Unsecure chicken perches

[LittleOwl]

Hi all,

 

What does it mean when a chicken's bottom is pulsing? It's as if she is trying to continuously push out an egg or some poo.

 

She went to the vet on Sunday with rattly chest and laying properly soft eggs. He felt it was viral but gave antibiotic injections for 2 days, and oral ones for 5 days (today is the 5th). I spoke to him on Thursday and mentioned her bottom was red and swollen and he said it sounded like a viral thing, and to see how she was doing by tuesday (after bank holiday). Yesterday tea time i noticed this pulsing action, and this morning she is still doing it. She is lively and feisty, and seems like she has good colour. She is isolated, and I am letting her on the grass in a crate for a few hours a day too to keep her less stressed.

 

Thanks all.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

The pulsing is normal, it happens all the time. Her bottom shouldn't be red and swollen though - their bottoms can be a little pinky/red, have you compared it to your healthy girls to check it isn't normal? Has she lost feathers or can you see this through the feathers?

[LittleOwl]

Thanks for that. All this time and I didn't know it was normal

 

She does have missing feathers there so I could see it, but it was sticking out further than normal. I took her into the vet as i didn't want her to wait until Tuesday, and he was concerned about how swollen and red it was. He checked she didn't have any eggs stuck, and gave her an anti-inflammatory injection and more antibiotic. Hopefully everything will clear up for her in a day or two.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Does her tummy feel hot and squishy like a water-filled balloon? Is she waddling rather than walking? If so, I'd be a bit concerned it might be peritonitis (although I expect your vet would have diagnosed that if so).

[LittleOwl]

Thank you. He seemed pretty certain it wasn't any form of peritonitis. She has seen him 3 times in the last 7 days so I am hoping that would be enough for him to know - on Thursday he said if it was egg peritonitis she would be dead by now? It was a different vet today and he also didn't think it was. I have just popped her back in her hutch after a few hours outside in a pen, and the swelling and redness is down a lot, though she does still have a minor rattle in her chest - though that could be the stress of being popped back inside. I'll see how she is in the morning - this is a different sort of illness than I've dealt with before.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That's good, it can be a hard thing to cure (although I have managed it once).

 

Fingers crossed she continues to improve.