and put her back in the laundry basket where it's quiet and we'll see what happens . Not sure what's causing this? Any suggestions would be helpful! Have had a lot of chickens for about 12 years and never had this happen before. Thank you
They're on a good quality feed we've used for years and years, lots of water plenty of room to spread out and nice nesting boxes. Our flocks have always been very healthy. I found her today in the nesting box looking really distressed with a pale comb. I brought her in, gave her a warm bath for about 20 minutes or more. There was an odd piece of something attached to her feathers that looked almost like a large piece of corn, almost like a piece of hard yolk. It was a bit rubbery. I got her cleaned up and let her soak. Dried her with a blow dryer and towel. She wouldn't drink any water. I mixed up some electrolytes and was able to give her a tablespoon or two with a dropper. Then I added some broken up cooked spaghetti to get her to drink and eat something, which work great! She is resting but has not laid an egg. I'm not feeling any eggs when I massage her stomach gently. She does look like she's straining a little bit like she's trying to lay. I just did an exam in her vent and did not feel any egg but some yellowy liquid did come out . No odor . A little bit of that drained . I went ahead and put her back in the laundry basket where it's quiet and we'll see what happens . Not sure what's causing this? Any suggestions would be helpful! Have had a lot of chickens for about 12 years and never had this happen before. Thank you
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Tums, Calcium Citrate w/D3, Calcium Carbonate w/D3
@casportpony 
