Chicken laid soft egg and fragments. Won't leave the nest.

[kryp]

Hi, first year chicken owner here. Hoping someone here might be able to help my hen..

One of my hens fell poorly very quickly yesterday evening. She wasn't moving much. Wasn't eating. Then went to bed on the grass outside her coop after the sun went down (something she's never done before). She was also drinking an usual amount of water before bed.

This morning isn't not really any better, but I did find a soft egg under her perch (unbroken), along with what looked to be egg content on the floor and some stringy soft egg shell hanging from her vent.

Since then she's just remained in her nest box and seems to be trying to pass something... She's drinking (a lot), but refusing to eat. At the moment I'm giving her water with electrolytes to keep her hydrated – she's had a couple of very watery (and quite sticky) clear poops this morning so trying to keep her hydration up.

I've wiped down her vent with an anti-bacterial spray and started her on a course of anti-biotics (Enrofloxacin) as a precautionary step in case there's any egg matter still inside her (aware this can cause infections).

She's been up about 5 hours now, and although she's active (moving around, etc), she won't leave her nest box. I'm considering bathing her in Epsom salts and having a feel in her vent shortly (not something I've done before). I'm obviously also considering taking her to the vet, but not really sure how much they can do and have been ripped off in the past so keen to treat myself if possible...

She's my friendliest girl and has only just celebrated her 1st birthday so don't want to lose her =(

Any advice at all would be appreciated. Thanks so much.

 

[RubelliteRose]

Welcome to BYC. Sorry this is the reason for being here though.
It does sound like she trying to pass more egg material. Have you tried giving her any calcium? It is often recommended for egg binding and soft shells. Here is a post about it from @Eggcessive.

Sometimes it can be common for a hen to become egg bound, and then shortly lay an egg right behind that one. Since she is experiencing soft shell now, I would get some human calcium citrate with vitamin D and give her 300 mg daily for the next 7 days. That can help shells become hard, and increases muscle contraction to get the egg out. Make sure that she is drinking well. Here is a good one that is 400 mg and okay:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-C...Tablets-Dietary-Supplement-200-Count/24681635

I've only had one egg bound girl, but a warm epsom salt soak and calcium did help her relax and pass the rest of what was inside. I would give those a chance to work before trying to feel for more material to avoid any accidental damage.
Hope she feels better soon!

 

[Lils Roost]

She may have had two eggs in the oviduct track at once and once the outer most one released, the second one was laid. I've had similar things happen, including the watery poops following. Keep an eye on her stool and if they seem to be getting more red, I'd definitely keep on the antibiotics. If it were me, I wouldn't medicate unless necessary for a number of reasons. Electrolytes are perfect. See if you can figure out if she's eating. (when mine aren't feeling well and not eating, I scramble them an egg and they almost always eat it). I wouldn't be too concerned about her not leaving the nest box, but do watch to ensure the other chickens aren't picking on her. Maybe all of it just wiped her out and she needs a bit of down time. I hope she's feeling better soon. Stay the course. You're being a good chicken mom.

 

[kryp]

Thank you for the advice

I actually ordered some calcium tablets earlier which should be coming this evening! Only issue is that she's not eating at the mo, so might need to get creative to get her to take it...

She's had a pretty bad diet recently because my family have been bringing them scraps over the holiday... I told to them that it could make them sick if they don't get enough calcium in their diet, but I'm not always around to stop them feeding them crap like pasta...

They always have access to oyster shells though, but I rarely see this hen having any hence why I was wondering if she could be low on calcium..

That said, her eggs are normally perfectly normal. I figured the egg might have been soft simply because it was underdeveloped? Normally she would lay late morning, not before sunrise.

She's just had a bath and is back in her nest now. I didn't check her vent, figured it might be better to do that tonight if she's still poorly. She still moving around a bit and seems alert. She also passed a bit of poop earlier so things are moving... Just hope she can clear whatever is it is her own.

 

[kryp]

Unfortunately she's taken a turn for the worse over the last few hours and is no longer moving much and is no longer drinking. I've asked the local vet if they'd be able to do anything, but they said all they could do is check her over since they're not specialised with chickens.

I can see she's still straining and trying to pass something. She seems exhausted. It's been almost 24 hours now...

I'm going to try to check her vent myself in 30 mins as a last option, but it's not something I've ever done before so if anyone has any advice for me please let me know.

 

[tlcmurphy]

You can give her a calcium pill directly into her beak by pulling down gently on her wattles, she’ll swallow it. I’d do this ASAP, can you get calcium from Walmart or something?

 

[Eggcessive]

What is your location? Do you have a Walmart, grocery store wher human calcium, Tums or Rolaids are sold? Dosage is 300-600 mg of calcium. A feed store usually sell calcium gluconate injectable which can be given 1 ml orally. Give her some fluids up to her beak and electrolytes would help. Give calcium daily up to 7 days.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Since she's going downhill, I would not bathe her again, this can stress them too much. Also do not do a finger exam of her vent, you could introduce bacteria inside. You've received excellent advice from @Eggcessive and @tlcmurphy re the calcium tablets. Good luck with her.

 

[kryp]

I have calcium tablets on the way... They should be here within the next few hours. I'm currently working (from home) so I can't get to the store for a couple of hours yet anyway. This is the best I can do... I've also just suck a syringe in her mouth and gave her some water and electrolytes since she hasn't drank in a while.

In regards to the calcium tablets – is this likely to dramatically change her prognosis? I've heard it can help a bit, but given she passed a full egg and some soft stringy shell fragment earlier I doubt there's anything hard to push out in there, which could explain why she's struggling... I'm not sure how giving her calcium will change this – there almost certainly isn't a whole egg bound which she is trying to push out.

If there is anything it's likely bits of soft shell fragment which need removing so she can stop struggling. The alternative is that she already has an infection, and that's why she's struggling to pass whatever it is.

I've tried a specialist vet because I would prefer they did the vent examination but they're not able to see her until tomorrow afternoon, which given her state probably isn't going to work.

I have disposable gloves. I was going to use those to try to keep infection risk minimal. I have also started her on anti-biotics on the understanding that there's high risk of infection if egg fragments are suck.

If I do nothing I'm fairly certain she will die. If the calcium tablets are likely to meaningfully change her prognosis, I'll wait. If not, I don't see what options I have...

Is there no way I can do it safely myself? I have read many accounts online of people doing it themselves.

 

[tlcmurphy]

The calcium will help with the contractions to expel whatever might be inside her even if she isn’t egg bound.