What’s wrong with my favorite hen?

[Lisanfloyd]

2 days ago my sweetest hen who interacts with me the most, started acting funny. She’s all puffed up and not wanting the other chickens around her. I thought maybe she was getting broody for the first time, but last night she came out of the nest box and just sat around. She seems very lethargic. She did go in the coop, but perched alone all night. She did come out this morning. She’s eaten and drank a little. I have not seen her poop. I cannot feel an egg. I gave her a warm epsom salt bath (she seemed to like) and now I have her resting on a heating pad… see photos. She does act like she’s going to poop and seems to strain and then gives up. What else can I do?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would check inside her vent with a clean finger inserted 1-2 inches for a stuck egg or obstruction. Is her eyelid puffy in the picture? How does her crop feel—empty and flat, full, hard or puffy? Offer some scrambled egg and a little wet feed. Make sure that she is drinking water. A dose of Poultry NutriDrench 2 ml would be good. Look for any lice or mites on her skin under her belly and elsewhere. Does she lay often and have the eggs been normal?

 

[Lisanfloyd]

I would check inside her vent with a clean finger inserted 1-2 inches for a stuck egg or obstruction. Is her eyelid puffy in the picture? How does her crop feel—empty and flat, full, hard or puffy? Offer some scrambled egg and a little wet feed. Make sure that she is drinking water. A dose of Poultry NutriDrench 2 ml would be good. Look for any lice or mites on her skin under her belly and elsewhere. Does she lay often and have the eggs been normal?

Thank you for your reply! Her eyelids aren’t puffy as far as I can tell. She looks normal, but doesn’t act normal. Her crop feels empty today, but over last few days has been full at times. There are no lice or mites. She’s clean and spoiled. Her coop and run are about 17 weeks old, like her. She’s a good layer of tiny white eggs…one almost every day, but not for at least 3 days now. All her eggs have been normal. She’s an old English game bantam so she is very tiny. I will get her scrambled eggs and some nutri-water and check her vent again! Thank you for the guidance!

 

[Lisanfloyd]

Her vent is tiiiny, but I can’t feel anything. She does freak out when I do that, but has been tolerant of everything else. She got excited and ate two bites of eggs and the pooped a watery poop. Then she got puffy again and put herself back in the box. She’s currently standing on the heating pad. (The oily look to her backside is the lubricant… she otherwise looks normal.)

 

[Swbertrand1]

How old is she, and has she ever been de-wormed? Lethargy is a symptom of worm infestation in the digestive tract since the worms sap the nutrients that should be going to the chicken...

 

[Swbertrand1]

Her vent is tiiiny, but I can’t feel anything. She does freak out when I do that, but has been tolerant of everything else. She got excited and ate two bites of eggs and the pooped a watery poop. Then she got puffy again and put herself back in the box. She’s currently standing on the heating pad. (The oily look to her backside is the lubricant… she otherwise looks normal.)

When checking the vent, it often helps to lubricate your finger with some K-Y jelly or other lubricant first. Checking might be irritating her if your finger is not lubed...

 

[Lisanfloyd]

How old is she, and has she ever been de-wormed? Lethargy is a symptom of worm infestation in the digestive tract since the worms sap the nutrients that should be going to the chicken...

Thank you for your response. She’s seventeen weeks. I have never dewormed them.

 

[Lisanfloyd]

Currently…

 

[Swbertrand1]

17 weeks is a bit young for worms, though we did a de-worming on two 13 week-old Silkies recently just in case because of some weird behavior with no ill effects on the birds...

EDIT: I just screwed up and lost all that I had typed by closing the browser - doh!

Her stool looks pretty normal, but a bit wet. How does her crop feel, full, empty, squishy, firm? Was her crop full last night when retiring to the coop? Did it empty overnight?

Is it possible that her feed got contaminated with water and/or got moldy at all? Could she have eaten a poisonous plant (poisonous to chickens) in your yard or run?

 

[Swbertrand1]

I edited my post immediately above...