Weak legs, poor balance

[ernie85017]

I can't figure out what is going on with my girl. Black sex link, 3 yrs old, quit laying a few months ago, strong, healthy and the dominant hen. Her name, thus, is Pushy Broad.

Yesterday morning I found her on the ground, having stayed there all night. It could be that she stayed on the ground the night before and I missed it. But I don't think so. She had not been showing any signs of illness.

When I try to get her to walk she can take a step or two, uses her wings to kind of hold herself up on the sides, then sits back down. She is able to get up by herself, halfway, and manage a couple of stumble-steps in order to move herself. If it weren't for this, she would appear absolutely fine.

I checked for injuries, broken bones, painful joints, and she showed nothing.

She is alert. She is eating only a little and drank well this morning. Yesterday I dropper fed her water and some Poultry Drench. She took a few bites of cooked egg, normally her favorite food.
Crop is mostly empty.

Today she took some bits of raw egg, another favorite food. Took water on her own when I put a cup in front of her. Ate a few meal worms.

We don't have scorpions here. We do have black widows, but there are never ANY bugs in the chicken pen. No webs, nothing.

I think she may be the one who is laying shell-less eggs regularly. I find them in the laying box, and don't even find a membrane (she could have eaten it?). She started this several months ago. Her abdomen feels fine, no signs of a stuck egg or ascites.

Does this ring a bell with anyone?

I hope you can help. She may be pushy, but she's my girl.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you feel of her lower belly between her legs to see if it is enlarged, spongy, firm, or tight? Does she have any poop around her vent? Can you put on a disposable glove, and feel inside her vent 2 inches to check for a stuck egg?

What time does she usually lay an egg? Can you try to be there to see what it looks like, or place her in a crate with food and water for a day or two to see if she lays?

She may have stopped laying or she could be laying eggs with thin shells or just membranes. She also could be just passing egg matter. There are several types of reproductive disorders including impacted oviduct, internal laying, egg yolk peritonitis, salpingitis, and they are common in hens, especially ones over 2 years old.

I would be concerned that she might have a temporary paralysis from being egg bound or a large lash egg putting pressure on the nerves in the legs. She also could be showing signs of Mareks disease, especially if you have added any new birds in recent weeks or months that could have been a carrier. I have heard of lameness being caused by internal organ infection. Injury could also be possible.

 

[ernie85017]

Her abdomen felt normal except for possibly feeling the below-mentioned mass from the outside. Not tense or tight or full as with ascites. Upon internal exam, she felt very empty, nothing in the tube leading to the cloaca, and the general area felt empty. Anterior to (toward the ground) the cloaca inside I felt a mass, maybe size of small walnut, kind of firm, but I suppose this could be poo in her gut.

Something else I noticed was very pale yellow thick "stuff" on her vent feathers. Not the usual white from their poos, but thicker, very pale yellow, and almost reminded me of cooked egg white. Have not had a shell-less egg in a few days. The others lay blue eggs, so when I do get an egg, I know it's not her.

She will only eat a tiny bit. I think she may have been off her feed a bit for a while because her keel isn't as meaty as usual. Their feed dish hasn't been nearly as empty as usual for a few days.

I looked up lash egg. Haven't seen anything like that - ever!

I hate this! It makes me so sad! Someone come up with an answer, please.

 

[ernie85017]

Please. Still need help.