Soiled Chicken

[whitutis]

Hello. Hoping someone can help give some ideas of what i could be dealing with here.

I have a 2 year old ameraucana that is experiencing some problems.

She's interested in eating a little, she'll tolerate me handling her and walking around with her, she was the first out of the coop today. I noticed her rear was soiled, like when the baby chicks get plugged up. I brought her inside and washed her up a bit in the tub. Stuck to her bottom was something that looked like a piece of paper (not the wood shavings that we have in the coop.) She tried to eliminate a couple of times while she was in the tub, however it was a very liquidy substance that looked like the albumin in an egg.

She was calm, but not sluggish. Alert, and didn't seem to be in pain. She's very curious about the bathroom, oddly.

What should i be looking out for the next few days? Could she have a busted egg inside her?

The girls here in Western WA haven't laid an egg in Lord knows how long. I figure partly because it's been so cold, but also because the neighbour's dog has been terrorising the flock, haven't attacked them 4 times now.

Hoping someone out there has some ideas for me.

Thanks,
Whit

 

[chkn]

She may have broken an egg. How is she doing after her bath? Some kind of antibiotic and some extra supplementation might help.

 

[pcord]

I have almost the exact same situation: a chicken acting lethargic, moderately interested in eating. The bird has been acting this way for almost a week now. She roosts at night and just sits in the run by herself during the day. We finally got around to checking her vent today and found it to be soiled so I bather her and noticed a bit of a soft shell sticking out. I give my wife 10,000 points for giving the chicken a rectal exam hoping to find bits of shell, but alas nothing. She's in our laundry room tonight in front of a heater. Not sure where this will lead but other than her lethargy, weak appetite and soiled vent there are no symptoms. I have found 2-3 shell-less eggs in the coop recently. Not sure if she's the one doing that or someone else.

Any ideas?

 

[welasharon]

Mine did this after laying/passing a soft shelled egg. One busted inside her. I could tell she still had some in her as her vent kept working like it was trying to expell something. Gave her a half hour soak in a warm bath and during the night she managed to finish passing the broken mess. She layed a few normal eggs after that but now has stopped as have the other two that were laying. I am making sure she gets plenty of calcium so hopefully that won't happen again. She is new at laying.
sharon