What’s going on with my Buff Orphington?

[micstrachan]

Poor lovely. I, too, suspect a reproductive disorder. BUT, she could have an infection of some kind taking its toll, and it might be worth a round of antibiotics if veterinary care is not an option. I don’t recall if it was @azygous or @rebrascora, but one of them had a chicken fall ill from a stagnant compost pile, resulting in a bacterial infection and bloated abdomen, among other things, I think.
One thing the vet should be able to do for you, even if they don’t treat chickens, is perform a fecal float.

 

[rebrascora]

First and foremost bring her into the house and provide her with a heat source... ideally a heat pad. If she is not eating and has lost weight then she needs help to keep warm otherwise she will burn off even more of her body reserves just trying to maintain her body temperature.
She may revive a bit just by warming her up. Her back looks hunched which is often a sign of reproductive problems. If she is not too weak, a warm soak in an Epsom Salts bath may help to relax and warm her. You can then try an internal examination of her vent to see if you can feel any masses inside her. Make sure you towel dry and then blow her dry with a hair dryer straight afterwards. Check her vent for any external abnormalities.
Monitoring her poop is important, so keeping her isolated in the house will enable you to observe that and get an indication of if/how much she is eating as well as keep her warm. If you can make some scrambled egg, that may tempt her to eat or perhaps some warm porridge (oatmeal).
Come back to us with updates on what you discover and photos of her poop and vent and anything else that might be relevant and we will take it from there.
Good luck

 

[azygous]

Trying to diagnose a sick hen from out here in cyberspace involves a lot of guesswork and intuition since we rarely are privy to all the information that could assist in a diagnosis. So I go with my intuition a lot from the impression I get from reading the original post.

This time it tells me everything we know so far points to a reproductive issue. And treating those are tricky.

As @rebrascora suggests, she needs a warm, cozy, quiet place. But first I would give her warm Epsom soaks twice a day, and give her a calcium supplement each day until this resolves. In between soaks, keep her on a heating pad in a crate in a quiet place with moist heat if possible.

I've had several hens over the years that released two eggs at close intervals within the same 25 hour egg cycle and that caused backup in the egg chute and they were miserable until the eggs passed, usually in close succession, one being a hard shell egg and the other being a shell-less egg.

It requires heat, possibly moist heat as from a vaporizer, and long patience and calm quiet to get it resolved, but once those eggs were out, you've never seen a happier hen. Or human.