Buff Orpington - Lethargic, Eyes Closing, Egg Bound?

[cnodgaard]

My dear first hen, Olivia, a buff Orpington, is really sick and I'm so sad.
We have had her in a warm bath (she didn't even struggle... which is SO not like her).
I put some mineral oil in her bum and have been massasing her abdomen.
She does feel like she has some hardness near her pelvic region.
These are the first chickens I've had, so I'm pretty unprepared and new at chicken care.
She started acting off the past three days.
She was out foraging in the garden yesterday... but a little slow.
She seems relaxed in the bath, but keeps closing her eyes and her beak opens and closes every once in a while.
What do I do?
I don't want her to suffer...

Wah!

 

[cnodgaard]

Well, she just died. I was holding her.
I wonder what was wrong?

 

[Chicken_Pauper]

I am so sorry that you lost her...
I guess that if she had stopped laying -- or was sitting, bearing down, squatting as if she wanted to lay but couldn't... if she was "sick" in the nest... at least some of those three days. If she had been laying and then didn't for a few days... She was probably eggbound. If she got on and off the nest without laying an egg, for those three days... she was probably eggbound. Seems to happen to the younger hens, the ones who recently started laying more than the older seasoned layers, from my experience.
Keep an eye on everyone else in the flock, just in case it wasn't that... So sorry you lost her.
Others here know more than I do.... use the SEARCH here on BYC to find out more about the symptoms and treatment for eggbound. If all your pullets / hens are the same age, and new layers... you may have the same problem again. I had three eggbound hens in a week or so, all the same age, all new layers. All survived with the bath and oil, massaging treatments.
Sorry again. Take care.

 

[FrenchToast]

so sorry for your loss

 

[Chicken_Pauper]

How old are all your chickens and have you ever wormed them? (Use the BYC search for Worming with Valbazen, for more information... best from dawg53, in more recent posts.)

 

[cnodgaard]

I have not wormed them. I need to learn more about this.
I did do an autopsy on her and found a HUGE mass.
When I examined the mass, it was a combination of at least 3 -4 eggs. Only one had a shell.
I never noticed her squatting or straining to lay or anything.
I have had a couple of eggs in the egg boxes that had no shell in the past... I suspect they were hers.
I feel so bad for her.
She did seem to really relax when she was in the warm tub.
She died in my arms, wrapped in a towel.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I am so sorry for your loss. I am sure she knew she was loved.

 

[betsyblueberry]

I also have Buff Orpington in the same condition....Just eggy matter drops out of her vent and clears up a bit but then it started again today with the tail down, and just sitting in the nest box so sad looking. The rest of the brood is running around happy and all but she can't seem to laid a formed egg. Have had this happen before and not sure I can fix it.

 

[foghorn 175]

We also have a buff, about 6 month old, started laying about a month ago. She has been acting egg bound so we have given her two warm baths, and she just passed a large poop, the first seen by us in two days! hope that was it. This site has been a great help. At least we feel like were doing "something" to help her.