HELP!! Very swollen and bloated eggbound hen, what else can we do for her?

[Chickensarefeathereddogs]

Hello, I've got a 10 1/2 month old Andalusian looking hen, who feels very eggbound and full, named Billie Joe. We noticed last Sunday afternoon when we'd picked her up. She's been separate from the other chickens in dog crate with plenty of pine shavings, water, and food. Billie Joe circles and is making nests, but has had no progress in getting the eggs closer to getting out. Her back side and abdomen are very swollen and bloated, and after a bath and massage we can make out what feels to be three or four eggs in her. Right under the vent, it feels there's a large egg so that's probably the problem. Since Sunday, we've given her multiple baths a day. We've given her calcium carbonate, and crushed tums. We've used olive oil on and in her vent. We've even tried feeling the egg from inside Billie multiple times, and every time it still feels like there's a membrane between our finger and what we think to be the closest egg, so we can't even break the egg as a last chance.
We're stuck at what to do, we've tried everything that we've found.

Last time Billie Joe laid was right around March 21. We didn't think too much of the inconsistency because other hens had just started laying more consistently after this winter.

But now the odd part-
Billie Joe is still eating and pooping normal, and acting happy and relatively content. She's even seeming to still enjoy us drying her with a hair dryer and petting her, something that's mostly new to her. Other than being bloated, she's acting completely normal.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Chickensarefeathereddogs]

Here's some pictures:

Hello, I've got a 10 1/2 month old Andalusian looking hen, who feels very eggbound and full, named Billie Joe. We noticed last Sunday afternoon when we'd picked her up. She's been separate from the other chickens in dog crate with plenty of pine shavings, water, and food. Billie Joe circles and is making nests, but has had no progress in getting the eggs closer to getting out. Her back side and abdomen are very swollen and bloated, and after a bath and massage we can make out what feels to be three or four eggs in her. Right under the vent, it feels there's a large egg so that's probably the problem. Since Sunday, we've given her multiple baths a day. We've given her calcium carbonate, and crushed tums. We've used olive oil on and in her vent. We've even tried feeling the egg from inside Billie multiple times, and every time it still feels like there's a membrane between our finger and what we think to be the closest egg, so we can't even break the egg as a last chance.
We're stuck at what to do, we've tried everything that we've found.

Last time Billie Joe laid was right around March 21. We didn't think too much of the inconsistency because other hens had just started laying more consistently after this winter.

But now the odd part-
Billie Joe is still eating and pooping normal, and acting happy and relatively content. She's even seeming to still enjoy us drying her with a hair dryer and petting her, something that's mostly new to her. Other than being bloated, she's acting completely normal.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Is she standing upright like a penguin? I believe that's a typical sign of being eggbound. If that's not the case I wonder if she's laying internally. Let me tag some helpers.
@EggCentric
@azygous
@Wyorp Rock.

Have you tried an Epsom salts bath, or just a regular bath? Epsom salts may help. Also you can give a whole calcium citrate +D3 tablet right into the beak, she can swallow it whole. Did you know a chicken can swallow a mouse or a frog whole? You can just pull her wattles down gently to open her beak, pop it in, and she'll swallow it no problem.

 

[Chickensarefeathereddogs]

Is she standing upright like a penguin? I believe that's a typical sign of being eggbound. If that's not the case I wonder if she's laying internally. Let me tag some helpers.
@EggCentric
@azygous
@Wyorp Rock.

Have you tried an Epsom salts bath, or just a regular bath? Epsom salts may help. Also you can give a whole calcium citrate +D3 tablet right into the beak, she can swallow it whole. Did you know a chicken can swallow a mouse or a frog whole? You can just pull her wattles down gently to open her beak, pop it in, and she'll swallow it no problem.

She's not standing like a penguin, but her tail is flat and down with her legs splayed out a bit.
For the baths, I have been used epsom salt each time.
On hand I have powdered calcium carbonate with D3, would that be close enough to the tablets you recommended?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is she in distress?
Is she pooping?

If you are feeling masses/eggs in the abdomen below the vent between her legs (on the outside) you may be feeling internally laid eggs, some type of mass or perhaps ones of the lumps is the gizzard.

Giving the Calcium won't hurt, but if she's laid internally, the eggs will not be expelled, there's no way out for them.

IF there's a lot of bloat or fluid, you may be able to drain the fluid to help make her more comfortable. Draining is not a cure and can be risky, draining too much at once can send the hen into shock.

If you do happen to lose her, sending the body for necropsy can give you more information. Or if you are up to it, doing your own can be often be informative as well.

 

[Chickensarefeathereddogs]

Is she in distress?
Is she pooping?

If you are feeling masses/eggs in the abdomen below the vent between her legs (on the outside) you may be feeling internally laid eggs, some type of mass or perhaps ones of the lumps is the gizzard.

Giving the Calcium won't hurt, but if she's laid internally, the eggs will not be expelled, there's no way out for them.

IF there's a lot of bloat or fluid, you may be able to drain the fluid to help make her more comfortable. Draining is not a cure and can be risky, draining too much at once can send the hen into shock.

If you do happen to lose her, sending the body for necropsy can give you more information. Or if you are up to it, doing your own can be often be informative as well.

She is not in distress, and is eating and pooping normally.

There is not an area with a lot of fluid that we
can get to or even know of.

Are chickens with internally laid eggs typically put down or left to live out their life? I want what's best for her and for her to be happy and with the flock, but if she's under a load of pain and just good at masking it, I want to do whatever is most humane.

 

[Chickensarefeathereddogs]

She is not in distress, and is eating and pooping normally.

There is not an area with a lot of fluid that we
can get to or even know of.

Are chickens with internally laid eggs typically put down or left to live out their life? I want what's best for her and for her to be happy and with the flock, but if she's under a load of pain and just good at masking it, I want to do whatever is most humane.

I'd like to clarify, down in her abdomen it is harder to tell if they're eggs, but directly under her vent there is what feels like a very large, shelled egg

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She is not in distress, and is eating and pooping normally.

There is not an area with a lot of fluid that we
can get to or even know of.

Are chickens with internally laid eggs typically put down or left to live out their life? I want what's best for her and for her to be happy and with the flock, but if she's under a load of pain and just good at masking it, I want to do whatever is most humane.

It's up to you to determine her behavior and whether or not she's suffering - you are her keeper and know her best.

Typically, if a hen is able to eat/drink on her own, interact with her flock even if she's a bit slower and is not picked on, then I let her chicken on until she's not able.
Monitor heavily, check for lice/mites and see that the crop is emptying overnight.

 

[Chickensarefeathereddogs]

It's up to you to determine her behavior and whether or not she's suffering - you are her keeper and know her best.

Typically, if a hen is able to eat/drink on her own, interact with her flock even if she's a bit slower and is not picked on, then I let her chicken on until she's not able.
Monitor heavily, check for lice/mites and see that the crop is emptying overnight.

Thank you, I will keep all of that in mind. Tomorrow I'll see how she is and consider having her with the flock for part of the day.

 

[LaFleche]

We've even tried feeling the egg from inside Billie multiple times, and every time it still feels like there's a membrane between our finger and what we think to be the closest egg, so we can't even break the egg as a last chance.

I had this happen many years ago to one of my hens and when I did her necropsy it turned out that there was a hole in her oviduct and the eggs I was feeling were located in her body cavity, hence the membrane when feeling for stuck eggs and her still being able to poop.