Egg binding symptoms but no egg??

Seabright12

Chirping
5 Years
Feb 23, 2016
51
5
84
Oklahoma
My hen Dinah has been acting lethargic lately. She's been laying thin shelled eggs but occasionally I find one of her eggs with excess calcium deposits. I have always given them oyster shell and their own egg shells for them. When she wouldn't get up this morning, I suspected egg binding. She keeps pumping her vent and she has watery poop.

I gave her calcium, rubbed some Vaseline on her vent and given her two warm baths. When I finally managed to insert my finger inside her vent to feel for an egg, I couldn't feel anything. I was able to insert my finger over 2 inches in and then she defecated, again very watery.

She seems more alert now than she was this morning. She's also eating and drinking just fine. Is she just constipated?
 
How old is she? Watery droppings can be a result of drinking a lot of water, or from worms or some type of infection. What color are they? Any pictures? Since she has laid some softies, that can sometimes be normal in new or very old layers, but also may be a sign of a reproductive disorder. Is she lying around more, or losing her appetite? Offer her some clean water, and add some vitamin with electrolytes for chickens if you have some. Sometimes offering some chopped egg, tuna, liver, or meat can get them to eat a little better, plus get some vitamins and protein into them. Just don't overdo it. Check her crop to see if it is partly full, soft, firm, doughy, puffy, or empty. Look her over for any lice or mites around her vent.
 
She is about a year and half old. She has been drinking a lot of water since it's hot here. I don't have any pictures but her droppings are mostly white with a little bit of solid brown and a tinge of yellow. She ate all of the egg I gave her and has been drinking water with nutri drench and seems to have perked up now. She even talks to me a little when I go check on her. Her crop is full but soft. I don't see any mites or lice but her feathers are very worn, some broken off which I suspect could be depluming mites since I think they are invisible. Could it be mites making her feel this way?
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom