pullet sick?

[capassar]

Please help! My Ameraucauna pullet 29 weeks was acting normally this am. Then she went under coop perhaps to lay for first time. She stayed there 2 hours. When she came out no egg but very quiet, won't eat and seems sick. Head down, tail down, makes quiet peeping noise like a wimper.

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC. Most likely she is eggbound. Place her in a container of warm water up to her sides. Massage her underside while she's in the water for about 20 minutes. The warm water will expand her innards, massaging should help her move the egg along. Put a little olive oil just inside her vent to help the egg slip out easier. Repeat as necessary and hopefully she'll lay an egg.

 

[kidcody]

from WA. glad you joined us

agree with dawg53, great advice! good luck with your hen!

 

[weimarmama]

&

from Alabama. Glad you joined us. Great advice given. Definitely sounds like how one of our girls acted when she was eggbound. Lots of good luck with her

 

[mommissan]

Awe... good luck with your girl. Welcome to BYC. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

 

[capassar]

Thank you so much everyone for your help and advice. Can't tell you what a comfort it is to a newbie! The mystery continues: Took her to a vet friend who was also certain she was egg-bound. He ran an x-ray and found the outline of a forming but not yet calcified egg, and here's the weird part - a mass of what looks like little chips of something in her cloaca. He said they read as mineral and asked what I had been feeding her. (just chicken crumbles and a little oatmeal as a treat) I told him that since a couple of my girls had laid soft-shell eggs, that I had started giving a small amount of oyster shells each day. He said that would read on the x-ray but should be in her crop not near the cloaca. he is keeping her at his office overnight and having a friend look at her tomorrow. Now here is another twist: she also has a bloody spot at the tip of her beak, like a tiny break or chip, and a few bloody spots on her comb. Do you think these injuries could be related? She is a flier - could she have fallen and injured herself somehow? Might she have eaten something like paint chips that would show up on the x-ray as mineral and that are making her sick? She is still not eating and drinking, but I think he will try to address that during the night. he said he would also give her mineral oil to help her pass whatever is lodged in there. What are your thoughts? Thank you again for the insight!

 

[NonnasBabies]

Welcome!

 

[greymane]

from the Finger Lakes of New York! Hope you get this mystery solved soon and she recovers quickly.

 

[Desert Rooster]

Hello

and welcome to BYC

from Hesperia, Ca