Please Help. Sick RIR. Egg-bound symptoms but still laid.

[KarenWoman]

Found one of my girls laying out side when it was time to come in. All she wants to do is sit. She feels warm, too warm. She does not make any sound. Pupils dilate..
There were large storms the last two days, not sure if that could affect her. Could she be in shock?
She is also holding her tail down.


She is a Road Island Red. One year old.
Her poo is black and white with no worms in it.
No mites on her for what i can see.
She will eat and drink if i hold it to her but she will not get up to get any.
She can stand but will not do so unless i insist on it.
She laid an egg today but still sick. cracked her egg and it looked normal but a little dark in the middle of the yoke. Orange color.
I checked her mouth and nothing stuck.
Gave her two baths with no help.
I checked for anything broken and can not find anything.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you mean that her pupils react to light, or are they dilated? Could she have gotten into poison or anything that has rotted in the ground like an animal carcass or vegetation? Check her vent with a lubricated finger for egg binding (use a glove.) Look at her crop now for impaction, and again in morning when it should be empty. Has she been wormed? I hope we can figure out what is wrong with her. I had one last week like this with an empty crop, and found the next day (after she died) that her gizzard was impacted with sunflower seed hulls.

 

[KarenWoman]

I meant her eyes react to light. Her vent is clean and she has laid an egg. It was clean when she laid it.

 

[KarenWoman]

Crop is small, she is not eating much but it seems like it is empty in the morning. Its not very big at all.

 

[KarenWoman]

The red on her face seems redder than normal and she seems too warm. Not sure if she is feverish or not.

 

[KarenWoman]

Update: Seems to be getting worse, she just sleeps now. Won't really hold her head up or react to stimuli.

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm sorry that your hen is getting worse. Mine that died last week of gizzard impaction was also a RIR. I would suggest that you try to do a necropsy on her (or have one done) to check her gizzard and other organs in case something shows up. My chicken's gizzard was black on one side showing necrosis or death in the tissue. Another hen I had about a year ago died with an empty crop and she had a very red face and skin, comb and wattles--I had never seen that before, but just like yours. I never knew the cause of her death, but probably heart related.

 

[KarenWoman]

Thanks for your suggestion, I would like to know what happened but don't have the stomach to do a necropsy. She did just pass. She woke up, struggled for a second while sprawled out and that was it. Opened her mouth afterwards and noticed a lot of saliva in, tried to clear some out but she was gone. I just hope I isolated her from the other chickens quickly enough just in case.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for your suggestion, I would like to know what happened but don't have the stomach to do a necropsy. She did just pass. She woke up, struggled for a second while sprawled out and that was it. Opened her mouth afterwards and noticed a lot of saliva in, tried to clear some out but she was gone. I just hope I isolated her from the other chickens quickly enough just in case.

I know what you mean. Having over 50 chickens, and sometimes way more with chicks, I have lost a handful over the past few years, just suddenly, and having no outward symptoms. Most of the time, it has happened when there was deep snow on the ground or just not a good time to necropsy. This time I made myself do it, and it was actually easier than when I almost fainted last summer while doing bumblefoot surgery all by myself. I'm just glad no one saw me putting my head down between my knees, holding a chicken, trying to get blood circulating in my brain again, LOL. A good thing to check out is your state vet where you can deliver or send a refrigerated (not frozen) body into them for a necropsy. It is free in some states, $80 in some states, it all just depends... Here is a link to find them: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/states/missouri.pdf