Sick Chicken - Egg-bound?

[natedbrbr]

I have a Delaware hen probably 1-2 yrs old (our flock was purchased together from someone else) and she's been acting sick since yesterday. It took her a long while to come out of the coop yesterday and she stayed in the egg box most of that time. We gave her 2 warm water baths (the second with epsom salts added) because she seemed possibly eggbound (tail pointing downward, pulsing of her vent/tail area). I don't know for sure if she ever passed an egg (she didn't yesterday or overnight). She did seem somewhat better yesterday afternoon and today - walking around the run and pecking for food (not with her usual vigor but getting around still). She pooped twice and they seemed close to normal although maybe smaller and a little more watery than normal. She was slow to come out of the coop again this morning although not as much as yesterday. The reason I'm still concerned is

1. My wife saw her laying on her right side
2. My wife also saw her standing with her right wing extended - although when she approached her she got up and ran/walked away with seemingly no issue
3. She hasn't regained her usual vigor

I haven't noticed any other strange behavior, no shaking her head or congestion or difficulty breathing. I did see her "polishing" her beak by wiping it back and forth on our wooden privacy fence. So am I overly concerned about this hen? Is there anything I should check for or can do for her?

Any help is much appreciated - thanks.

 

[K-12 Chickens]

Your hen was probably sun-bathing if she was laying on her side with a wing extended. Feel around around on your hen's abdomen; is it unusally hard(normally it should be a semi-firm-squishy feel)? Does her vent seem inflamed? Keep an eye on her.

 

[natedbrbr]

I felt her abdomen yesterday evening and it didn't feel hard...also checked her vent yesterday evening and it didn't appear inflamed. She doesn't seem extremely ill - just enough off to make me concerned.

 

[natedbrbr]

Our hen was acting more normal yesterday evening - she was out scratching and pecking with the rest of the flock although she did lay down to take a rest after a little while doing that. She didn't want to come out of the coop again this morning - I'm pretty sure she did lay an egg this morning since I don't think any of the other chickens were in the box that early and she was. I also didn't feel any hardness in her abdomen so I think I can rule out egg-binding.

When I last saw her she was still taking it easy and laying down under the coop. I watched her drink water this morning too but she didn't seem interested in scratch grains. I'm wondering if she has a worm issue? She did have slightly messy feathers on her bottom this morning. I'm adding some diatomaceous earth to their feed and scratch grains now to hopefully take care of any parasite issues. She just still isn't quite "right" but I hope she's improving. If anyone has further thoughts, feel free to share them.

 

[donnaboydjones]

My hen was acting like that that the other day. She was eating, drinking and running to me when I called them. I too, noticed she was spending more time in the nesting box , but since I have other hens I didn't know whether she was or wasn't actually laying eggs. About 4 days of this and then she was doing like a squat walk and hid under the coop. I got her, went to put her in a tub of warm water and this fluid with almost a scrambled egg white came out of her. While sitting her in the water, I massaged her belly, it was soft, but the fluid continued to come out a little and there wasn't anything in her crop as far as an egg was concerned. After doing this for a half a hour, I wrapped her up and held her. She then closed her eyes and before I could get her to the vet she passed away. I was told later she had egg peritonitis . I don't know if her out come would have been different had I figured it out sooner. Not saying that this is whats wrong with your hen. I'm finding out that chickens are more frail then I knew and that every situation and every hen/rooster is different for each owner.
Hoping your girl has a swift recovery.

 

[natedbrbr]

Yeah - sounds like she's been laying under the coop today so I'm afraid we may be in the same boat as your hen. Thanks for the response and sorry you lost a hen

 

[donnaboydjones]

Yeah - sounds like she's been laying under the coop today so I'm afraid we may be in the same boat as your hen. Thanks for the response and sorry you lost a hen

Oh, I hope not!!
Keep me posted and thank you for your kindness in regards to my hen. I had hatched her last year on good Friday and having one that I incubated, watched grow and held from the get go, was really hard for me.
My local farmers store told me today to keep a flock block out for my hens to make sure they are getting enough calcium. With the fact they are free range (we have 10 acres) and I feed them all organic fruits/Veg , sunflower seeds and organic crumble, I thought they were getting a well balanced diet, but he said egg bound/ egg peritonitis has a lot to do with not enough calcium in the diet and then it causes problems with the eggs being layed properly. I might not have been able to help my hen yesterday , but I'm hoping to prevent any more loss in that area for the future.

 

[natedbrbr]

Well so far she's still hanging in there...she came out of the coop much quicker this morning and was more active in the run. I think she may have laid a shell-less egg out in the run yesterday evening. I put some kefir out this morning and all the hens were working on that including the sickly one. I'm hoping she's fighting off whatever it is that has her down. Just still waiting and watching. I think the flock block sounds like a great idea - I put out oyster shell with the chickens feed which should be enough but sometimes I think they don't eat it. Having a flock block would be sure they always have it available in the same location.

 

[donnaboydjones]

Well so far she's still hanging in there...she came out of the coop much quicker this morning and was more active in the run. I think she may have laid a shell-less egg out in the run yesterday evening. I put some kefir out this morning and all the hens were working on that including the sickly one. I'm hoping she's fighting off whatever it is that has her down. Just still waiting and watching. I think the flock block sounds like a great idea - I put out oyster shell with the chickens feed which should be enough but sometimes I think they don't eat it. Having a flock block would be sure they always have it available in the same location.

Stopping by to see how your hen is doing. From your last update she sounded like she was on the mend.

 

[natedbrbr]

Thanks for checking! She does seem to be getting better...she's been coming out of the coop much more quickly in the mornings and walking around the yard and scratching a lot more. I still think she's worn from her ordeal but seems better.