Sickly since September - Don't know what to do now

[ifurniturelady]

When you said the egg was hard, was it like a cooked egg or a sold mass?

Here is a link about internal lay, another name is egg yolk peritonitis. See if that seems to fit what your hen is going through.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/639749/timeline-of-internal-laying-update

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/565084/egg-yolk-peritonitis-prevention-or-management

I wasn't here when she laid the the eggs in question. My daughter was with her. I had to wait till she got home to ask her.
She found this picture on the internet and said it looked like this.
She said it was rubbery, not particularly hard.

I checked her up and down today. She had a ravenous appetite.
But her belly is pretty hard, especially as compared to my Barred Rock's squishy belly.

 

[pwand]

How long since she last the last egg? Was the egg a solid mass?

 

[ifurniturelady]

She hasn't layed in 3 months.
There were several at once. They were rubbery but not hard.

 

[pwand]

She hasn't layed in 3 months.
There were several at once. They were rubbery but not hard.

I would say she is internal lay, unfortunately her prognoses is not good.

 

[ten chicks]

Has she ever been wormed? Does she have access to oyster shells or crushed egg shells daily? Does she have any crop issues? Green poop indicates(other than eating grass clippings,etc)that she is not eating enough food. Any issues with vent area?

 

[gander007]

So how is the little lady doing this evening has she been eating
everything put in front of her and has she been drinking plenty
of water today and how about her poo how is the color and
texture ?????????
How is the over all health her waddles how is the color did she
walk at all today ???????????

gander007

 

[ifurniturelady]

So how is the little lady doing this evening has she been eating
everything put in front of her and has she been drinking plenty
of water today and how about her poo how is the color and
texture ?????????
How is the over all health her waddles how is the color did she
walk at all today ???????????
                                                   


gander007 

She did eat everything put in front of her today. And she drank a fair amount of water. She was walking around a little but stayed put most of the day.
She stood around with eyes closed part of the day. Still preening.
Her poo was runny and was mostly water.
Looked her all over today. The only thing out of the ordinary is her tummy is hard, not squishy like the other birds.

 

[ifurniturelady]

Has she ever been wormed? Does she have access to oyster shells or crushed egg shells daily? Does she have any crop issues? Green poop indicates(other than eating grass clippings,etc)that she is not eating enough food. Any issues with vent area?

She was wormed a month ago with wazine. Also dusted for lice/mites.
I give them crushed egg shells a couple times a week and put out oyster shell today in a bowl by itself.

 

[pwand]

She did eat everything put in front of her today. And she drank a fair amount of water. She was walking around a little but stayed put most of the day.
She stood around with eyes closed part of the day. Still preening.
Her poo was runny and was mostly water.
Looked her all over today. The only thing out of the ordinary is her tummy is hard, not squishy like the other birds.

The internal lay causes them to have an infection all the time. Antibiotics helps temporary, it keeps coming back because she would have all those eggs rotting inside her. That would make her tummy hard as well. Has those links been helpful?

 

[ifurniturelady]

The internal lay causes them to have an infection all the time. Antibiotics helps temporary, it keeps coming back because she would have all those eggs rotting inside her. That would make her tummy hard as well. Has those links been helpful?

Yes. Unfortunately internal laying seems to be a likely cause. She has perked back up after both treatments of antibiotics but I didn't want to create a super bug by giving them to her again.
I heard there was an avian vet that sees chickens not far from here. I planned to call first thing in the morning to schedule an appointment.
She is such a precious girl. I hate to accept this may be the end of her.