Looks like I may lose a hen

One of my new BLRWs is looking Mareks-ish. She was looking unhappy, then suddenly she just flopped over.

She bit my sleeve when I picked her up, so that end's working. Her vent is "pooching" and there's an odd sound (like clicking) coming from inside her, but I can't feel any eggs in her close to her vent.

I put her in a cat carrier with water and a bit of warm scrambled egg. I hope she makes it. I don't have anything for drugs on hand, but if there's something I could get at the farm store I'm willing to give it a try. I'm off to search more about her symptoms.

How old is she? If she's biting she's still quite alert, did she eat the egg?

Well after spending the night inside the house, she was standing up in the kennel, so I brought it outside to see if she's leave it. She did. She walked off, dragging her toes slightly (could have been because she was cramped up in the little kennel??) and promptly jumped into the nesting/laying box. So....fingers crossed! I will let you know how she is later. I don't want to disturb her if she's just starting to lay and having problems, but I'll keep a close eye on her to see how she is.

She did eat some egg and had a few little cups of water since yesterday afternoon, so I doubt it's Marek's. It was very strange though, that she was just flopped over on her side, so I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on her.

Cheers.

That's good to hear. I had a hen awhile ago kind of like that, I think it was a rooster injury, I kept her in the alley way and in a few days she was fine.

Thank you. I hope she's fine too. I hate to see them injured or sick.

Hey! Could have been a pinched nerve or she may have pulled a muscle somehow.

So happy to see she is nearly back to normal! Yay!

That clicking noise, unless coming directly from a foreign object in the throat, is usually lung related. I have had hens who had trauma (dog bite or got wedged in some tight spot) make that click. Was it happening regularly, like it was brought on by breathing? A damaged lung can make that noise.

Once she was in the kennel she was panting a little, but the clicking was coming from the other end.

I had a big sleep in this morning and am just about to head outside. Hopefully she did alright overnight. She was perched when I closed them up last night.

Well, just to end this post on a high note, after a few days back in the coop, she seems 100% back to normal! Yay!!

Maybe she was in shock due to laying her first eggs?? There have been two new, tiny pullet eggs in the nest box every day (she came as half a pair) so who knows. Or like you say, maybe she pinched a nerve, or a dog or horse chased her (doubtful, I was right there). But anyway, I'm hoping it's all in the past now.