Sudden lameness, obvious distress

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

Yesterday morning I found my 3.5 year old hen on the bottom of the coop. When I looked at the camera footage, I saw she had been there since 3 or 4 am. I brought her inside. I was able to bring her to the vet in the morning, where she suddenly decided to stand, much to my surprise. Her air sacs were clear, no parasites in her fecal, yeast was low, and she otherwise has been very healthy. Her last illness was about 4 or 5 months ago- she had a thin shelled egg crush and get stuck to her oviduct and it took about 2 months for her to fully pass it. Prior to this she had an issue with getting very dehydrated after going broody. The vet thought she was leaning to her left side and keeping weight off her right side, so he suspected injury. He gave her fluids and a shot of meloxicam. After getting home, she started to act more normal again. I was afraid she might have been in pain- hence her distress. But a few hours later, she laid an egg. It was thin shelled and small. But I was very surprised she laid given that she hadn't in months. My gut says these two things are related. This morning, I gave her the meloxicam, and she was fine literally all day until around 4pm. Suddenly she was down again, barely able to move, and panting. She has another appointment with the vet tomorrow, but I'm very worried about her. Does any one have any ideas? She doesn't act like her feet or legs are bothering her at all - the vet moved them all around and she didn't get upset about it. It's so hard to sit here and watch her and not be able to do anything to help. We did tube feed her liquid food and vitamins, and she picked at some mealworms.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

vitamin issue?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would give her some human calcium citrate with vitamin d straight into her beak to swallow. Give Tums or other calcium until you get that. One tablet daily for the next few days would be good. She sounds like she is having trouble laying, and thin shelled eggs can easily break inside or cause egg binding. Keep her in a warm humid place such as a bathroom on a warm towel. Do not bathe her. Will she drink fluids on her own? Let us know how she is doing in the am.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

vitamin issue?

It's possible, I feel like she has trouble absorbing nutrients, hence her thin egg issue and constantly seeming underweight. I get why it could cause lameness, but I don't know why that would cause her pain/distress like this. She's open mouth panting. She stopped after the vet yesterday, and didn't start doing it again until today at 4pm.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

I would give her some human calcium citrate with vitamin d straight into her beak to swallow. Give Tums or other calcium until you get that. One tablet daily for the next few days would be good. She sounds like she is having trouble laying, and thin shelled eggs can easily break inside or cause egg binding. Keep her in a warm humid place such as a bathroom on a warm towel. Do not bathe her. Will she drink fluids on her own? Let us know how she is doing in the am.

Maybe, but I haven't seen her push at all aside from the egg she laid yesterday. I watched from start to finish and it took less than 45 seconds. I'm a little reticent to give her calcium without knowing if she's deficient and the absence of seeing her try to push anything out. But I'll think about it. What might the vitamin D be for? Calcium absorption? The vet also seemed to be convinced it was a leg injury, but I am skeptical that she seemed to be walking fine for a period of time before this afternoon. The heavy panting is currently what's concerning me and will probably keep me from sleeping tonight.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

I would give her some human calcium citrate with vitamin d straight into her beak to swallow. Give Tums or other calcium until you get that. One tablet daily for the next few days would be good. She sounds like she is having trouble laying, and thin shelled eggs can easily break inside or cause egg binding. Keep her in a warm humid place such as a bathroom on a warm towel. Do not bathe her. Will she drink fluids on her own? Let us know how she is doing in the am.

Oh, and she does not seem to be interested in fluids. I keep dripping it on her beak and she isn't into it. The water bowl from earlier was about half empty but I didn't catch her drinking any of it, and she's definitely not drinking it now. She never really likes drinking water though. It's a real pain.. But I gave her emer-aid omnivore and probiotics with water twice today.

 

[Eggcessive]

Chickens who are laying thin or shell-less eggs, or who are egg bound may respond to calcium and vitamin D. It will not hurt her. If you give calcium and d for several days and she doesn’t respond, then it may be a shell gland problem, not a calcium deficiency.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

Chickens who are laying thin or shell-less eggs, or who are egg bound may respond to calcium and vitamin D. It will not hurt her. If you give calcium and d for several days and she doesn’t respond, then it may be a shell gland problem, not a calcium deficiency.

Thank you, I gave her some calcium but I'd have to look around to see if we have vitamin D somewhere.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

It was a rough night. No change, heavy panting, can't get up to walk. Halfway through the night we heard her make a loud noise, I think she had tried to get up and fell. So my partner ended up taking her into the living room and sleeping on the couch with a heating pad and her on his stomach. I honestly was afraid she wasn't going to make it through the night. It seemed like she is trying to keep her head lifted because when it falls for her to sleep, she regurgitates a bit of liquid in her crop. Going to call the vet when they open, her appointment isn't until 3:15pm but if they have any cancellations, I'd rather him give a shot of meloxicam rather than me give her liquid this morning, especially since she's not eating or drinking on her own.

 

[Eggcessive]

It can be common when they are having egg related problems to feel weak and listless. But if she becomes dehydrated, it won’t help. I add water to any eggs or feed, just to get fluids into them. Poultry NutriDrench is sometimes given for a quick boost. Dosage is 1-2 ml daily. Is your vet an exotic, avian, or regular vet familiar with chickens? Let us know what they do today.