Hen walking like a penguin - is she eggbound?

[pinksleepybear]

One of my hens is poorly - Dru's walking very upright, she looks like a little penguin. She's eating, drinking and pooping ok, but otherwise looks miserable and is very quiet.

I assumed she was egg-bound, so gave her a warm bath up to her vent and she's been on a hot-water bottle overnight. She looks worse this morning - she's got her eyes closed almost all the time.

Is she egg-bound, am I doing the right things?

[RichmondHens]

Egg bound-ness usually presents as the hen in and out of the nest box, straining, but not producing an egg. This then leads to a general hunched up appearance as she feels more and more uncomfortable. If your hen has been a regular layer up till now then she MAY be egg bound, but it's difficult to say without seeing her. Chickens adopt "the penguin stance" when they feel ill, so she may be suffering from something else entirely.

[pinksleepybear]

Thanks for your reply - Dru seemed to be having problems breathing this morning so I put her out of her misery.

I don't even know if she was a regular layer - out of my 5 ex-bats only 1 lays regularly with 1 other laying occasionally, but I'm not sure which ones.

I'll keep a close eye on my other hens today in case it was an illness.

[Suechooks]

That's very sad for you but I'm sure it was right. One of my ex-batts was very swollen around her abdomen and went into the penguin stance so I had her PTS as the vet agreed that it was probably a tumour.
Hope your others are ok.
These little ex-batts are a worry at times aren't they? I have 3 left from original 12 in Jan 2008 and each one lost has been a wrench but at least they are properly cared for in their last months. My 3 only lay occasionally and then it's usually a soft one or thin shell or mis-shapen. I wish they'd retire from laying altogether and enjoy just being alive!