Another Egg Bound Hen.

[casportpony]

Thanks so much, our hen passed a respectable egg overnight so we are breathing a big sigh of relief this morning. I am sorry for your loss.     @casportpony
 is the person who may be able to answer your questions or point you in the right direction. Could she have laid a really large egg somewhere while she was free ranging in the morning? My girl's vent wasn't wide open like that, I had to use my finger to check for an egg and I had to push  bit to get in there. 

Thank you also. Our free range area is quite small and I'm out there the whole time feeding rabbits, quail, ducks and our goose. Plus cleaning out the coop, hutches & pens. I would have definitely seen an egg had she laid it anywhere out there. This is our 2nd chicken loss. We lost our first Americauna a couple months back and was told that she probably crushed an egg inside her. We were able to get a replacement pullet from that feed store. They had no other Americaunas so we chose an Australorp. We found another Americauna too. So we have only 6 hens and Frizzle our roo now which is plenty for us

Those of us in CA get free necropsies at UC Davis (limit two per) day. Eligible species are chickens, waterfowl, turkeys and *maybe* some types of gamebirds, but peafowl are $120, though I have been able to have that fee waived on a few of mine.

Four labs to choose from, so if you're close to Davis, Turlock, Tulare or San bernardino you coul drop them off there. They also let us use their FedEx account, so shipping them is what I do. Last time I sent a large bird the shipping was only $20 for overnight.

-Kathy


-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Hmmm....I'm really not liking this season too much so far. I have 4 hens who are either having issues laying or are laying weird eggs, I have 3 that are laying just fine, and 7 that haven't even started to lay yet. I need some fingers crossed, prayers, or whatever your willing to send this way this morning, because I have one of my favorite girls steaming it up in my bath tub right now. I found her on the ground this morning, she was due to lay last night. She is semi-paralyzed so I know it's egg binding. Did a vent check and the egg is right there about 1/2 inch in, I lubed as best as I could with olive oil, (no KY on hand). She has had 5 ccs of calcium gluconate watered down, and it is about 85-90 in the bathroom now. This is not a tame imprinted hen, so she is not liking all this. I've avoided trying to massage it out to try to keep the stress lower. She is still able to poop as she has done so on me twice now.

Hope she pulls through. We lost one of our RI reds yesterday. I am new at this but looking back should have realized something wasn't right bc she was sitting on the coop floor the past 2-3 days at odd hours. She looked healthy so thought she was just deciding to sit fir a change instead of roosting. She came out and free ranged a bit in the a.m. too. When I picked her up to examine her I noticed her vent (I think that's the egg popper hole right?)was wide open-a huge round gaping hole. But saw no egg in her or around her and no blood. Anyone know what this could be that would have caused her death? RIP Sweet Polly

Sorry for your loss... Google poultry prolapse and see if that's what you saw. Sitting on the floor of the coop is definetly not normal, but not much you can do now except learn from the experience. Next time you have one that looks off, pick it up and give it a thorough exam, which includes checking for an egg. Might also want to honk about a de-worming program if you're not already on one. -Kathy

 

[Lynn Manes]

Those of us in CA get free necropsies at UC Davis (limit two per) day. Eligible species are chickens, waterfowl, turkeys and *maybe* some types of gamebirds, but peafowl are $120, though I have been able to have that fee waived on a few of mine.

Four labs to choose from, so if you're close to Davis, Turlock, Tulare or San bernardino you coul drop them off there. They also let us use their FedEx account, so shipping them is what I do. Last time I sent a large bird the shipping was only $20 for overnight.

-Kathy


-Kathy

Thanks Kathy. That's good to know for the future. We are in Bakersfield but Tulare is about an hour from us. UC Davis area is too far away for us to go. I am not sure how important it is for us to get necropsies done as we are raising our birds for our own needs only. Always good to have this info available though

 

[Lynn Manes]

Sorry for your loss... Google poultry prolapse and see if that's what you saw. Sitting on the floor of the coop is definetly not normal, but not much you can do now except learn from the experience. Next time you have one that looks off, pick it up and give it a thorough exam, which includes checking for an egg. Might also want to honk about a de-worming program if you're not already on one.

-Kathy

Ok thanks. I'll google that. Not on any vaccine programs. I'll look into it. We also don't buy medicated feed.

 

[thndrdancr]

kathy, I have a question. I ordered calcium gluconate and didn't realize it came in such s big bottle. If I put a bit in my birds water, would that be a good way of making sure they get calcium in them?
Not having an issue but I know some birds just don't like oyster shell it seems.

Probably a dumb question, but I wished I had known all this when my housechook died of these issues.

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

Thank you guys, the problem is i have another hen with egg bound i guess, i really don't want to lose this one too, she was laying in the nest since 8 pm, she didn't lay the egg yet, now its almost 10:30 pm, she is opening her mouth like she dehydration, should i start giving her some fluids?

ETA: Forgot to say she is still moving a bit if i get close to her, and she pooped a tiny watery poo 10 minutes ago.

 

[DylansMom]

Thank you guys, the problem is i have another hen with egg bound i guess, i really don't want to lose this one too, she was laying in the nest since 8 pm, she didn't lay the egg yet, now its almost 10:30 pm, she is opening her mouth like she hydrated, should i start giving her some fluids?

ETA: Forgot to say she is still moving a bit if i get close to her, and she pooped a tiny watery poo 10 minutes ago.

When she moves does it look like her legs are weak or not working correctly? Have you done a vent check? If she has an egg I would definitely give fluids and calcium . Kathy said oral fluids, of 60 ml and then repeat 60 -90 minutes later with another 60 ml, if the crop has emptied from the first round. Mine was panting like that when she was paralyzed.

 

[casportpony]

Can you post a video of her breathing?

-Kathy

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

 When she moves does it look like her legs are weak or not working correctly? Have you done a vent check? If she has  an egg I would definitely give fluids and calcium . Kathy said oral fluids, of 60 ml and then repeat 60 -90 minutes later with another 60 ml, if the crop has emptied from the first round. Mine was panting like that when she was paralyzed.  

Just gave her 60ml fluids(couldn't wait), she is walking almost normally but slowly, she is so strong(its a spalding) it wasn't easy to tube her, i wasn't wearing gloves so didn't chick her vent, i will check it on the second round of fluids, don't want to put much stress on her.

I'm almost sure its egg bound, saw the male mating her two weeks ago, and didn't lay this year yet, the other hen in this pen started laying 2 days ago.

 

[Peafowlssssssss]

Can you post a video of her breathing?

-Kathy

Sure.