4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[emmaw298]

hi, need some advice please.

peggy one of my ex batts has suddenly become ill today. she came out the eglu as normal but with a bit of a messy vent area, she did eat some food but now looks very haunched and miserable with clear mucousy diarrhoea with white streaks in it just pouring out of her -almost looks like bits of eggwhite. she is just sitting in the nestbox and when disturbed will come out, drinks lots of water and then goes back in. she is sort of waddling, low to the ground and appears very trembly when trying to walk. it has happened so quick so seemed fine first thing this morning! she definitely laid yesterday but only had 2 eggs today which I suspect were the other 2 hens. could she be eggbound or could it be perotonitis??

her vent area is very messy, covered in this mucous stuff. felt around externally around the vent and couldn't feel any stuck eggs but not really sure if it would need to be internally felt which I'm a bit wary about doing incase I hurt her / break the egg..

her crop feels very full and liquidy which I assume is all the water she's drank. it doesnt feel hard like when mabel had an impacted crop.

she's been fine all week - no signs of a developing infection although one of them has had slightly 'squitty' poos this week, though this isn't unusual for them and usually seems related to eating too many worms/slugs so I wasnt concerned - however, maybe it was peggy....?

 

help please!

[Egluntyne]

She does sound poorly.

 

It could be any one of a number of things.

 

She could have overdosed on worms and slugs.

 

I'd be inclined to keep her on just pellets and water, with only bokashi bran and Avipro or probiotic yoghurt as extras, if you have them to hand.

 

I'd bring her in tonight and keep her warm, so that she doesn't expend too much energy trying to keep herself warm. Try to keep her hydrated, although you do say that she is drinking at the mo.

 

Put her in a cardboard box with shredded paper. It might need changing a few times.

 

If she gets any worse, I'd take her to the vet tbh.

 

If she improves, I'd give her a few days to settle on a plainish diet, and then I'd worm her.

 

Good luck. Let us know how she gets on.

[emmaw298]

thank you, she was wormed 2 weeks ago so would be surprised, however they do eat a lot of worms and slugs, particularly recently with all the wet weather.

she isn't eating anything now, she was offered sweetcorn earlier but couldn't muster the energy. will just offer her plain things now and bring her in overnight. she has just stepped out of the run and is standing still, all puffy.

I'm concerned as these are exactly the same symptoms that mabel had before she died (after having pulled through the impacted crop episode). the vet said at the time the symptoms were similar to salmonella, however all tests came back negative for salmonella, coccidiosis, avian flu (!) and worms - never did find out the cause..

I also thought ex bats were vaccinated against salmonella but I could be wrong??

[Lisa]

I am sorry that I can't offer any advice as I am new to chicken keeping myself. However, I bow down to Egluntine who is very experienced and would ditto everything she said.

 

I hope Peggy is feeling better soon.

[emmaw298]

Thank you...

i've brought her in and when I did, I noticed something hanging out of her bottom and (putting my own squeamish feelings aside), I pulled it out

it's a piece of soggy soft eggshell and I also noticed that she smells of really bad rotton egg. do you think this means she's eggbound? should I be doing anything else?

there's still mucousy stuff coming out of her, so maybe she is expelling it herself???

any ideas?

all advice much appreciated x

[Egluntyne]

Sounds as if she was struggling to get rid of a soft egg, which has broken inside her.

 

She may perk up now, they often do.

 

I would clean her up and observe her for a while. Sometimes a second soft egg can be in the pipe line.

 

Can you give her some extra calcium ie some limestone flour or a liquid supplement such as Zolcal D? This should help firm up the egg shells and strengthen the muscular contractions required to expel the egg.

 

If she seems no better, and the rotten egg smell persists, I should take her to a vet, as it is possible that infection could have set in, as a broken egg is an ideal medium for bacteria to grow in.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Sorry to hear about your poorly girl, but it's good you now know what's causing it. Hope she perks up and the vet's not needed.

[emmaw298]

well, this morning went in to see her and the remains of a soft rubbery eggshell and bits of a broken yolk and white were all in the bottom of the box, so guess that was the problem.

she has perked up a bit so put her back outside with the others and she is eating a little bit - ive made a porridge of mash, avipro, bokashi bran and limestone flour. I do regularly give them limestone but I guess now they free range so much more then they are eating less of their regular food. (not sure what to do about perhaps keeping them in the run a bit more after all the recent discussions about it being stressful to restrict them once they've got used to being out so much - but thats another debate).

her crop is still full of liquid this morning - its not hard, just all slushly. would her digestive system just shut down for a bit while she was getting rid of the softie or do you think this is a sign she has an infection, perhaps from further bits of soft egg still inside? may take her to the vets tomorrow but wasn't impressed with their chicken knowledge last time...

thinking of getting some maggots later but not sure if this will be a bit much for her at the mo..?

[mot336]

Glad to hear she is better this morning!

[emmaw298]

hi - thank you for the messages, peggy seems much better now - a miraculous recovery! who would have thought a soft egg would cause so many problems??

I am calling myself a chicken midwife from now on - my friends think its gross helping her to get rid of her stuck egg but the things we do for our hens...!

her crop has gone down now too and working properly so I assume her system just stopped working while she was trying to get rid of the egg.

 

thanks again for the advice - this forum is an invalulable source of help and advice

emma xx

[Egluntyne]

Good to hear that she is improving.