Can an egg bound chicken poop?

[Boymama3]

I believed that my laying silkie was egg bound. One day I went out & she was laying in the spot she lays her eggs & didn’t really seem to want to move & I thought maybe she was just in the process of laying. So I let her be. The following day, I go out & she is in the same spot & he vent seems to be pushing in & out like she’s trying to lay but unable to & there was no egg under her from the day before. So I watched some videos & gave her a warm bath, massaged her vent, put some vasoline around her vent to help her pass the suspected egg, separated her so she could relax & nest. Well now she is pooping quite a bit bigger hard poops. I had read chickens couldn’t poop while egg bound so now I’m wondering if she is even egg bound. Or was she just constipated?! Why would she be nesting if she was just trying to poop though. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[azygous]

Hens use the nests to hide in and to rest in, along with actual egg laying. Normally, an egg bound hen will not be able to produce normal poop. However, a watery, poopy discharge, often quite smelly, is present.

If you ever suspect a hen is egg bound , immediately give them a calcium supplement, calcium citrate or carbonate, pill form directly into the beak to stimulate contractions.

 

[5OneChick]

Hens use the nests to hide in and to rest in, along with actual egg laying. Normally, an egg bound hen will not be able to produce normal poop. However, a watery, poopy discharge, often quite smelly, is present.

If you ever suspect a hen is egg bound , immediately give them a calcium supplement, calcium citrate or carbonate, pill form directly into the beak to stimulate contractions.

calcium citrate, or carbonate pill form, is that found at the feed store or just regular human supplements? Usually I’ve seen those as being quite large tablets.

 

[azygous]

Human vitamins. You want a concentrated form of calcium for therapeutic purposes. Citrate absorbs quicker than carbonate, so I use the calcium citrate in emergency situations where I want a speedy result.

Chickens are physiologically designed to swallow considerably large things as they have no teeth to chew. I plop the pill right into the chicken and I've never had one choke.

 

[5OneChick]

Thank you for clarification and the descriptive explanation. After thinking about it, I’ve been surprised to see some of my hens gulp down whole grapes.
Didn’t have any calcium citrate or carbonate yesterday but will get some today to have just in case.
Half an hour after the warm bath, which she seemed to enjoy, she had a big poop. Then hour later an egg! However she didn’t leave the nest box. She’s never remained in the box. Thinking she may be broody - not sure? This is my first year with chickens.

Will definitely keep a close eye her.

 

[5OneChick]

I believed that my laying silkie was egg bound. One day I went out & she was laying in the spot she lays her eggs & didn’t really seem to want to move & I thought maybe she was just in the process of laying. So I let her be. The following day, I go out & she is in the same spot & he vent seems to be pushing in & out like she’s trying to lay but unable to & there was no egg under her from the day before. So I watched some videos & gave her a warm bath, massaged her vent, put some vasoline around her vent to help her pass the suspected egg, separated her so she could relax & nest. Well now she is pooping quite a bit bigger hard poops. I had read chickens couldn’t poop while egg bound so now I’m wondering if she is even egg bound. Or was she just constipated?! Why would she be nesting if she was just trying to poop though. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

How is your silkie hen doing?
I had one do something similar. Scared the heck out of me, she’s so sweet and has quite a personality. She finally laid her egg but stayed in the nesting box. Egg laid only 12 hours ago, haven’t checked this morning yet.

 

[azygous]

If she's still hanging out in a nest, she may have another egg coming on the heels of the first one. Often, two eggs released during a single cycle is what's behind an egg binding incident. Get to the store as soon as you can and get the calcium tablets and then give her one.

 

[Sally PB]

I had to give one of my pullets a calcium tablet today. To get her to open her beak, I gently pulled down on her wattles. I read that tip here on BYC, and it worked.

 

[5OneChick]

I had to give one of my pullets a calcium tablet today. To get her to open her beak, I gently pulled down on her wattles. I read that tip here on BYC, and it worked.

That sounds like a good tip. Since my hen is a silkie I broke tablet in half. Gave half near lunch and other half before bed. The second half was a bit more challenging as she was on to me.

 

[5OneChick]

I had to give one of my pullets a calcium tablet today. To get her to open her beak, I gently pulled down on her wattles. I read that tip here on BYC, and it worked.

If she's still hanging out in a nest, she may have another egg coming on the heels of the first one. Often, two eggs released during a single cycle is what's behind an egg binding incident. Get to the store as soon as you can and get the calcium tablets and then give her one.

First thing in AM, she was still in nesting box and didn’t take any food or water. Thanks to advice here, I ran out to get calcium citrate. Since my possible egg bound hen is a silkie, I broke tablet in half. Gave first half dose late morning after a 20 minute warm epson bath, then she seemed in good spirits. I put her in an indoor flexible dog pen that 3 younger silkies sleep in at night. She promptly had a big giant poop then proceeded to eat some of their feed then drank a lot of water. She’s normally a big crybaby when separated from flock mates but she never made a peep so I left her there several hours. Near bedtime, decided to see what she’d do outside near flock. She went in coop, straight up to henhouse nesting box while the others stayed downstairs in the run for their routine before bedtime snack. Offered snack and water but she only ate a little of treat & no water. Nobody was seen picking on her. So I left her in the spot she chose.
If she still seems off tomorrow, should I give the two halves at same time?
Should bath be longer or shorter than 20 minutes?