Pullet hunched, drinking excessive water

[MenelausMontrose]

Hey all,
My bantam Rhode Island Red pullet is drinking excessive amounts of water. I've seen her shoot clear fluid out her cloaca, and drool/vomit water out of her mouth when I picked her up. She is hunched up like she is constipated, and is extremely quiet.

I did not notice any odd behavior from her earlier today.

She was in the egg box, which is empty. I have several chickens and the Reds have only just started laying, not sure if this one has laid ever.

Any and all advice welcome; thanks.

 

[MenelausMontrose]

Poop/expulsion from a minute ago. This comes out strongly, as opposed to a dribble.My understanding is she can't poop if eggbound, right?

 

[AidKD]

That poop is very watery though, which isn't surprising if she's egg bound. Have you felt around her bottom for an egg?

 

[MenelausMontrose]

This being my first flock I don't know exactly what I am feeling for, but yeah there is an egg sized hard lump right where I think the oviduct is above the cloaca.

Does excess water consumption correlate?

 

[AidKD]

This being my first flock I don't know exactly what I am feeling for, but yeah there is an egg sized hard lump right where I think the oviduct is above the cloaca.

Does excess water consumption correlate?

Yes, it does. I think she is in fact eggbound. You'll want to start treating right away as hens who're eggbound don't survive long. Here's a link which'll be quicker than me explaining:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/egg-binding-symptoms-treatment-and-prevention.66978/

 

[MenelausMontrose]

I appreciate the link. We'll follow those directions.

My wife lubricated the vent/canal about 2-2.5 inches in (this is a bantam) and did not feel an egg, but again we may not know what to feel for.

We'll give her about an hour and then maybe do the warm bath.

Right now she's drinking water with Poultry Cell and we've put some ground up Tums in it. She ate a few small chunks of Tums but is now uninterested.

 

[Sammster]

@Eggcessive

 

[AidKD]

I appreciate the link. We'll follow those directions.

My wife lubricated the vent/canal about 2-2.5 inches in (this is a bantam) and did not feel an egg, but again we may not know what to feel for.

We'll give her about an hour and then maybe do the warm bath.

Right now she's drinking water with Poultry Cell and we've put some ground up Tums in it. She ate a few small chunks of Tums but is now uninterested.

That's good that she ate a little bit. I woupd give her the bath right away and start massaging the egg down as soon as you can.

 

[Eggcessive]

A bath could stress out a very sick chicken. You could place her on a warm towel in a warm humid spot. Egg bound hens cannot pass droppings usually. Did you get all of the calcium in her? 300 mg of calcium is good. They can swallow a whole calcium citrate with vitamin d tablet just by placing it in the back of the throat.

 

[MenelausMontrose]

Working together, we were able to get a few more Tums chunks into her. Unfortunately that's calcium carbonate, not citrate. I'd estimate only 100-200 grams were swallowed; she fought us pretty hard and did NOT want the Tums. Hopefully since she 1/4 the size of a normal hen that will help her.

She's in a crate indoors with absorbent hemp bedding and is down for the night. We'll see how she looks tomorrow. She wasn't doing great tonight, but she had enough energy to try hopping out of the crate, and she kept trying to perch on my arm, so I am optimistic about her being able to handle a bath.