Changing topic: HELP just got intact egg out of egg bound hen.

[thomshap]

I have a hen that I've noticed has been getting thinner over the last few days. She was still eating and laying up until today though. She is very listless, won't eat (not even peanuts which she always loves). I got her to drink by dripping some water on her beak. When I picked her up, to investigate her, she pooped, which I didn't notice until later. The stool was very watery and slightly tinged with pink. She's over a year old, and has been scratching around in the same dirt for well over a month now. She gets yogurt almost every day, and a mixture of layer/growth pellets (I still have 3 younger girls). I just started adding cider vinegar to her water. I can only isolate her by putting her in a dog kennel. She does not appear to be egg bound or broody, because she lets me pick her up, she just laid yesterday. She just wants to sleep. Every time I go outside, I'm afraid she'll be dead.

So, a) should I isolate her? All the other girls seem fine (there are 5 chickens altogether)
b) should I give her medication in case it's coccidiosis? Are there negative effects of administering medication if that's not what she has.
c) what else should I do?

There is no local vet that takes chickens.

 

[thomshap]

Update: she's also panting a lot. Will drink water if offered directly to her, but not otherwise. Still won't eat.

I have available from one feed store terramyacin and from another, selmet. I really don't know what to give her. I hope someone will respond. She's been my best egg-layer (and my bud), and I don't want her to be sick!

 

[thomshap]

AND she's very warm to the touch.

 

[chickenlady08]

thomshap

Is it hot and humid where you are at? Mine don't seem to eat as much in this horrid heat. do you have some vitamins and electrolytes you could put in the water for her. Try scrambled eggs, yogurt, most anything that she will eat just so she will eat something. I am not sure about the duramycin or the sulmet. I think if it is Cocci then you would have more than her affected. Sulmet is also used to treat this it is just harder on the body than the Corid. Duramycin is a great anti that I have used in some of my girls water for lacerations on the backs from the roosters spurs. very effective.

I wish I had more but I am not so sure but I hope someone will chime in and help you out.

good luck!

Lisa

 

[thomshap]

No, it's not any hotter or more humid than it's been the rest of the summer -- drier today, actually. I brought her in the house and tried to get her to eat some bread soaked in milk. Why that? Who knows except that after reading a thousand postings here about various ailments, a girl can get confused and overwhelmed. She hated that, but drank a bunch of milk, which I read isn't good for her, but it's the first thing she's been happy to consume. One small very watery poop with white and yellow in it.

 

[chickenlady08]

I am not sure what it could be. Is she any better than she was or about the same? Can you check to see if she is possibly eggbound? I would try to get some tasy treats for her. scrambled eggs are a favorite and good for her. Put some vitamins in her water. U can get the vitamin powder at the livestock store (hopefully you have one close by)

 

[thomshap]

Yes, now I'm thinking eggbound might be it. The yellowey stuff that came out of her did not smell like poop, so I'm inclined to think it was yolk. Her backside has been moving around all day as though panting -- like she's trying to get something out (egg or poop) I tried putting some water in her cloaca (not her favorite) and felt around in there -- it feels like there's an egg a ways back and to the side, but it seems like I'm feeling it through a layer of tissue. Is there anything else inside a chicken that feels egg-like? Also, because I can't actually feel egg shell, just this tissue, I'm not sure how to help her get it out. I guess I'll try giving her a bath and seeing what happens.

Are there any posts that show graphics of how to manually remove an egg, because it isn't so easy to figure it out from descriptions which all seem to say the same thing without specifics.

 

[chickenlady08]

thomshap

I don't know how to remove an egg personally because I have not done it. If it is yellowish stuff coming out it more than likely is egg pertonitis or she is egg bound. I took a chicken to the vet in May and I knew she was eggbound because her abdomen was large and firm and not passing any yellow liquid. They performed surgery and retrieved a 2 lb mass of egg yoke and 1 fully shelled egg and one minus the shell. She was hot to the touch or warm, but she was quite active and ate and drank like nothing is wrong. I have read on here that using olive oil or maybe even mineral oil to feel up inside the vent area to feel for an egg. I have also heard that a warm bath would also help them if the egg is not stuck.

Gosh I sure hope you get this egg out if it is one in there.

 

[thomshap]

Well, I looked at a chicken anatomy diagram, and, idiot that I am (and I teach Biology sometimes too -- how embarrrassing) the thing I felt was her gizzard. No wonder it was covered by tissue! So that feels fine. I haven't wanted to reach in again, so I gave her a bath (which she liked) and put her in a dog crate where she is just standing and not doing anything.

 

[thomshap]

Okay, so I'm impatient. And I really teach Chemistry, not Biology . . .

I lubed up my finger with a little mineral oil, and lo and behold, when I checked the correct place I did feel an egg -- intact, it seemed. I eased it out towards her vent, and got it out. It seemed intact when it came out too -- though with a little crack -- some of that was from dropping on the floor, so I can't tell if the crack started while the egg was inside. No pieces though. I went back in to see if there was anything else (that would be the source of the yolky stuff, but couldn't feel anything. I rinsed her cloaca area out with water. Is there anything else I should do?