Possible egg bound hen

[DebiC215]

5 month old buff orpington. Has not layed an egg yet. One from her group has been laying for two weeks. Last 4-5 days, been quiet, stays away from other hens. Seems depressed. Feathers look ruffled all the time. Eats a little if I put in front of her. Has extremely bright red waddle, comb and the end of her beak is red. Is in the house now - as I was afraid it was a heat stroke. Not steady on her feet. Lays with her rump up and seems to be straining slightly. When she try to walk will stumble and fall over of backward. Eats a little fruit, vegs, crumbled. Have given her vitamins B, D, Selenium, chick pedialite, and save a chick, in her water and vitamins in her crumble. Could she be egg bound? Cannot feel an egg. She feels light compared to others. NO signs of respiratory issues. Have lost two others - and thought it was the heat???? (within the last two months). Crop was half full this afternoon.

 

[DebiC215]

5 month old buff orpington. Has not layed an egg yet. One from her group has been laying for two weeks. Last 4-5 days, been quiet, stays away from other hens. Seems depressed. Feathers look ruffled all the time. Eats a little if I put in front of her. Has extremely bright red waddle, comb and the end of her beak is red. Is in the house now - as I was afraid it was a heat stroke. Not steady on her feet. Lays with her rump up and seems to be straining slightly. When she try to walk will stumble and fall over of backward. Eats a little fruit, vegs, crumbled. Have given her vitamins B, D, Selenium, chick pedialite, and save a chick, in her water and vitamins in her crumble. Could she be egg bound? Cannot feel an egg. She feels light compared to others. NO signs of respiratory issues. Have lost two others - and thought it was the heat???? (within the last two months). Crop was half full this afternoon.

She is doing worse this morning - guess its best if my husband takes her for a walk.....sad, I have lost so many to the heat and one to wry neck. Only have three big hens left and then the remainder are my silkies/frizzles/polish may all be roosters.....not a good chicken person - may have to give it up.

 

[coach723]

I'm sorry your hen is sick. Best way to check for egg binding is to insert a gloved finger into the vent. If there is an egg you will feel it about 1-1.5 inches in. Other possibilities are numerous. Was her crop empty this morning? It should be empty after not eating all night. It will fill and empty through out the day as she eats and digests, so checking first thing in the morning before she's eaten is the best time. Has she ever been wormed? If you can get a fecal float test done by your vet that would tell you if she's got internal parasites/coccidia. Are her droppings normal looking? I would isolate her and check these things first to try to narrow it down.

 

[Alizey]

How is she now?

 

[DebiC215]

Sorry could not get online. She had a fecal float and exam from vet about three weeks ago after her sibling died. She was healthy. I just checked her crop - empty, I did a rectal (YUK) I did not feel an egg but she had lots of HOT, runny, yellow-green, not foul smelling poo. She resisted - but am not sure how, she is so emancipated - even though in the last few days she goppled down what ever I gave her. Thank you all for responding. Just sick over loosing all of these. And can't give my roosters away until I know what it is and they are lovely.- The heat is overwhelming. I have them in full shade and the breezes are usual nice. I tried a water mister but not enough pressure to make it to the coop. No vets close will do a necropsy and I have spent to much on vet bills for them (broken leg, etc.) that I feel bad spending more. I guess I could ask my vet to send her off. And I thought this was be such a good, soothing thing to do - raise chickens and watch them. LOL Maybe I am being too cautious.....

 

[DebiC215]

A friend recommended a bird vet in San Antonio that is a friend of hers, so I am making an appointment tomorrow. She will see my chicken (my beautiful little white frizzle) that just came down with same symptoms and my buff that I am afraid is on her last few days/hours with us. I tried more meds tonight - maybe she will feel better tomorrow - if not then they said they could do the necropsy there too. Wish me luck - hopefully I can get in soon.

 

[Rob Tof]

A friend recommended a bird vet in San Antonio that is a friend of hers, so I am making an appointment tomorrow. She will see my chicken (my beautiful little white frizzle) that just came down with same symptoms and my buff that I am afraid is on her last few days/hours with us. I tried more meds tonight - maybe she will feel better tomorrow - if not then they said they could do the necropsy there too. Wish me luck - hopefully I can get in soon.

Keep us posted. Sorry your having problems.

 

[DebiC215]

Update: I took the "really sick" Buff and the "just got sick" frizzle hens to vet today. We decided to let them do a necropsy on our Buff as she had been sick for a week and was now laying on her side. She still ate and talked but was so weak. They have Microplasmy sonoma(sp). Starting as upper respiratory and ending in their joints. She wanted me to overnight order some Tylan powder. Lots of places were out and the ones that had it needed a prescription. So we got it ordered and overnighted but I won't have it until Monday. I am looking for the correct dosage to put the "liquid" Tyler in their water in the mean time(sorry Teresa-lost it). She wants me to give shots to my little hen that is already having symptoms but I hate trying to give shots 3X/day for a week to the whole flock. May have to. At least it was not Mareks but the vet says its still bad. They think it is caused from getting different age chicks from different sources. She recommends one source that gives vaccines and ships your chicks. I only have one hen that is laying and don't eat her eggs yet - so no problem waiting a month or so for that. And she said my roosters should be okay to find homes in two weeks if they are showing no signs. I figure maybe I should give them a month??? I am just overrun with them. I went from 23 chickens down to 13 since March. So sad. I have three big hens and maybe two silkies/bantam hens - REST, you guessed it ROOS. The one I nursed back from two broken legs bones is a ROO too. I want to thank you all for your advice. Maybe the necropsy will help someone else and hopefully it will save whats left of my flock. This Vet was fantastic. She has chickens and knows her stuff. No having to look it up on the internet. Her name is Barbara Powers, TenWest Bird and Pet Vet, SaN Antonio, TX. She does parrots, etc. too.

 

[DebiC215]

Well its been been 10 days now. Little frizzle seemed to be better but has been declining last few days. Now she lays on her side, will move around, but not long on her feet, she is having trouble with her neck wobbling too. She eats so well and drinks, but seems to be getting thin. I wonder if increasing the dosage fm 30 - 50 MLs would help her???? I hate culling her, but not sure if its time? Any suggestions? She is the prettiest one I have seen - such a shame.

I had one more come down with it but was just stumbling when I started giving her shots - now she is almost normal. The rest are getting Tylan powder in their water - no signs of any more sick. I did more them into my storage barn during the hurricane warnings - I am cleaning their runs and replacing all the dirt/peat moss and shavings before returning them to their home. Still only one of my three 5 month old hens laying, she is a full size RIR and the eggs look like bantam size. Don't care as I can't eat them until after the meds are done and thru her system.