sick chicken, advice please

[silverback]

Yesterday morning I found my Hyline Brown (Rhode Island Red hybrid), Ginger, lying on her stomach on the floor of the coop around 8am. She looked to be in nesting position but very lethargic. Later she got up into her nest but then came down and spent the day huddled in one corner or another in the coop. All other 5 hens are fine and all laid eggs. I brought her food and water and she pecked and drank a little each time I did. Her eyes look good and is pretty responsive.

Brought her in the house last night and made a cardboard box coop where she huddled, face in the corner, all night. She ate some yogurt and drank a little water. No change this morning. I gave her some scrambled egg which she gobbled down. Even stood up for a little bit afterward. But then back to the corner. I got her some watermelon and tofu (their all time favorite food) since she doesn't seem to drink enough. She ate both - from a lying down position. I have not felt any hard masses like a stuck egg and her vent continues to pulsate. She pants a lot. Just in case she is egg bound I put her in a warm bath a little while ago - which, as reported in this forum, she seem to like. I have never done it before. I massaged her tummy and back. After toweling her off and a little bit of hair dryer she walked the few steps back into the box (very slowly and a little unsteady on her feet but walking), raised her tail and shot out a pretty clear liquid. Not an egg. Her poop other than that has looked normal. I gave her some watermelon and she is back in the corner. She does have her tail raised a little which I take as a good sign - in case there really is an egg wanting to come out.

So - please any ideas, advice you have, bring it on. It has been very hot here (last week several days over 100) but better this week (only 90's and they have lots of shade) and now she is inside where it is decent. I really have no idea what it might be.

Thank you all in advance!

S.

 

[teach1rusl]

Different things come to mind based on your description.
1. She could be trying to pass a soft shelled egg - sometimes those are really hard to pass, I guess because the egg tube "muscles" or whatever squeezes them down doesn't have much solid/tangible to work with...
2. She could have laid internally (seach "internal layer" to look at symptoms)
3. She could just have a touch of something that has nothing to do with eggs/laying and may just snap out of it, just an other animals or people sometimes have stomach or other issues for a day or two

No fluffing up of feathers or growling?

 

[silverback]

Thanks. No, feathers not fluffed up. Looks fine. No growling. She did make a couple of friendly peeps earlier when I came in with treats.
I will research internal laying. Hope it is not that.

 

[silverback]

It is now the third day. She stands and tries to lay but nothing comes out. Then she is exhausted and lies down again. She is eating some tofu, yogurt and a little of her feed. Not drinking so I am giving her watermelon. Her eyes are bright and she is responsive. She has had two warm baths, one yesterday and one today. I rubbed some olive oil around her vent. Seems like below the vent and on down to the abdomen it is rounded and maybe swollen. She is very sensitive when I poke around there. But I don't feel anything hard like an egg. How long can this go on? What else can I do? Thanks. S.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

What was the normal poo? has she been pooping anything solid?

could be constipation, i had a broody die from constipation. Treatment is the same, massage the area gently, soak in warm bath for 20 plus minutes at a time.
After mine died i read of a treatment where you squirt a bit of lube into the hen's vent, you can use plain olive oil too but the lube is supposed to soften the mass, and the oil will just help it pass. kefir/yoghurt/buttermilk, and bits of bread soaked in olive oil will help too, if she's still eating.

If it is, once they are down to nothing but white liquid/ bright yellow, you have very little time to act. 1-2 days, tops.

 

[teach1rusl]

Did you do a search on internal laying??? You don't think her symptoms sound like anything like that?? I did have a SF girl who would get very down (less than a year old, but wouldn't/couldn't lay) for periods of time. She'd lose weight when she was feeling really down, but then would seem to pull out of it for weeks at a time and would put weight back on. Her bottom would stay pretty messy. She did die about the 3rd go round with it, and I did not do an autopsy, but I fully believe I would have masses of egg matter inside her - that she was an internal layer. She was a very sweet girl, so it was quite sad. Hopefully that's not what your girl has, but I'd research it as a possibility.