Bound egg?

[Laurenj915]

We have never had a sick chicken and I am so worried about our rhode island red. She was acting strange- letting the kids pick her up and walking very slowly. We looked at her closely and noticed swelling below her vent but the vent looks normal. There are no feather on the swollen area. Pictures...

She had chicken poop on her but we have cleaned her and soaked her in warm water plus give liquid calcium. We kept her seperate and in a crate in the house where it is warm. She has not laid an egg today but I dont know about yesterday. All our chicken lay brown eggs.


Does she looks like she is egg bound? I just want to help her the right way. Thank you

 

[LittlePip21]

does the abdomen feel squishy or hard? can you feel a lump anywhere? I would soak her in warm water with Epson salts. I think your liquid calcium was a good call. You could also give her ACV or probiotics to boost her immune system. does she act like shes pushing? she could even just be constipated too, which a bath will help whichever it is. Hope this was helpful!

 

[Laurenj915]

Everything is squishy and not hard like an egg under her skin. Thank you for responding. I will try the acv.

 

[LittlePip21]

Sure! No problem!

 

[GOATCRAZZY]

I have a chicken that I am sure is egg bound because I can feel them in her. Two of them for sure/ Shes not eating much, has lost alot of weight, tail down, lethargic. I brought her in the house in a cage to keep her warm and after reading a little about what could be wrong with her, I gave her a minute warm soaking in my kitchen sink, which she loved. She actually fell asleep sitting in the water. After she woke up from her nap, I felt around on her body and could feel the eggs on her underside area. Her vent looks swollen and yellow. I now have her loosely wrapped in a towel sitting on a heating pad but from this point I dont know what to do. Please someone give me some advise because I really like this chicken and dont want her to die.

 

[BobDBirdDog]

My first thought is call the vet it the bird is worth the cost, but if not...keep reading.

This is similar to what is called IMPACTION in humans and nurses will physically go in with the finger and dig it out as last resort. That is after they have tried laxatives, suppositories, and lastly giving enemas to the patient hopping to soften the stool as to cause a mass blow out of the yuck! If Not and all fails, they get the finger or small surgical tools and perform Stool deliveries! Ahemmm!

Problem is that there is but one thing to soften an egg shell in order for an egg to pass but its too far-fetched and not applicable. The egg usually starts to harden as it leaves the egg factory and if it is not ejected, the shell will harden inside the canal making it hard or impossible to be ejected.

My thoughts are unorthodox and may sound downright stupid, but if the bird is facing death and you actually want to give it a try, go for it!

You could try some KY Jelly injected with a Syringe (no needle) as to help lubricate around the egg in the canal.
(2/3rds Ky jelly and 1/3rd distilled water blend)
The problem being the egg has probably already hardened in the canal and cannot pass through the vent with ease. The natural lubricants may have already been reabsorbed or dried up as well. This brings me to the last thought of desperation and can be a little hard on the bird or dangerous....but the bird is facing death anyway so it might be worth a try.

If you can see any white of the egg pushing to the vent but she still cannot pass it, you could as last resort try to fracture the egg so that it burst/crushes in the canal so it can pass. It may be breached (large end first) or a X-large egg (Double Yolk) and the vent cannot stretch large enough to pass it.

 

[FuzzFaceFarm]

I NEED HELP TOO!!!

I have 6 hens born at the same time and all laying age (they will be 24 weeks old on Sunday Feb 12th, 2017). 2 EE's that I don't think are ready to lay yet, 2 GLWs, and 2 Red Sex Links.

Four of them have been showing me signs that they are getting ready to drop their first eggs: Crimson Red Combs and Waddles, Doing the "Drop it like it's hot SQUAT", talking more, checking out the nest boxes, and rearranging the straw and what not. Yesterday "Sour" which is one of my Red Sex Links went into a nest box and laid an egg. Today a few of them have been in and out of the nest box and have been pushing out the fake eggs I have in there. Should I keep putting the fake eggs back in the nesting boxes? I have 8 nesting boxes and one fake in each.

*****Most importantly, Nugget who is one of my GLWs has a super bright red comb and waddles but then they fade and get REALLY pale all of a sudden and she starts to open her beak kind of like she's panting or straining but in less than a minute or so they go back to normal. Sometimes she's laying down when this happens and sometimes she's kind of squatting. She's not having a problem eating or drinking but I haven't seen her poop yet. My other GLW, Chubbers isn't doing this...her comb and waddles have been bright red all day. I doubt it's from the heat and I'm not sure if it matters but I live in Florida in the Tampa area and it isn't hot today, it's warm breezy nice weather. I would think if it was heat related all the girls would be doing it, right?

MY MAIN QUESTIONS ARE: Is this normal behavior prior to laying a first egg? Should I just leave her alone and see if she pops out a butt nugget or should I suspect that she might be egg bound and try to help her? I don't want to mess with her if it seems normal enough since I know taking her out would also affect the other 5 girls but I don't want anything bad to happen to my little Nugget. I have been out here watching them for a few hours already (I'm on chicken time) so should I just keep watching her to see if I can see her poo? Also should I be replacing the fake eggs in the nesting boxes or taking them out once a hen kicks it out?

Thank you guys so much for anyone that answers and can give me any insight as to what is happening with my girl.

 

[BobDBirdDog]

I have heard a of folks using the fake eggs as to trick the bird into nesting in a specific area, but I never seen much need for that sort of thing; especially if they are penned and have little choice but go for the hay box! As for the fake egg, I think the bird knows better as soon as it encounters it and/or deems it a bad egg because its to light and hollow.

If its the birds first season, relax and give them some time and don't over-think it because of your eager to push them into laying, its still early and the birds will do what birds do when the time comes! Many birds are not yet laying naturally, but are preparing for the season and may be starting to build nest or kicking that idea around in their craws. Most of those birds you hear of laying right now (on byc) are being artificially stimulated "induced" into laying by the owners. Its a simple trick of providing them with more daylight hours (so to speak)!

 

[FuzzFaceFarm]

Thank you, I think she's just practicing for when that egg comes or that she's getting tired from pushing so she sits down for a bit to rest but as some of my other chicken friends said, as long as she's still walking around, eating, and drinking then I shouldn't worry. I just got worried because I have done so much research and read so many articles and posts that I know about egg binding and how to try to treat it but wasn't sure at what point you would really know that was the problem and start to act on it since it can kill the hen in a relatively short amount of time. I just didn't want to loose her to something like that since I have raised her from a chick and I only have 6 girls! I'm not really impatient with them I just wish for things to go smoothly for them kind of like a mother who is expecting for the first time (my hens) and that first labor is usually the hardest and most confusing for them. I had checked her after she went into the coop for the night to roost and her cloaca looked good to go, light pink with mucous and no discharge, and she didn't have any hard lumps under her belly around her pelvis so I will just keep an eye out for them, listen for that sweet sweet egg song, and just hope for the best for my girls!

Thanks again for your help, it really has helped to make me feel better! It's so great to have people to ask questions to and advice from in these groups. There is such a vast amount of knowledge and people that really care and want to help.