Satin silkie not eating/drinking, lethargic

[Chrissye96]

My 7.5mo satin silkie hen is suddenly lethargic laying all day in the coop in a corner by herself. She isn’t eating or drinking. Has an empty crop.
She wouldn’t eat when offered feed or worms. She’s kinda in a hunched position at times. She does lay eggs but hasn’t in a few days. This is very sudden. She is normally out squawking to come out and play. She’s like a little storm trooper normally. This isn’t like her at all to be acting this way. She also seemed to be shaking a bit.

The other day i had to trim and clean up some poop that was all over her bum the best i could but i think thats because its getting cold now. I still haven’t wrapped for runs yet because its still saying some days in the 70s ahead.

I’m not sure what to do but im really worried about her.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi, sorry about your pullet. She is gorgeous.

I raise silkies so am aware of their egg-laying frequency and she should have laid an egg by now. Can you get her in a warm epsom salt bath for about 15 minutes or so? That will relax her bum if she's got an egg stuck (eggbound).

If that doesn't do anything, try give her a whole human Calcium +D pill. Try get this in her mouth so she swallows it. I put them in my left arm and use two fingers to get their beak open and with my right, pop it in.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would not soak her at this time since she has been acting cold. But do give her a human calcium citrate with vitamin D tablet orally. Place her on a warm towel in a warm spot.

 

[Chrissye96]

I would not soak her at this time since she has been acting cold. But do give her a human calcium citrate with vitamin D tablet orally. Place her on a warm towel in a warm spot.

How big is the tablet? I’ve never force fed a chicken before so I’m worried about her aspirating

 

[Chrissye96]

Hi, sorry about your pullet. She is gorgeous.

I raise silkies so am aware of their egg-laying frequency and she should have laid an egg by now. Can you get her in a warm epsom salt bath for about 15 minutes or so? That will relax her bum if she's got an egg stuck (eggbound).

If that doesn't do anything, try give her a whole human Calcium +D pill. Try get this in her mouth so she swallows it. I put them in my left arm and use two fingers to get their beak open and with my right, pop it in.

Thanks! I don’t really think she’s egg bound since she lays pretty inconsistently. She just randomly became lethargic yesterday and stopped eating and drinking and same thing today. I did put some nutridrench with a syringe in her beak a little while ago and put her with the other since she was laying alone in the coop. Tomorrow I’m going to give some raw egg with more nutridrench. I don’t have any of the tablets on hand. I also never force fed anything solid to a chicken so worried about choking her

 

[Debbie292d]

Thanks! I don’t really think she’s egg bound

Given your description and the fact that she's not laying eggs, that seems logical. If she is egg-bound, she could die from it.

They can eat things a lot larger than those calcium pills, so this pill won't be as big as you think. Don't poke it down her throat, just put it in her beak and let her swallow it.

 

[Chrissye96]

Given your description and the fact that she's not laying eggs, that seems logical. If she is egg-bound, she could die from it.

They can eat things a lot larger than those calcium pills, so this pill won't be as big as you think. Don't poke it down her throat, just put it in her beak and let her swallow it.

Do you have a photo of the brand you use? I’ll stop at the drugstore after work

 

[Eggcessive]

You can find Equate brand of calcium citrate with D at Walmart for about $8, one of the least expensive ones. Give 300 to 600 mg. If you have Tums on hand, you can break it in pieces, and drop them into her beak to swallow. One of the calcium tablets can be given whole, by opening her beak and dropping it in.
Here is a good video on giving tablets or liquids:

 

[Chrissye96]

You can find Equate brand of calcium citrate with D at Walmart for about $8, one of the least expensive ones. Give 300 to 600 mg. If you have Tums on hand, you can break it in pieces, and drop them into her beak to swallow. One of the calcium tablets can be given whole, by opening her beak and dropping it in.
Here is a good video on giving tablets or liquids:

I do have the berry tums! Do i just break up a whole tum tablet and give it to her?

 

[Debbie292d]

I do have the berry tums! Do i just break up a whole tum tablet and give it to her?

Yes! Or you could grind it up with a little water and syringe it to her, or put it in something small so she would eat the whole thing. Mine won't turn down scrambled eggs, but never tried mixing Tums in it. I guess you could beat just about anything into scrambled eggs though!