A Jealous Chicken

Our kindly chicken father, who lives nearby, his name is Jim. It was Jim who awakened us to the news one day that one of our flock, Miss Frizzle, was not herself. Jim said he thought she was egg blocked.

A quick chicken browser action informed us that egg block is a serious condition that can also halt the progress of elimination and eventually lead to the demise of the chicken. We were concerned.

The web also informed us that some symptoms of egg block are that the chicken imitates a penguin, waddling in an almost upright position instead of the usual chicken walk. The egg blocked chicken has no appetite and does not socialize with the flock. She holds her tail feathers down instead of the usual perky upright position. In addition, It may be possible to find the unlaid egg in the chicken by feeling around her abdomen, or you might feel some shell of an egg that has broken inside. We actually did this with the help of our friend, Anne, and couldn’t feel any of these things.

A few remedies were offered, and we chose the one that looked most attractive to those like us with limited chicken experience and lots of empathy and personal involvement with a stricken chicken.

Here is the remedy:

•  Take one chicken
•  Immerse said chicken in a bath of warm water containing
•  1/4 cup epson salts
•  Hold the chicken (feet down) in the bath for 15 minutes
•  Say the following:
•  “That’s a good chicken”
•  “That’s a nice chicken”
•  “That’s a beautiful chicken”
•  Stroke the chicken’s head, neck, and comb gently

This remedy is designed to relax the chicken, making it easier for her to expel the   egg or pieces of egg.

Here are the complications of the remedy:

1. Just try to catch a chicken who doesn’t want the remedy.

2. It’s not good for chickens to remain wet, as they can be susceptible to complications from being  cold.

3. Fifteen minutes holding a chicken in warm water seems like a very long time, even if you are saying the required soothing words above.

4. It seems a little strange to be saying these nice things to a chicken.

Luckily, Jim is adept at catching a chicken, demonstrating an unexpected burst of agility and quickness at the last minute that just takes your breath away. We administered the remedy on a very hot day, avoiding complications from chilling the chicken. We performed the operation together which made the time holding the chicken in the bath go faster. I have no suggestions for the 4th complication.

The result of all this is that we had a nice relaxed chicken who was standing in a more usual chicken position, but her tail feathers were still down, and she was still  lethargic. After another day of watching her revert to the waddle, we took her to a vet who found liquid in her abdomen and put her on a broad spectrum antibiotic which we were to administer twice a day.

“Hey Jim, time to catch the chicken!”

I became adept at pushing 1/2  tablet into a chicken’s mouth in such a way that she would swallow it.

Mini-me is our smallest chicken, but the top of the pecking order, She loves to be held, visits with us outside the coop, and is the most like a pet. After each of our medical interventions, mini-me would wait for Miss Frizzle to be placed back in the chicken run and then dish out a peck or two to show her displeasure at someone else receiving our attention. Jealousy in a chicken! Any remedies for that?

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