Buttons are Egg Bound

[nurse_turtle]

Today I found one of the buttons dead in it's cage. I felt her vent area and could feel an egg. I have 2 other buttons that haven't laid in a couple days and have been sitting around fluffed up, not doing much. I checked them both and they are egg bound as well. I took those 2 girls and placed them in a warm bath. I left them there for 15 minutes. When I returned to check on them, there was lots of poop but no eggs. I decided I was going to manually encourage the egg to dispel. After some effort and slow manipulation, both eggs were delivered. One of the hens looks a lot better than the other, but I guess I did what I could. These buttons are 9-10 weeks old and have been laying since 7 1/2 weeks. How can I reduce the chances of this happening again?

 

[TedJan92_in_Idaho]

You need to try and stop them from laying for a while. Turn out the lights or move them to a darkened spot where they don't get much light.

 

[The Critter Place]

I'm so sorry to hear about your Buttons!

I hope the 2 will be O.K!

Were they getting calcium? If so.. How much , how often.?

 

[TwoCrows]

Quote:
X2

They need to rest for awhile to heal up. Keep them in a fairly darkened room for a while so they will get out of that cycle. When they start in with the laying, make sure they have plenty of calcium needed for a good hard shell. Soft shells tend to get stuck easily.

If you find another girl with a stuck egg, you can try to soak their butts in warm water for about 15 mins. Just hold them in there all the while you keep their lower half submerged. Many times the warmth will expell the egg. Good luck!

 

[nurse_turtle]

Should the oyster shell be available at all times?

 

[TwoCrows]

Absolutely. You can put it in their dusting pans, in their feed or leave it on the side. Oyster shell or even cuttle bone will work.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Thank you guys sooooooo much. I'm gonna fix it! Thank goodness for easy fixes.

 

[TNQuail]

Good Evening

I raise Button Quails in Tennessee,have experience with them back from Europe and have similar experience withthe problem also in the birds that I raise.( Finches,canaries,budgies,cockatiels)
In this situation withthe Button Quails I would rather offer bird feed to lower down protein level that would make them not laying every day ( works with mine ),so you may get egg for a two-three days.
The problem that you have is common if females are to young.Not all the chicks develope in the same time. With mine Button Quails I am waiting for 10-12 weeks of age before I would like them to start laying.
Eggbound in birds happends if I could say for two reasons,or lack of Calcium in diet and female body cant complete hard shell,so egg is like e yello.Second reason would be diet thats a constantly dry,in this case you should offer partial seed diet coated with oil ,or simply rape seed and sunflower seed chopped up.This would lube her female parts.
I offer my Quails Custom mineral mix in which one I include oyster shell,sand,charcoal ...Most of the people think if they offer grit everything is fine,but if you dont have propper level of phosforus ,or D3 calcium wont be absorbed.If you could get hand on the fine bird grit, pigeon gritt would work better if you could grind it down.Liquid bird Calcium enriched with D3 works good as well.
When females cant pass the egg due to egg size sometimes it takes them more then one day,they dont eat properly like they may did past week ,so they do lose energie and extra spot light with heat works very good to help them recover.I do also offer Electrolytes in the water.
Good luck TNQuail....

 

[joe125]

Oh....the whole "Egg bound" thing is ridiculous!

I have 37+ button/cbbq in various states of egg laying and "Egg Binding" is such a non-issue, it's not funny!!!!!!!!!!!

Feed 30% protein GBS as a primary ration. Add seeds and other to taste or the limits of your purse.
It's not really that complicated folks! If joe125 can raise 37+ button/cbbq with ZERO/0 attrition, then you can too.

Your buttons may not be laying eggs, but they are not "Egg Bound"....2 totally different things!

 

[joe125]

Quote:
WRONG! Not sure what (Finches,canaries,budgies,cockatiels) need, but shaving down protein for most "Game Birds" is disaster!

Yes Virginia....30% protein GBS is fine for most, if not all of your game birds!