URGENT HELP PLEASE

[stuffthenonsense]

hi, one of my chickens is standing strangely, virtually upright, and dragging its bottom. it doesnt want to walk and has waddled into a corner, i think it might die, can i help her in any way????

segregate her from the others if you can. hens will pick on poorly or injured hens. as she cant move quickly she wont be able to get away from them and they will bully her
take her/ring vet first thing in the morning
if you need to bring her inside then put her in an open box (or if closed with large ventilation slits) some newspaper/sawdust in the bottom. offer her by hand a small bowl of water in case she is thirsty every half hour or so until you go to bed. if box is open put an old towel over most of the top and leave her in a dark room overnight

Could she be egg bound? Are you able to have a feel to see if there's anything stuck inside her vent?

She is egg bound. The fully or partially formed egg gets stuck It happens to older hens and particularly ex batts who have had the life laid out of them. If you clean and vaseline your hands then you can have a poke around. However, being brutal (sorry!) once it happens once it does seem to keep on happening. Might be better to do the decent thing by her now rather than keeping her uncomfortable. Your vet might be able to do something but similarly it is a sign of problems - usually old or exbatts seem to be most prone. Good luck i am sure you will do the right thing by her.

thanks for the advice everyone, i will take her to the vet, poor thing, its a bad week for animals in my house, my dear little cat has just been diagnosed with a terminal tumour

Did you take her to the vet? What happened?

Oh dear it is so sad. Made appointment to see vet but she never got there. A blo0dy fox got in, DURING THE DAY!!!! Massacred the lot, just left them there. So so distressing and I've had to have my gorgeous cat put down today too. Cancer. I cannot believe how awful this week has been. But thank you all for your advice. Will have to find out how the dratted fox got into their 8 foot high walled run and then start again. :(

Oh no so sorry. How upsetting.

how awful, so sorry.

Very sorry for you. I absolutely hate foxes. Do you know anyone else nearby who keeps chickens because sometimes it is a good idea to have a different pair of eyes look at the area once you think it is foxproofed. Somone else always picks up on something you miss. Wait a couple of weeks at least though before you get any more hens. You need to do something really nice for yourself today as you certainly need cheering after such a heartbreaking week.