Sick Looking Egg Eating Hen!!

[poultrycrazy]

I have 2 FBCM that i had to seperate from the rest of the flock cuz of egg eating cuz i couldnt stop it. Now 1 of them has her tail down and she was sitting in the corner. When i let her out the roo tried to mount her so i removed him from her back and she just layed there on the ground. I got her up and noticed that she had poop on her but. Then she hopped up on the cabinet and just layed there, as far as i know she is still there. I she sick? should i treat her? Also could it be from eating eggs cuz i would feel really bad, how do i stop it?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I understand once they start to eat eggs it's hard to break them. When she just laid there was probably more do to submissiveness than a problem. The poo on her bottom isn't unusual with fluffy bottoms, you can trim the feathers some and that might help. If it's really stuck you can give her a good soak that should help and then trim. As far as being sick you might want to bring her in where you can watch her to make sure she's eating and drinking, and that her poo is normal, www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0...... poop chart will help you see if it's in the normal range. Don't treat for something if your not sure she's sick. What is her age and have they ever been wormed? have you checked them for mites, lice?

 

[poultrycrazy]

Alright i think she IS sick, she was fine a couple of days ago and all of a sudden she just seemed to go down. when i went in the today she was laying down and when i made noise she got up but she just fluffed up and stood there, so i went inside and got the camera and not even 5 minutes later she was laying down again. I took her out and she layed on the cabinet. I have pics of her and her living space.

Here she is:

Her living space is about 4 by maybe 2 and a half or 3 feet long.

Her water has been durty and frozen every once and a while but we just got a new waterer and water heater for her. you can kinda see the waterer. FRESH AND CLEAN.

and the bedding is usually clean and they usually allways have food.

And a close up of her face:

The reason i am doing this is cuz another chicken died a while ago and she kinda seemed the same but it hit quit last time too so i didnt have time to do anything.

 

[Miss Lydia]

She doesn't look like she is feeling good. Have you checked her poop out with the poop chart? Can you fill out the sticky on the disease/and emergency page so we will know all symptoms and age please.

 

[Judy]

Also please tell us whether you have ever wormed them.

 

[sharol]

Have you been able to check her vent to be sure she hasn't prolapsed (a little)? Since she is an egg eater, you probably don't know if she is laying regularly, but if there is an egg "stuck" sos to speak, she might get what my MIL used to call "dumpy." I was worried about my PR last week when she was sitting all fluffed up. The next morning there was a broken, soft shelled egg under the roost and a weird, rough, off color egg out in the middle of the shavings, and she was acting normal. I'm wondering if the soft shelled egg was causing some difficulty for her and once it was passed, she felt better and laid another egg that was in the pipe. all this is conjecture because she hasn't laid enough eggs to get a handle on what hers normally look like, but the odd egg was the shape she lays.

I think I would start with a warm water soak to get the poop off her backside and see what her vent looks like. From what others have said, sometimes a warm bath will relax a hen enough to pass the problem egg (if that is the issue).

 

[poultrycrazy]

1) What type of bird , age and weight: FBCM, unknown age, and maybe 4-6 pounds
2) What is the behavior, exactly: depressed looking, always laying down and fluffed up, droopy looking face
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? since the last day or so
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? no other birds are acting weird, not even her room mate
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma: no signs of anything ecept poopy but
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation: I have no idea, 2 days ago she was running around everywere just fine
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all: i watched her eat some yesterday and she also drank some yesterday also, she is on 16% dumor layer.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. I havent notice any unnormal poop but could have missed it when i cleaned it out yesterday.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? nothing yet
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? I would like to treat her myself and as natural as possible.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use. Its TSC brand wood shavings, and i described the living space in my last post.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Have you isolated her from the rest of your chickens? thats the first thing I'd do, that way you'll see her poop and any other symptom she may be having. How old is she has she been laying? and have they been normal looking?

 

[poultrycrazy]

I have no idea how old she is and if she has been laying cuz her buddy always cracks the eggs and they eat them so someone is laying but idk if it is her or the other hen and i have no were else to put her

 

[Judy]

I won't remove a bird from the flock unless she is being seriously attacked by the others. I figure the others are already exposed if she has something contagious. Trying to return a chicken several days later just puts her at the bottom of the pecking order and can create as serious a problem as there was in the first place.

If everyone gets through this, you can build rollaway nest boxes to deal with the egg eating. You put a little slant on the floor and a barrier so the egg rolls out of reach. Seems to work best with those rubbery shelf liners for kitchens, or a carpet scrap, for nesting material.


Good luck with your girl.