[geri]

Hi, I am new to chicken keeping only having had four since mid Nov, bought as point of lay, all was going well until today. One of them spent the morning looking very sorry for herself, puffed up and hunched over. She wasn't interested in food or water. As it is so cold I brought her inside where she spent afew hours in a straw filled box next in the radiator. She didn't try to get out of the box but had plenty to drink and looked a lot happier. This afternoon I put her out with the other where she had some corn and pecked about. However after about 10 mins or so she was back to standing still puffed up. She has now gone into the hen house with the others. Can anyone suggest what may be wrong and what I should be doing? Would it be better if she slept inside tonight to keep warm or am I worrying unnecessarily

[Vember]

Hi Geri

Welcome to the Hen House

Could she be trying to pass an egg?
Has she laid recently that you know of?

Sometimes when a hen lays a soft shelled egg they become quite withdrawn as you describe. Once the egg is out they seem to pick straight back up again

Have you given her a good look over especially round her rear? Have a gentle feel from under her vent down towards her legs - be very careful if there is an egg she's having trouble with you should be able to feel it

Sarah

[geri]

None of them have started laying yet so this could be the problem. If I feel anything what should I do?

[Vember]

If she is egg bound try this:

Sit her in a tub of warm soapy water
Make sure the vent is submerged for about 30 minutes, this may seem like a long time, but you have to relax the vent area and make is subtle for the egg to pass through, it really does help the hen, 85% of the time this will be all that you will need to do for her and the egg will pass out with a little push from her
You can rub some lubricant around the vent area if you think that may help too, KY jelly, petroleum jelly, Vaseline or Olive Oil all work fine.
Make sure you isolate her from the other hens, or they will peck at her vent causing more damage

Put her into an isolation cage, put plenty of news paper down first and then put heated towels down they will act like a heat pad for her, no drafts when she is wet or she will catch a chill
You can heat up towels in your microwave, works a treat
If you have a heat pad that would be even better, put plenty of towels over it or it will get messy
Leave her for a little while to see if she passes the egg, if not, repeat the warm water and soap again

My own personal experience has only been when the egg has been showing at the vent (with my goose), I mangaged to help it out with the  assistance of oil

Hope that helps :?

Have they got access to grit & oyster shell :?


Sarah

[poultrygeist]

As an alternative, she may be laying a soft egg as her first try. These are very difficult for them to lay, since it's like trying to push a balloon down a drainpipe :shock:

Hopefully she'll be much perkier tomorrow but Vember has a lot of experience with poultry so keep the vaseline on standby

Rob

Welcome to the forums by the way  

[geri]

Thanks for the advice. Have had a good feel but can't feel anything. Any more ideas?. Will keep a close eye on her.

[Foxy]

Hello geri, if you cant feel anything  like an egg as Vember has suggested it maybe something else..
Firstly I know you mention POL -how old are they do you think?
Can you describe her dropping too, they can often give us a clue when chooks are a bit off colour.
Also have a look for any sniffles or coughs

Here is a link to poo piccys -hope you've had your tea! :shock:

poo link

[Vember]

As Rob said you might find it is just a soft shell
Keep a close eye on her

I'm presuming you feed them on layers pellets & they have grit & oyster shell at all times :?

Sarah

[geri]

They are approx 26 weeks old and have layers pellets, I was told to mix grit and oyster shell into the feeder with the pellets and not to worry about separate containers, is this correct.

As for the poo....I haven't eaten tea yet, in the process of cooking!
 Didn't notice anything too unusual when cleaning out but some was quite dark and like thin worms could this be anything.

[Vember]

Have you had a look at the poo pictures in the link that Foxy put up ?
Is it like any of those :?


Sarah

[geri]

Went to let them out this morning and found her dead. Can't believe it happened so quickly as Friday she seemed fine. Worried about the others now although they seem ok at the moment. Do you think she could have picked up a virus or eaten something.

[poultrygeist]

That's really sad news geri

There's a long list of possibilities, as you'd expect. Without a post-mortem I think you'd be struggling to tell.

It may be wise to give the coop a good scrub with some disinfectant if you can, weather permitting.

Maybe someone can give a few ideas based on the symptoms.

Rob

[Vember]

Really sorry to hear that Geri :cry:

Sarah

[geri]

Going to scrub out coop as it is quite dry and bright at moment should I use Poutry Shield or something like Jeyes?.The thing is apart from her sitting puffed up and hunched there didn't seem to be any other symptoms. Her eyes were quite bright , and there was no discharge from her beak. Her vent was also clean. She happily followed the others into the house last night so I had thought she would be OK. Guess I'll just have to put it down to experience. Thanks for all your advice

[poultrygeist]

I think jeyes would be best but obviously would need to dry properly before the girls return.

As far as I know poultry shield only tackles creepy-crawlies.

Jeyes gets the viruses and bacteria.

Rob