Chicken straining but laying and pooping?!

[azygous]

Grab her in an arm lock and pull down on her wattles to force her beak open. Then shove the tablet into her beak. No. She will not choke. She will swallow it easily.

 

[debbieharry]

Grab her in an arm lock and pull down on her wattles to force her beak open. Then shove the tablet into her beak. No. She will not choke. She will swallow it easily.

Lol ok I will attempt this ninja move! Thanks again very much and also to @ChicNmom as this was your advice as well!

 

[debbieharry]

Grab her in an arm lock and pull down on her wattles to force her beak open. Then shove the tablet into her beak. No. She will not choke. She will swallow it easily.

Hi @azygous ok I have been giving her the calcium supplement every day and she seems a little better - she’s no longer standing around puffed out and her vent is less swollen. I think she has stopped laying - no eggs for a couple of days now which is v unusual for her. Poop is pretty normal if a bit soft likely due to all the coconut oil etc. She still is still straining a bit and has messy feathers around her vent which has white discharge and is pretty messy despite Epsom salts baths. She prolapsed a little bit yesterday and I replaced it - I can’t feel anything in there but it does look as though there’s a kind of white ball-like swelling under the skin slightly to the right of the vent when she strains really hard. Is there a limit to how long I should give the calcium? I could only find 300mg - would it be worth switching to a higher dosage? Kind of at my wits end here

 

[azygous]

It sounds like she still has something blocking her oviduct. The little white knob just inside she prolapse is part of it, and it's injured easily, so don't irritate it by rubbing it.

I suggest you increase her calcium dosage to one 300mg in the morning and one in late afternoon. There's no danger with giving this calcium in her present condition. The worst that will happen is calcium "warts" on her eggs for a while should she begin laying again.

Also, if she isn't on heat, a heating pad on low heat under her would help. She also needs plenty of fluids. You can stop the coconut oil for now. Make her crumbles available, and maybe some soft boiled egg.

 

[debbieharry]

It sounds like she still has something blocking her oviduct. The little white knob just inside she prolapse is part of it, and it's injured easily, so don't irritate it by rubbing it.

I suggest you increase her calcium dosage to one 300mg in the morning and one in late afternoon. There's no danger with giving this calcium in her present condition. The worst that will happen is calcium "warts" on her eggs for a while should she begin laying again.

Also, if she isn't on heat, a heating pad on low heat under her would help. She also needs plenty of fluids. You can stop the coconut oil for now. Make her crumbles available, and maybe some soft boiled egg.

Ok thank you very much - I have stopped the coconut oil and actually gave them boiled egg yesterday. They have water on demand in a big plastic waterer and I do see her drinking. For the heating pad do you mean under the roost? She’s still in the coop with the other hen - I only have the two and don’t want either to be lonely. Do you think the Epsom salts baths are helpful also?

 

[azygous]

I thought you had her in an infirmary crate. This is preferable to leaving her with the other hen for now. If she prolapses and the other hen notices, irreparable damage could occur to the prolapsed vent.

You can place the crate in the coop if there's room. This way the two hens can still interact, while keeping the patient safe. The heating pad would go inside the crate with an old towel over it. Placing the patient on a towel will absorb fluids while still allowing you to monitor what she expels.

You need to be able to monitor this patient closely so you see what comes out of her. This will tell you if she's expelled the obstructed material and if any broken egg yolk is present, indicating a need for an antibiotic.

The warm soaks are not beneficial beyond the first one and only add stress to her already stressful situation.

 

[debbieharry]

I thought you had her in an infirmary crate. This is preferable to leaving her with the other hen for now. If she prolapses and the other hen notices, irreparable damage could occur to the prolapsed vent.

You can place the crate in the coop if there's room. This way the two hens can still interact, while keeping the patient safe. The heating pad would go inside the crate with an old towel over it. Placing the patient on a towel will absorb fluids while still allowing you to monitor what she expels.

