Sick Hen... Need Help... Pics Included

Keeperoflock

Songster
Mar 10, 2018
161
159
126
Central Indiana
I have a six-month-old leghorn pullet that is acting sick. She is lethargic but will walk a little bit but mostly just kind of stands in one place. When I put them out for their evening free range she wasn’t interested in eating grass which is very unusual for her. When she walks it looks like she's uncomfortable. Three or four days ago she was acting oddly and all fluffed up but look like she was straining so I went to pick her up and an egg without a shell and no yolk came out of her. She didn't lay an egg for a couple days after that which is odd because she lays every day without fail. Then I found another non-shelled egg intact with the membrane but had a lot of that sticky yolk colored liquid on it. Whether or not it came from her I don't know but I'm willing to say it did due to the yellow liquid.

About a week ago I had to put down one of my hens that was in a cage within the run. I kept woodchips in there for her and the ground was damp and smelly so I put some lime and DE down, covered it over leaving areas for air flow to dry it out. I don't THINK she could have gotten into any of it. The lime was AG lime so that shouldn't have hurt her anyways. Of course the DE is ok for her as well. The hen wasn't sick, she got injured.

I kept an eye on her and she seemed to be acting ok. Eating, drinking, pooping, being noisy and everything.

Today I got two normal white eggs. I had been only getting one since she started acting off. I have two leghorn’s and they are the only ones that lay white eggs in my flock. Can a leghorn lay 2 eggs in one day? If so then she hasn't laid in several days and the other one laid 2 eggs in one day. The normal eggs did not have the yellow liquid on them.

Tonight I wanted to see if she might be egg bound so I tried to feel her to see if I could feel one there but suddenly bright yellow orange liquid came squirting out of her. It honestly looks like egg yolk to me. The picture isn't very good, sorry but if you'll scroll down to the poop picture that's the color yellow that squirted out of her.

48152743-86EB-4215-914E-2D209C20DA09.jpeg



When I went to pick her up shortly after that I didn’t see it happen but my husband pointed out that there was another egg with no shell but did have a yolk laying on the ground in the grass. And it was right where she was at but I’m not sure that it actually came from her. She pooped just shortly after that and there was a slight amount of brown stool but more of the yoke colored liquid too.

B5132647-F438-4E44-A350-5823F883BC37.jpeg



I feed them dry 16% layer crumbles as well as wet mash from the crumbles. Fresh water every day. They get free-choice oyster shells and grit as well. For treats they get meal worms. A couple days ago I gave them plain yogurt and strawberry tops.

Here is what she looks like tonight. The one that's in the forefront is her.

A9A9C6AD-CFB9-4377-8E52-B9B6A167B9BD.jpeg



I have let her roost with the rest of them tonight but I’m not sure if I need to quarantine her into a kennel. If I do, she will stay in the run so the others can see her. I have not had good luck with separating one from the rest of the flock.

Do I need to flush her vent? Is that advisable? Does she need an antibiotic? I really don't know what to do...:confused:
 
Last edited:
Happy ending update for this story in the thread below...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/update-sick-hen-need-help.1266502/

Personally I do not believe this hen had Egg Yolk Peritonitis or internal laying. I think she may just have had a glitch with her shell gland or calcium absorption. Those shell less eggs are really hard to pass and makes hens feel pretty sick. It is entirely possible that she got backed up with them and one or more of them broke in the process.
I have heard it mentioned many times about pooping yolk meaning internal laying and EYP and I would appreciate it if someone would explain how they think this is possible. Yolks that are laid internally fall into the abdominal cavity. The intestines run through the abdominal cavity but there is no opening for egg material to get into them, otherwise the waste material would come out and fill the belly with poop. Egg material can only come out via the oviduct. If an egg breaks in the oviduct or cloaca, the egg material will come out sometimes when the bird poops and there is a chance that the bird will develop an infection as a result of that egg material allowing bacteria to grow in it in the oviduct but this is not EYP and not internal laying.

Great to read that she is over this glitch. It is certainly a good idea to monitor her progress and be on the look out for any lash eggs turning up in the nest box or run in the near future but hopefully she will be fine. I would be inclined to direct supplement her with calcium for a week to be on the safe side.
 
I agree that looks like egg yolk and her reproductive system sounds to be on the fritz. Her crop looks pretty large in the photo, too. Can you check in the morning that it is emptying properly?
She could be ending her first laying cycle and heading into juvenile molt, but that may be unlikely. I recommend givi g her 400mg of calcium citrate for a few days. You can look up how to pill a chicken, or else crush it and mix it in a treat. I hope some others weigh in. Good luck!
 

Thank you, this was great information. This is what I was thinking. The egg yolk in her has to be irritating her insides. Is it possible to get an antibiotic from Rural King or TSC? I'm not so sure that is the final answer anyways. From the information in the link it sounds like the prognosis is poor at best. Thank you so much for your help.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom