UPDATE: Yellow Poo? *PICS*HELP PLEASE! Hen has droopy tail

[3goodeggs]

I think internal laying is when the yolk misses the infundibulum and drops into their belly. I do not think it would pass. She could be breaking and egg inside of her, or because of the heat she just missed getting all the parts together correctly. I had one chicken do that when she got walloped accidentally.
Did your hen fall or get squashed in a closing run or coop door?
Keep an eye on if she is laying. If you get the scrambled egg look and an egg, then we can at least rule out egg issues.
I hope she gets to feeling better soon.

 

[buildingmyark]

Quote:
3goodeggs, I don't think that she's fallen or been hurt in any way. She doesn't seem sore. Today she is eating and drinking on her on. She's still inside, but I may take her out for a while this afternoon. Thanks for the get-well wishes and all of the help.

 

[buildingmyark]

Well, I took Heidi outside for a while to visit with her sisters. They all seemed quite excited to see each other! I went to check on her a little later and she was just sitting by herself (all of the other girls were up and scratching around.). She was breathing with her mouth open and looked quite hot and miserable. It was 100 degrees out again today. I decided to take her back inside to cool off. I tried to be careful in making sure that she didn’t cool down too quickly, but gradually. She seemed fine inside. Could she still just be weak from the heat/dehydration from yesterday?

She’s been eating well today and her poop looks much more normal. She’s actually walking around out on my back porch chasing and catching bugs! She seems to be feeling much better other than being outside during the day. She didn’t lay an egg today. Maybe because she was in a new place? Or still feeling bad?

I’ll probably keep her inside for another day or so unless yall think that I shouldn’t. I put a fan in their coop today so hopefully that will help them stay a little cooler. I’m also planning to put a couple of vents in strategic locations in the coop to help the air circulate a little better. Is there anything else that I can/should do for her at this point? If it was something serious would she be acting like she feels better?

Thanks for all of your help and suggestions with my sweet girl!

*ETA Pics
Heidi's looking good tonight!:

 

[3goodeggs]

I have had extreme heat exhaustion many times.I have no sense of time and I am always surprised that I had been doing something for hours instead of minutes.
Each time it just snuck up on me. My husband calls it letting the bear get you. It feels like you are dieing. It takes no less than a week to get my bearings, brain, and muscles back into full function. I was very weak and delirious. If I had fallen in the sun, I would not have been able to remove myself from it.
I would give her more time, and if you need to put her back outside sooner, could you confine her to a shady cool place? A box with frozen water jugs or something?
I had a chicken die of heat stroke, and now I use a fan with a mist nose in front of it to make evaporate cooling. They are beyond the water mist, but not beyond the drop in temps.

I hope she gets over whatever she has that is wearing her down.

 

[buildingmyark]

3GoodEggs, thanks so much. I think you are right on the money. I just talked to my friend that's 1 of the only 5 poultry vets in the state. I sent her this link and this is what she wrote in response:

"Jenni,
I did a quick skim of your blogs. I definitely don't think she is an internal layer. I can explain that in more detail to you later about how that works, but the yellow droppings are not from her being an internal layer, but are more a sign of what she has eaten or not eaten. I can explain that in more detail later too. The important thing is she isn't an internal layer. Now, with that said and reading everything else, I, like some of the bloggers think it was probably heat. Chickens are very susceptible to heat stress, some more than others. The fan is a good idea. Also, I'm not sure what type of waterers you have, but if you can stand the mess during these really hot days, some chickens like to have water that they can dip their combs and wattles in. This helps them cool down. They can make a mess however, that could lead to husbandry problems, so be very careful with this. If a chicken is panting this means that their internal body temperature has reached over 106 degrees. That is definite heat stress. You can use an over the counter digital thermometer and stick it in her vent (should go in easily, but can use gel, if necessary). You can take her temp and compare it to the other hen's temps. You may want to take hers inside and outside or when she seems fine vs. when she seems weak. She may have been heat stressed, but coming out of it, and still hasn't fully recovered yet. Give her time and TLC like you've been doing. Keep in mind with the heat we are having your egg shells of all your hens may be thinner. Heat does that. You might need to supplement with oyster shells or some other calcium source, if you see this."


I didn't want to bother her with this if we could figure it out together here on BYC, but I was so thankful to have her take the time to reply to my concerns. I always try to figure out these "chicken problems" on my own first. I think that's how I've learned alot about chickens, but some issues are not as cut and dry as others. It seems it's the simple things (common sense things) that puzzle me most. If I can't come to a conclusion, my first stop is BYC and I am so thankful to have such a wonderful and caring group of people who not only understand, but also genuinely care. Thanks to all BYCers who are so willing to help! Hopefully one day I will have the extensive knowledge to return the favor.


ETA: Gramatical error

 

[codymax2]

Oh she looks beautiful!! Glad you took the time to try to figure out what was going on with her!! I haven't had this problem but after reading your post I had a sneaking suspicion

Glad thats all it was! Great job chicken Mama!

 

[buildingmyark]

Thank you!!!