Very sick Golden Campine. UPDATE- Norma Jean died :(

[taylorgirl6]

One of the chickens in my flock is very sick. For those of you with experience, I would greatly appreciate your help.

Norma Jean is a Golden Campine. She is roughly five months old. She is fully feathered, and her tail has recently grown quite long. Her comb and wattles have developed in the last month, and she may be about ready to lay. In fact, I'm wondering if she has and egg stuck internally. I fed our six girls a package of meal worms yesterday afternoon. Norma Jean went for them like they were candy. She ate more than anyone else. In the evening, around 6:00pm, she was sitting on the floor of their indoor enclosure. The other five were settling in on the roosting pole. It appeared that Norma Jean had dug out a little hollow (maybe a nest?) in the pine shavings to sit in. She did not move. Now, one of the other chickens just started laying a few days ago. I figured (correctly) that an egg was under Norma Jean. We found that egg this morning. The little hollow space was poopy and wet. The egg under her was NOT her egg. I'm certain of this because Campines lay white eggs, and this one was brown, just like the other two my Dominique has been laying.

This morning, I went to inspect the coop before I left for work. Norma Jean was sitting in the straw in their covered enclosure, not moving. Everyone else was eating or scratching like normal. I went inside and easily picked her up. She didn't try to run away at all. Her rear end was covered in poo, very messy and tangled, and she was terribly weak. I took her into the house and cleaned her up a bit, making sure to blow dry her before I put her back outside. She was also breathing through an open beak. Poor little Norma Jean is clearly distressed, and I'm afraid she is fading fast. I honestly expect to go home to a dead bird tonight.

Dose anyone have any ideas of how I can help her?

 

[OhMyItsAndyy]

Sitting in a "nest" on top of an "egg"
To me it sounds like she has gone broody.
Broody bird will sit on their egg's against their own health at times. Refusing to go eat, drink or even go to poop.
Put her food and water nearer to her where she can reach it, she may be weak due to dehydration and hunger.
If she eats and drinks, leave it there so her strength can build a little more.
There are a few ways to make a chicken "Unbroody"
Soem people prefer to wait. I've never had the choice.
But one wa is to dip her in cool, not cold, water, too cool her body temperature down.
But then i would also keep her inside over night to she doesn't freeze outside if it's cold there especially.
Or, if you have the time, go out regularly and get her up, and force her to stay away. The idea is the hen can't get comfortable and will give up. Similarly, you could place her in her own little box with food and water, but on a steep slope with no straw. Again, to stop her getting comfortable. Erm, maybe have her in ther for, 24 to 48 hours?

They are the three i've heard of. There may be more.

Hope her strength builds soon x

 

[taylorgirl6]

Thanks, OhMyItsAndyy. I thought about her going broody, but she hasn't even laid her own first egg yet. That's why I figured maybe she was "eggbound." Her behavior does sound like she's trying to nest and lay an egg perhaps, but I can't imagine why she's gone downhill so quickly. If she's still alive when I get home (fingers crossed), I'll most likely bring her inside for the night and try some of what you suggested.

 

[OhMyItsAndyy]

I'd say dehydration would be the main cause if she is broody. We need liquids, all animals do.

 

[taylorgirl6]

I'll pick up some pedialyte on the way home from work tonight. I'm just hoping Norma Jean can tough it out until then. I've read a number of reports of egg-bound hens getting relief by a warm water bath, so that may be the first thing I attempt once I'm home. I also hope I've diagnosed this correctly. If I'm wrong and it's not a stuck egg, I'm fearful of what else could be wrong with her.

While she could be broody, it seems a little early in life for that. She's only five months old, and the egg she found was not even hers! I suppose time will tell on this one. My gut instinct tells me that she knows she's gotta spit an egg out, and she just can't make it happen. That would at least explain her desire to nest and sit on an egg.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[taylorgirl6]

Whatever was wrong with Norma Jean, it was too much for her to fight. She died sometime during the day, and we found her in the corner of the pen when we came home. The rest of our flock is apparently healthy, and we sincerely hope that none of them will be sick like Norma Jean was.

Thanks again for the help.