what does Egg bound mean?

Eggbound means they have an egg in there that needs to be laid but got stuck. Can you check her abdomen and see if she has a mass in it or an egg shape in it?

The method to fix is bring hen in house and put her in tub of warm water and massage her abdomen so she can lay egg (about 1/2 hour i think). My hen didnt like that so I got a heating pad on her bum and sat with her in my lap for a while.

Eggbound is when an egg gets stuck in the oviduct as the hen is trying to lay it.

It happened to my Matilda last fall, and I could feel the egg in there by palpating her lower abdomen -- dunno whether or not you can *always* feel it but I think you often/usually can. She also prolapsed from straining at the stuck egg, but I guess they don't always.

Here are some threads discussing treatment of eggbound chickens: http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=26414
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=24840


There are many others, but note that that eggbound seems often to be confused with internal laying and/or salpingitis, as well as plenty of other problems.

OTOH, does your hen seem actually ill -- under the weather -- or is it concievable she is just feeling broody? <crossed fingers>

Good luck,

Pat, in Canada

If you could get her to eat some homemade oatmeal that might help also

I would put her in a kennel in the house and check with other people and the link given above. You may want to make some oatmeal for her. Keep her warm and quiet. I am not an expert by any means so maybe some one else has more input

It does sound like she might be eggbound, and a warm sitzbath sounds like a good thing to try.

When I went thru this with Matilda it was suggested to me, very sensibly i think, to make sure she had plenty of calcium-rich foods to eat -- I gave her yogurt, and I think crushed Tums as well. To help the egg-movin'-along muscles work at optimal strength. (edited to add: oh, and vitamins in here water)

Good luck,

Pat

so how does the warm water work ive never heard of this and does it really come out???:|