You need to be able to monitor this patient closely so you see what comes out of her. This will tell you if she's expelled the obstructed material and if any broken egg yolk is present, indicating a need for an antibiotic.

The warm soaks are not beneficial beyond the first one and only add stress to her already stressful situation.

Ok I see, thank you very much for clarifying that @azygous - I’ll figure it out!

 

[debbieharry]

I thought you had her in an infirmary crate. This is preferable to leaving her with the other hen for now. If she prolapses and the other hen notices, irreparable damage could occur to the prolapsed vent.

You can place the crate in the coop if there's room. This way the two hens can still interact, while keeping the patient safe. The heating pad would go inside the crate with an old towel over it. Placing the patient on a towel will absorb fluids while still allowing you to monitor what she expels.

You need to be able to monitor this patient closely so you see what comes out of her. This will tell you if she's expelled the obstructed material and if any broken egg yolk is present, indicating a need for an antibiotic.

The warm soaks are not beneficial beyond the first one and only add stress to her already stressful situation.

Hi @azygous Id rather give her one pill as she hates it so - I found these at the 630mg calcium dosage but it’s not just citrate, it is a blend as shown. Is this ok to give her?

 

[azygous]

That's fine. It has some citrate in it, so she'll be absorbing that immediately. The other forms of calcium in the tablet will take a bit longer, but that's okay.

Here's my tutorial in the different forms of calcium so you can get a better handle on the differences.

There are three different sources of calcium, all different, all digested and absorbed at varying rates of effectiveness. The most common source is calcium carbonate. This is what egg shells, oyster shell, and calcite derived calcium supplements are. It's the highest in calcium, but it's the most difficult to digest and absorb. Some hens absorb it so slowly and inefficiently that it's not able to adequately supply their shell gland. So, they often produce shell-less eggs or very thin shell eggs.

The second kind of calcium is calcium gluconate. It comes from fruits and vegetables. It's not very high in calcium and still hard to digest and absorb.

The third kind of calcium is calcium citrate. It's the by-product of the manufacturing process of making citric acid. This form of calcium is very easy to digest and absorb. For this reason, it works much, much faster than the other two types of calcium. This is the form of calcium that's best to use when a hen is having reproductive issues from the relatively minor one of shell quality to the most serious and life threatening one of egg binding.

 

[debbieharry]

That's fine. It has some citrate in it, so she'll be absorbing that immediately. The other forms of calcium in the tablet will take a bit longer, but that's okay.

Here's my tutorial in the different forms of calcium so you can get a better handle on the differences.

There are three different sources of calcium, all different, all digested and absorbed at varying rates of effectiveness. The most common source is calcium carbonate. This is what egg shells, oyster shell, and calcite derived calcium supplements are. It's the highest in calcium, but it's the most difficult to digest and absorb. Some hens absorb it so slowly and inefficiently that it's not able to adequately supply their shell gland. So, they often produce shell-less eggs or very thin shell eggs.

The second kind of calcium is calcium gluconate. It comes from fruits and vegetables. It's not very high in calcium and still hard to digest and absorb.

The third kind of calcium is calcium citrate. It's the by-product of the manufacturing process of making citric acid. This form of calcium is very easy to digest and absorb. For this reason, it works much, much faster than the other two types of calcium. This is the form of calcium that's best to use when a hen is having reproductive issues from the relatively minor one of shell quality to the most serious and life threatening one of egg binding.

Thanks so much - I really appreciate your help! My two hens lay eggs that are obviously different, with one laying much bigger eggs than the other. The one that lays smaller eggs sometimes has warty or thin shelled eggs. This thin shell has always improved when I have increased the crushed oyster shell I have on demand for them (they eat it fast so sometimes it has got low and I have taken a few days to replenish it. I also provide limestone grit but they don’t like that as much.) I’m still getting the small eggs every day but there have been no larger eggs for four days now. I thought it was the one who is currently healthy laying the small eggs, but now I’m not sure! But either way would it make sense to crush calcium citrate pills and add them to their oyster shell?