Is there any prevention for egg binding?

[Beverrlly]

I lost a chicken over the holidays and when hubby examined it, it appears that she got egg bound. There was an old egg stuck in her vent. Someone else was keeping an eye on the farm and we set up all the animals as best we could before going to visit family for a few days. Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening to any more of my hens? None of them are laying yet (to my knowledge) so I'm thinking this was the dead hen's first egg attempt. Thank you.

 

[rockabilly7]

I own reptiles and they can also egg bind and it usually happens when something in their environment isnt right or is off. I would just double check everything your doing and maybe add some vitamins or something to their diet. Just hope for the best!!!!

 

[deenamr]

I believe that providing a calcium supplement is very important. My hens have free choice for oyster shell plus I mix a little in their layer crumbles. I had a problem with an eggbound lovebird last year. 3 emergency trips to the vet in 3 months - good thing I work there or she would have been a very expensive bird. She refused to eat the calcium blocks I had in her cage - so I crushed tums and mixed the powder in her food and haven't had a problem since.

 

[silkiechicken]

It's not unusual for a first time layer to have laying issues and just die at point of lay. Point of lay is another risky point in life and often you can't do anything about it.

One minor thing to keep an eye on is new or old layers coming in to lay after a long winter. If they get a bit too many goodies and they put on weight, fatty tissue can build up around the reporductive tracts and make egg laying harder and prolapse a greater risk. Trim chickens are healthy chickens in that respect.

 

[Beverrlly]

Thanks. I'll keep an eye on the rest of them.

 

[susanp970]

I've read that calcium is very important in preventing egg binding. I will start putting a bit of olive oil in their water and see if that helps?

 

[enola]

How would olive oil in their water help? Just curious.....

 

[susanp970]

I'm going to try,

 

[susanp970]

~~If the hen is ailing because of a blockage, the olive oil will help. The olive oil helps to get things moving. This works for impacted crops, ingestion of toxic plants, and bound eggs (it doesn’t actually reach the eggs in the reproductive tract, but it helps move the manure, which alleviates blockage).Info from
http://hencam.com/faq/diagnosing-a-sick-chicken/

A dose of olive oil cant hurt

 

[casportpony]

I've read that calcium is very important in preventing egg binding. I will start putting a bit of olive oil in their water and see if that helps?

Oil in water? it will just float. Even if they did eat/drink it, it gets digested, so no point.

-Kathy