Please help my Penny found her like this after being the backyard!!

[mychickensgivemelife]

PLEASE READ I AM DESPERATE: Penny is a young healthy chicken full of personality we’re in the middle of winter so I know she’s not overheating I’m worried she’s hurt her poor little wing badly I’m taking her to vet tomorrow since it’s night now her only symptoms are fatigue closing of the eyes and the abnormal posture of her wings I feel so guilty because I normally watch them in the backyard although there’s nothing hazardous I just enjoy spending time with them Penny came to us from the street a year ago when the original Penny passed at the age of 13 also 2 month ago she had been laying eggs without the shell I just assumed it was her lack of protein from a poor diet wherever she came from but that has stopped however I feel like this is a terribly injury I am so worried could someone please give me advice should I wrap it she’s still eating and drinking okay.​

 

[Chookchicken]

Have you examined her? Since it’s night and she’s trying to sleep I don’t think you need to do anything except examine her. You can’t truly tell if her fatigue and closing of the eyes is due it it being night or her being sick.

Look at her comb, nostrils, ears, eyes, vent, and check around her wings. If everything looks normal you can think about what to do next then, otherwise if you notice that something doesn’t look normal (except for the wing of course) then come back and tell us and we will figure out what to do then.

If you are confident you can pick her up easy then I’d wait till morning where you have better light, otherwise if shes hard to pick up I’d do it now.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is it just her left wing that is dropped? Her tail is down, and that can be a sign that she is sick or possibly has a reproductive disorder. That seems obvious since she had the history of laying soft eggs, and now does not lay anymore. The decreased light in winter also affects laying in hens over 2-3 years old.

I would try making sure that she eats and drinks a couple of times a day. You could offer her some feed wet with some water, and add some scrambled egg or tuna. What do you feed her? Is she on layer feed or have crushed oyster shell available?

Is her crop filling up during the day, and then emptying by the next morning? Crop issues can be common, and may be related to other illnesses.

 

[Chookchicken]

If it’s only one wing I think she probably just sprained or possibly broke it. Sadly there isn’t much you can do for a sprained or broken wing. You can try and tape it with vet tape, but that is really it. If you want to know for sure what’s wrong with her wing I would take her to the vet.

When she gets out in the morning check that she is walking right and has strength through out the whole side of her body.

 

[WingsysRoost]

Seeing them hurt or unwell is definitely the worst and I'm sorry you're dealing with this.

If everything else appears normal with her, I would monitor and then take her to the vet as soon as you can if you want to figure out what is going on with her wing. She may have done something to sprain or strain it, or even broken it, but the vet will be able to give you a better assessment since they will be able to look at her injury in person.

You said she was laying eggs with no shell and then stopped. Do you mean she stopped laying eggs, or do you mean that she is still laying but is now laying eggs with a hard shell? Does she have free access to a calcium source, such as oyster shell?

If she is still laying, is it at all possible that she might be egg bound? That's something I like to rule out as soon as possible when assessing a hen who has had known difficulties with laying.

Best of luck with her and I hope she feels better soon.

 

[Sussex19]

I'm not very experienced, but I would give her some calcium, you can buy tablets in supermarkets. Just pop one down her beak, it may not help, but I can't see it hurting.

 

[mychickensgivemelife]

Its ok! I do feed some scratch, but it should be a treat, not part of the main diet.
She looks like an isa brown, and they can get a lot of reproductive problems. I think the droopy wings could just be because she isn't feeling well, so a vet might be the best bet, to find out whats wrong.
I'm so sorry that she's not feeling well.

Thanks for your kind words, I am starting to think it may not have been an injury after all but a reproductive issue, after reading some of the replies. I might be taking her to the local bird vet this afternoon. The good thing is she seems a little better.

 

[NatJ]

You could check her abdomen, and make sure that its not bloated, which would be water belly, and would need draining.

I touched her belly and yes it does feel very watery, I know this may be irrelevant but she has this obsession with water whenever I’m changing it she just drinks and drinks and follows any water trail on the floor. How would I go about draining her correctly, and wat causes this?

Alright I will be taking her to the vet, but something definitely doesn’t feel right around chest area I won’t be draining her myself because I won’t want to make things worse. Thanks for all the help, much appreciated.

Regarding the three bits I quoted:

Water Belly (ascites) would be at the part of her abdomen that sticks out behind her legs. Sometimes that area gets full of fluid, which is quite a problem. It is caused by fluid leaking out from some part of her that is not supposed to leak. Too much fluid in the abdomen can compress a chicken's lungs, and then she cannot breathe right.
Draining would be done by someone (preferably a vet) sticking in a needle (like the kind used to get shots), and taking the fluid out that way.

But if she is drinking a lot of water, her crop (front, base of neck) will feel watery and that is not something that needs draining or treating. Her crop will feel normal again after she goes back to normal eating & drinking. Because the crop sticks out on the front, it is able to get full or empty or watery without squishing any other organs.

Since you say something feels odd around her chest area, I think you are feeling the crop. Do not try to drain that.

 

[mychickensgivemelife]

Seeing them hurt or unwell is definitely the worst and I'm sorry you're dealing with this.

If everything else appears normal with her, I would monitor and then take her to the vet as soon as you can if you want to figure out what is going on with her wing. She may have done something to sprain or strain it, or even broken it, but the vet will be able to give you a better assessment since they will be able to look at her injury in person.

You said she was laying eggs with no shell and then stopped. Do you mean she stopped laying eggs, or do you mean that she is still laying but is now laying eggs with a hard shell? Does she have free access to a calcium source, such as oyster shell?

If she is still laying, is it at all possible that she might be egg bound? That's something I like to rule out as soon as possible when assessing a hen who has had known difficulties with laying.

Best of luck with her and I hope she feels better soon.

Hello! Thanks for responding, I will be taking her to the vet today to find out what's wrong. Everything else appears normal she is just fatigued, she normally runs around and goes for a dirt bath but today she is just sitting in the corner.

About the egg situation, a couple of months back she was laying eggs like poop without the shell I got some calcium drops to put in their water and a protein-based food as well as shell grit, I haven't got oyster shell before. Since then she has laid one normal egg and now has stopped laying completely.

We've only had her for just under a year she came to us right from the street, no idea where she came from or what her previous living conditions were like. I appreciate the tips, I will look into that oyster stuff!

 

[mychickensgivemelife]

Just make sure that you're not feeling the crop, as that would feel full if she had been drinking a lot. For draining it, I have never done it, I think a vet could, or if you search on yt you can probably find a video in it. Basically one sticks a needle in, to pull out the fluid.
The cause would be something reproductive, I'm not quite sure what. Draining it doesn't cure it, but relives it.

Alright I will be taking her to the vet, but something definitely doesn’t feel right around chest area I won’t be draining her myself because I won’t want to make things worse. Thanks for all the help, much appreciated.