Sick or injured

[mrspeete]

Hi my chicken loving friends! My sweet Hazel (3 y/o barred rock) doesn’t seem to be doing so well. We don’t have a chicken vet around here so I’m hoping for some insight. She isn’t really eating much, isn’t standing up fully and has been sleeping on the floor because she doesn’t have the strength to fly up to the roost. She is slow to respond to treats and the last two days hasn’t even been able to walk down the ramp out of the coop. She tried but ended up just rolling out. She pecks around a little but mostly just sits in a corner of the run. Her comb and waddle and still red although not as dark as the other ladies. We have looked for obvious injuries but don’t really see anything. Thoughts/ideas please?

 

[dawg53]

When was the last time you wormed her? Inspect her for lice/mites especially around the vent area. Also, when was the last time she laid an egg?

 

[Gearhead846]

Could it be sour crop ?

 

[coach723]

I would crate her so you can monitor her eating and drinking and get a look at her droppings to see if they are abnormal. Did she molt this year? Feel her abdomen, below the vent, between the legs to see if there is any bloat. Also how is her weight/body condition, is her keel bone prominent, or well muscled?

 

[mrspeete]

We haven’t wormed her but have checked for bugs and such. We have 9 ladies all the same type so it’s hard to tell who’s eggs are who’s. I would bet it’s been a while though. My husband said her breast bone is scrawny like she’s lost muscle. Her poops is pretty green I’m sure because she’s not eating and drinking as much as she should. She did molt at the end of summer and then seemed ok. She used to be quite a spunky little lady but she doesn’t even try anymore.

 

[coach723]

Is her crop emptying completely overnight? Check first thing in the morning before she has food or water to see if it's empty then (it should be).

 

[mrspeete]

My husband says she’s been walking like a penguin for close to a month but just in the past week she’s been declining.

 

[dawg53]

My husband says she’s been walking like a penguin for close to a month but just in the past week she’s been declining.

Walking like a penguin usually means a hen is egg bound or egg impacted. It might be too late to do anything about it but you can do the following:
Place her in a container of warm water up to her sides. The warm water will relax her as well as her innards.
Place your hand under her while she is soaking and gently massage her underside front to rear. This will help encourage her to move the stuck egg along while she is soaking in the warm water. The warm water also helps expand her innards while she's relaxed.
Do this for about 20 minutes.

Then wear a disposable glove and put a little vegetable oil or olive oil just inside her vent. It will make it easier for her to lay a stuck egg. Sometimes it's possible a hen will lay the egg in the water.
Hopefully she'll lay an egg, but I'm thinking too much time has passed, a month is a long time and her weakened state doesnt help.