Please help: Chicken having trouble walking

[susannalynnwilds]

Hi everyone. I have a three year old chicken who has started having difficulty walking. She will start to walk and then become wobbly and fall over. She also appears to be very lethargic and is incredibly thirsty/drinking water more than she usually does. This behavior began today, April 21st, however she has been a problem chicken since I've had her. She has never been able to lay a proper egg, that is, if she lays one at all. I'd say she's laid less than a dozen eggs in her three years and they have all been weak or broken. Any supplements or aid I've tried to lend her in hopes of remedying her egg laying situation has been of no help. She has also had several cases of sour crop that I have treated successfully. I knew the day would eventually come where she would inherent an ailment that will inevitably end her short life, but I'd like to seek some advice from anyone here who might have insight as to what is going on with her currently.

Thank you for reading!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Wobbly usually means they are losing a lot of weight and are getting weak. Have you felt her breast bone to see how sharp it is?

 

[susannalynnwilds]

Wobbly usually means they are losing a lot of weight and are getting weak. Have you felt her breast bone to see how sharp it is?

Thank you so much for your reply. She still has a very healthy amount of weight on her/no weight loss is apparent. And this evening I noticed that she was also gurgling and her crop was very swollen. On top of whatever is causing her wobbles, it seems as though she has sour crop again, so I treated her with some yeast meds before her bedtime. Another thing to note: she was in the nesting box for at least 3 hours today and did not produce an egg. I am wondering if she may be egg bound? Can this happen at her age, having never really laid much before?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sometimes they lay in the nest boxes to hide if they aren't feeling well. I have never had luck fixing crop issues long term. I believe most times it's from foreign bodies in the crop like string and things like screw or staples. Chickens will eat nearly everything. Or there's something further down in the digestive tract that prevents the crop from emptying. Things like tumors pushing on the intestines. I'm not sure how more you can do to help her. So sorry.