Sick chicken!

[Abby P]

I have a 6.5 month old Barred Rock hen who is very lethargic. She has had issues ever since she started laying. She has laid multiple soft shell eggs and will lay them off the roost at night. She will lay a normal egg occasionally. I think it's been since Saturday/Sunday since she laid an egg. She is not a daily layer. So I know she has reproductive problems... Monday night she became lethargic and her tail feathers down, so I just thought she was egg bound (she was egg bound about 3 weeks ago). An egg never passed, and I have given Epsom salt baths 4 times with no luck. I also fed her calcium. I finally just felt inside her vent and do not feel an egg.
She did have a bit of a poopy butt, but not to the extent of vent fleet. I then thought maybe she had an impacted crop, though I wasn't sure what I was looking for. This morning I felt my other hens crops when they were on the roost and comparing it to my sick hen, hers feels like a small hacky sack, as if it hasn't emptied completely. I syringed fed her some vegetable oil and massaged the crop this morning and I could start to hear is squish around.
Some other things is she is having is a bit of loss of balance. She also won't walk around, but she can turn around and she does not lay down. I did let her eat last night a little bit. She hasn't had normal poops but she also hasn't ate much. It's mostly white liquid, but with some small clumps. I've been adding probiotics to her water in 12 hr cycles, she is drinking some. My other hens are fine, I have her quarantined from them just in case it's something else...
Is there anything else I can be doing?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What do you feed, including treats?
Do you provide oyster shell free choice?

You gave Calcium, what kind, how much and for how long?

I would get some Calcium Citrate with D3, give her 1 tablet daily. She may be having issues expelling an egg.

Work on hydration, see that she's drinking well. Then offer her a bit of wet feed. Scrambled egg is usually of interest too.

I'd take care syringing liquid oil into her. A better option is to give coconut oil. Put it in the fridge or freezer to harden, then let her eat the small chunks herself. Give 1tsp twice a day.

A crop problem is often a symptom of something else going on. It's common for a crop to slow down if a pullet or hen is having reproductive troubles.

 

[Abby P]

What do you feed, including treats?
Do you provide oyster shell free choice?

You gave Calcium, what kind, how much and for how long?

I would get some Calcium Citrate with D3, give her 1 tablet daily. She may be having issues expelling an egg.

Work on hydration, see that she's drinking well. Then offer her a bit of wet feed. Scrambled egg is usually of interest too.

I'd take care syringing liquid oil into her. A better option is to give coconut oil. Put it in the fridge or freezer to harden, then let her eat the small chunks herself. Give 1tsp twice a day.

A crop problem is often a symptom of something else going on. It's common for a crop to slow down if a pullet or hen is having reproductive troubles.

They have been eating pumpkins, not everyday but quite a bit lately... I give a small handful of scratch every few days with some mealworms. I provide oyster shells. They also get their crumbles. It was just a calcium tablet I ground up and put on her food. I'll get some calcium citrate with d3. She just has so many problems with her egg production I think if she makes it through this spell I'll look into getting the implantation to make her stop laying.

 

[Perris]

the excess oil might have caused the loss of balance; it'll be temporary if so and you don't give her more. She is young and I wouldn't give up on her too quickly; I had one lay so many soft-shelled eggs in her 1st year I thought of culling her, but it all came good the next year, and she has since and still lays well; about 100 this year, at 5 years old.

 

[Abby P]

the excess oil might have caused the loss of balance; it'll be temporary if so and you don't give her more. She is young and I wouldn't give up on her too quickly; I had one lay so many soft-shelled eggs in her 1st year I thought of culling her, but it all came good the next year, and she has since and still lays well; about 100 this year, at 5 years old.

That’s good to hear! She was off balance before the oil.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

They have been eating pumpkins, not everyday but quite a bit lately... I give a small handful of scratch every few days with some mealworms. I provide oyster shells. They also get their crumbles. It was just a calcium tablet I ground up and put on her food. I'll get some calcium citrate with d3. She just has so many problems with her egg production I think if she makes it through this spell I'll look into getting the implantation to make her stop laying.

I'd work on her eating her normal feed, get the Calcium into her daily for at least 7 days.
Provide oyster shell and grit (crushed granite) free choice.
Pumpkin, scratch, mealworms, etc. make fine treats in limited amounts, especially for confined birds.

I would also get some vitamins into her. Give her 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with 400IU Vitamin E. These can give a boost as well as support leg health and balance.

Look her over for lice/mites, don't forget to look in the ears too, make sure her crop is emptying overnight. Getting a fecal float to see if worms are part of the problem is a good idea too.

At 6.5months, she's still quite young. Sometimes pullets can have a few glitches, sometimes nutrition needs corrected. It's also possible she has some type of reproductive or genetic problem. I'd give her time, she's not even mature yet, considering implants is jumping the gun imho.