Possibly egg bound -- not sure what's wrong with hen

[citychknraising]

Hi everybody, I'm in a bit of a panic since I noticed my chicken seemed very sick this morning and had to leave her to go to work. I'm hoping somebody can give suggestions as to what is wrong with her. I went to let my chickens out this morning in to their run, as usual, this morning. One of them, Lucy, stayed sitting in her roost (not normal). I felt her over and didn't notice anything out of place... her crop was empty as expected. However, it was still unsettling because she will usually peck at me if I try to run my hand all over her like I did this morning. I took her off of the roost and put her on the ground outside to try to get her to walk and eat/drink. She just immediately laid back down.. very flat, not like I normally see them lay down. I put her back on the roost where I found her and had to leave.

So her symptoms are that she's not moving all all, her tail is down, and she seems to be panting through her mouth. Her comb is a normal color. She is about 8 months old.

Also I think that I should mention that this same hen was acting weird a couple of days ago... seemed like she was having a hard time laying an egg. That day, she hadn't laid for a couple of days and then I found her laying on the floor of the coop panting through her mouth. She finally laid an egg (normal size) after hours of doing that and all was well. I'm wondering if this is a worse episode of her having a hard time laying an egg. It's been about 2 days since she laid. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[citychknraising]

Anybody?

 

[Eggcessive]

When you get home, if she still is in the nest box, take her outside again and watch what she does. This may help to check if she could be broody. Then insert a finger into her vent 1-2 inches (wear a disposable glove) to feel for a stuck egg. Make sure that she is drinking, and give her a calcium tablet, a Tums, or some crushed egg shell for calcium. Feed her a little egg to see if she will eat. Wet chicken feed or canned tuna are others that may be attractive. If there is no egg felt (normal is not to feel anything) then check her crop again, and look for any signs of lice or mites on her skin especially under her vent and elsewhere. Does she normally lay large or XL legs?

 

[citychknraising]

Update, she's fine now....Up and moving around like normal. It seems like she's just having a lot of trouble laying eggs lately. Her eggs have had some calcium deposits on them so I might try to find a feed that has a lower percent of calcium in it. Right now I'm feeding Blue Seal Extra Egg Layer Crumble, it has 16% protein and about 4% calcium in it (among other things). I'm really new at this, so I'm open to any suggestions. I just hate for her to be in pain every time she has to lay an egg.

 

[dewtattoo]

Good news! I'm new also so I can't give you any recommendations, but I'm glad to hear that your hen was much better when you arrived home

 

[Eggcessive]

Update, she's fine now....Up and moving around like normal. It seems like she's just having a lot of trouble laying eggs lately. Her eggs have had some calcium deposits on them so I might try to find a feed that has a lower percent of calcium in it. Right now I'm feeding Blue Seal Extra Egg Layer Crumble, it has 16% protein and about 4% calcium in it (among other things). I'm really new at this, so I'm open to any suggestions. I just hate for her to be in pain every time she has to lay an egg.

That is good news. All layer feeds contain about 4% calcium. Some hens just have mineral deposits on eggs normally. There is a good thread to read if you search here on BYC at the top of the page in the search box for "common egg quality problems." It has pictures of eggs with mineral deposits and other odd eggs and some possible reasons for them.

 

[citychknraising]

@Eggcessive , thanks for the tips. Just in response, her eggs are usually medium sized so I don't know why she's having such a hard time. I'll take a look at the article you mentioned and see if I can pull some ideas from there.