Help! Egg bound hen!

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Bigwig

Bigwig

Songster
5 Years
Jan 8, 2015
345
20
101
NC
HELP! My hen has an egg stuck inside of her (probable egg bound). I have put mineral oil in and around her cloaca. The egg is huge! It is close to the opening, close enough for her rump to protrude outwards. She has been like this for five days now. I will soak her rump in Epsom salts tomorrow but in the meantime is there anything else I can do for her?
 
They need to be given calcium but I'm still not sure what the quickest and most efficient form of calcium is- especially when oyster shell is already out free choice.
 
Five days seems like a long time for her to survive. The usual treatment is to lubricate the cloaca as you have done, and place her in warm warter while massaging thelower abdomen toward the vent. A calcium tablet, Tums, or liquid calcium gluconate can be given orally. Is she passing droppings? Is she drinking, since dehydration, over-sized eggs, and low calcium levels can lead to egg binding? Does she have a prolapse with the stuck egg? Adding sugar to a swollen prolapse can help shrink the tissue in order to push it back inside. I would get her to a vet in the morning to break the egg inside her, and remove it. I wouldn't try that myself since it is very risky.
 
She is eating and drinking a little and she is able to poop. She does not have prolapse.
 
I would get the egg out. There's plenty of info online on how to do it... If she doesn't make it at least your tried. Can't see not trying at least if she is really suffering for so long.
 
Bigwig, can you see the egg, or feel it? Can you get a picture. I have seen pictures of eggs which have become coated with numerous layers of internal tissue becoming huge, and they can actually block the vent, eventually killing the chicken. There is also a possibility that it is a tumor, or a lash egg. Is the vent bulging out? Look at theis thread with pictures, especially posts 36-39 for pictures of huge abnormal eggs (warning, they are graphic:)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/950939/egg-binding/30
 
Last edited:
My hen is still egg bound (or maybe she has one of the ailments that Eggcessive mentioned in a previous thread). I have soaked her in warm (sometimes bordering on hot) water with and without epsom salts. I have also put mineral oil around and in her cloaca and a daily basis, and rubbed the area around cloaca as her back and belly. I have also tried to push the egg out by pushing around the egg. I also gave her calcium. Is there anything else I can do? If the egg is fertile (very likely due to the fact that I have two randy EE roosters) could a chick survive inside the egg and try to hatch inside of her?
 

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