Bound egg

[Eggcessive]

 

[casportpony]

2 inches in seems like a long ways in. Are you sure it's an egg and not her gizzard? The gizzard is about that far in and on the left side, whereas a a shelled egg should be an inch or less straight in and maybe slightly up.

 

[azygous]

Reality TV. I found the video where the chicken mom is needing to extract the bound egg from being trapped behind a membrane. Very graphic. This gal managed to keep her cool and shows the entire crisis with the stuck egg including finger extracting it. I've bookmarked it so I can find it again next time I need it. Very instructive.

 

[casportpony]

I had a duck do that once, definitely not an easy one to treat.

 

[casportpony]

Would anybody describe to me the anatomy in the nether regions of the hen so I can understand what I am feeling when I put my finger up there? Is the membrane I feel covering the entrance to the oviduct and is there an opening in it that membrane that the egg is just not passing through? I thought that the intestinal tract had a "valve" or membrane that closed off when a chicken eliminated. Meanwhile, we hav had a second bath, an egg yolk and more calcium.

If what you are feeling is an egg and not her gizzard, yes there is an opening to her shell gland, but it can be difficult to find.

 

[casportpony]

This might help you visualise where the egg is.

 

[Carolrich]

Thank you for the diagrams! I just this moment went in to check on Beatrice and guess what???? She laid an egg!
Crisis over for now but I will keep a close watch on her over the next few days to see that this does not happen again.
I LOVE this community! You are so supportive and I cannot thank you enough.

 

[Eggcessive]

Great news! Thank goodness she layed her egg. Was it oversized or normal? Layer feed with crushed egg shell avaible when she wants it is good to have them on. Even at that they still can become egg bound. Good luck.

 

[Carolrich]

Great news! Thank goodness she layed her egg. Was it oversized or normal? Layer feed with crushed egg shell avaible when she wants it is good to have them on. Even at that they still can become egg bound. Good luck.

TheThe egg looked normal sized. And it was smooth as normal. After reading many links you all posted I think all my hens are not obese but pretty fit. They have a large area to run in and scratch. They have oyster shell in little open cans at several places for them to take at will. I mixed a little into their pellet food. The fortified pellets feed is available at several places in the yard. I let them all out every evening before dark to free range while I watch. Every evening I also throw out treats such as corn scratch, sunflower seeds and dried meal worms. I throw in some vegetable and fruit now and then. Maybe I have given them too much. The coop, run and yard are under a canopy of deciduous and evergreen trees and I have worried that they may not be getting enough sunshine in the winter months. Because of the angle of the sun this time of year they don't get much sun until mid afternoon. Is there something you could recommend I put into their water that may give them a boost over the winter months?

Anyway, this is the first hen in 3 years to be egg bound. I am grateful to you all for helping through this and hope it won't happen again!

 

[Carolrich]

2 inches in seems like a long ways in. Are you sure it's an egg and not her gizzard? The gizzard is about that far in and on the left side, whereas a a shelled egg should be an inch or less straight in and maybe slightly up.

My inches perception may be off. I went in just past the first knuckle of my index finger. It definitely felt like an egg straight in and slightly up. However, I think I will be a bit more cautious with this kind of exam in future because I don't want to injure her. I found it interesting that "the chicken chick" does external exams if egg binding is suspected.