Egg bound chicken/chicken Death (graphic pics)

[DucksAndGardens]

I had a year old crested cream legbar that became eggbound. I tried giving calcium, lubing her vent, and manual removal but she sadly passed away. I decided to do a necropsy myself to see how severe the issue was because I could definitely feel the egg but couldn't ever see it at her vent.

Again these are graphic pics so if you are squeamish you probably don't want to look.

When I cut her open yellow liquid yolk came out meaning her abdomen was full of egg yolks, sacs with yolks, and a giant "egg" that was about 4 inches long.

Upon cutting open the blockage egg it was actually a lash egg.

Had I known how bad it was I would have culled her the first day I noticed her acting lethargic.

 

[casportpony]

So sorry for your loss. Thanks for doing the necropsy and posting the pictures.

 

[coach723]

So very sorry. Thanks for posting, may help someone later understand what's going on inside. That was a lot of lash material. And she was so young, mine have all been over 2 years old when this happened.

 

[Parront]

I had a year old crested cream legbar that became eggbound. I tried giving calcium, lubing her vent, and manual removal but she sadly passed away. I decided to do a necropsy myself to see how severe the issue was because I could definitely feel the egg but couldn't ever see it at her vent.

Again these are graphic pics so if you are squeamish you probably don't want to look.

When I cut her open yellow liquid yolk came out meaning her abdomen was full of egg yolks, sacs with yolks, and a giant "egg" that was about 4 inches long.

Upon cutting open the blockage egg it was actually a lash egg.

Had I known how bad it was I would have culled her the first day I noticed her acting lethargic.

Sorry that you lost such a young hen. The photo with the red handle knife gives some idea of the size. That is something I think you would feel when holding the bird! Most would wait on such a young bird, and an expensive legbar, too. But, when feeling something that size, now you can see why you would have to cull. Thank you for taking these photos to help others.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

I'm really sorry for your loss. I hope if and when the time comes I will be brave enough to do my own necropsy. I think it's great that people take the time to understand what went wrong.

 

[aart]

Had I known how bad it was I would have culled her the first day I noticed her acting lethargic.

It can be very hard to tell what is wrong until it's over.
Condolences on your loss ,
but Huge Kudos for opening her up,
and posting pics(which are excellent BTW).

Looks more like 6" long, my exacto handle like that is 4.5" without a blade.
Did her belly feel squishy swollen along with the lump you felt?

 

[DucksAndGardens]

It can be very hard to tell what is wrong until it's over.
Condolences on your loss ,
but Huge Kudos for opening her up,
and posting pics(which are excellent BTW).

Looks more like 6" long, my exacto handle like that is 4.5" without a blade.
Did her belly feel squishy swollen along with the lump you felt?

Her abdomen was firm and hard but I thought it was just from being backed up with poop. She was alert and bright eyed when she first presented which was about 5 days ago. I started epsom salt soaks and calcium delivered by tubing. She was having some issues defecating and I did a manual probing of her vent and felt the egg. Since it was right there I thought she just needed some lube or more soaks to pass it. She didn't actually go downhill until last night.

I think even if I had a vet nearby that would have treated her, she probably would have passed because of the size of the lash egg and the amount of egg material packed into her abdomen. There was very clear infection in her reproductive tract. I was giving her water with vitamins and she was drinking up until yesterday. She passed in the night and I found her this morning and decided that I needed to know what was going on inside. As I said I could feel that egg but I wanted to know why I couldn't see it. I never expected what I found inside. I thought maybe an egg or two, not the giant monster I found. I also thought there might be a tumor blocking her vent but I found no tumors inside. And yes I have to say I went and measured the handle and was 5 inches so that lash egg was closer to 6 inches. I didn't have a measuring tape and I was trying to juggle the phone without getting the mess of the necropsy on my phone.

I was sad to lose her as she was one of my more personable hens but she'd always been a somewhat inconsistent layer. Her sister lays every day but she was sporadic and would only lay about every other day or every 2 days. It's possible that she had a congenital issue that lead to the malfunction of her egg laying and lead to the eggs not passing and turning into lash eggs. I will definitely keep a closer eye on my others and if I run across another situation such as this I will have a better idea on how to proceed.

 

[BlueBaby]

Sorry that happened to your hen and that you lost her! I have a Crested Cream Legbar hen that's 1 1/2 year's old now, and so far she's still laying egg's ok.

 

[sharrielee]

I need help. I have a young Bantem Cochin, this morning she came out of the coop very slowly, eyes half closed and no interest in eating or anything else. I took her in the house and soaked her in Epsom salt tried to get her to eat and drink ,it no luck. I put her in a warm area and kept her quiet. She did pass the egg, but she is still very pitiful. She is still very lethargic and doesn't want to move. Now what?

 

[sharrielee]

I am very afraid for my poor little hen.