# Chicken walking funny



## hobbyfarmrookie (Oct 11, 2010)

I have a white aracuna chicken about 3 months that walks funny.  She stands sort of like a penguin: head very high, tail nearly on ground.  When I pick her up there does not appear to be any problems with her legs, they move just fine.  As I move them she does not appear to be hurting. 

Looks almost like a pup scooting on their butt when they have worms.  This just recently started.  Vent looks normal.

Can anyone tell me what the problem is and is there anything I can do for her?


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## patandchickens (Oct 12, 2010)

You might do better to post over on BYC, but "walking like a penguin" is most often the sign of a chicken that has become an internal layer or is on her way to it. Do you happen to know if this particular hen has laid much lately? Also how does her lower abdomen (the belly in front of the legs) feel when you palpate it? 

If the lower abdomen seems "overinflated" or full or hard or heavy, it is almost certainly internal laying. To the extent that there's anything you can do, you can try putting her in a quiet dim environment with no more than 8-9 hrs of read-a-newspaper daylight per day, as this tends to shut down the ovaries and in *some* (not most) cases can allow the body to deal with the problem and recombobulate. Most times though internal laying winds up as peritonitis and eventual death.

Another possibility would be that she is eggbound, which occasionally presents like that. You mght be able to palpate an egg in there. Warm water sitzbaths while you hold the hen (um I mean the HEN is in the warm sitzbath not you, obviously ) are reputed to help and certainly don't seem to do any harm.

Best of luck,

Pat


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## hobbyfarmrookie (Oct 12, 2010)

patandchickens, Thanks for your comments I have also posted this on BYC at the same time.  I do not think she has laid and the other hen the same age has not either.  I'm not sure she is even old enough but I will check her abdomen.   Thanks again for the help.


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## patandchickens (Oct 12, 2010)

Oh wait, I totally missed that she is just 3 months old. *Really* just 3 months? Not only is that too young for eggbound or internal laying, it is too young for *any* laying.

If she's an Araucana (a real one, that is, not just an EE) you couldn't by any chance be mistaking her tailllessness for odd posture? I mean, remember this breed (the real ones) do not HAVE tails, so they can look kind of peculiarly upright or truncated-behind?  (If she is an EE or an Ameraucana, or if you are well-familiar with the Araucana breed and this ain't it, then I apologize -- just tossing it out in case)

Pat


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