Deflated egg pulled from chicken

[AdiosCowboy]

One of my chickens has been hunkering down like she's trying to poop or lay an egg ever since this afternoon. She's also been less enthusiastic about food. This evening when I was puting the chickens in the coop, I saw a clear fluid dripping out of her and what looked like some poop sticking out of her cloaca so I tried to clean her up a bit and what came out when I wiped was a soft, deflated egg shell.

I will take her to the vet tomorrow morning, but I would appreciate some background on how serious/trivial this is. There was no blood anywhere, a great deal of what I can now identify as egg white around where she was standing, and the egg shell that came out of her looks whole, just ruptured.

Thank you for anyhting you can tell me.

 

[mother o' chicks72]

how long has this bird been laying?

 

[AdiosCowboy]

About two and a half years. She's been one of my most consistant and trouble-free layers from the beginning.

 

[mother o' chicks72]

oh.

hmmm no idea. if she had just started that would probably be fine but i don't know then.

 

[AdiosCowboy]

Well, this morning she's able to poop again. Quite a large one (and a bit watery, but it's been over 100 for a few days now here and they're drinking a lot) with no blood or yolk in it. She's eating and drinking more and not walking in a squatting position. Should I still take her to the vet? Could she have eggs backed up from this that need to get out?

 

[Echobabe]

It sounds like she was eggbound for a bit, and the egg broke inside her. She either ate the contents or dropped it somewhere. As long as you think the shell looks whole, she will probably recover. If she's pooping again that is a very good sign. You might want to take her into the vet just in case there is still anything stuck--this heat is making things putrify real fast (I just lost a hen last weekend that way).

She may not have another problem or this could become a problem if her eggs keep getting bigger. The only thing you can do is make sure she has all the water and calcium she needs, and keep a close eye on her laying habits.

I would be interested in hearing what other first aid the vet (or anyone here) would pass on to do after this has occurs. Out of my 3 eggbound situations, none have ended successfully.

 

[heatherkh]

Quote:
I just went through this and it didn't end successfully, either. If she starts to act lethargic/uninterested in food again, I'd be tempted to take her in. Vet can start antibiotics and clean her out. We adopted a hen who, as it turned out, was egg bound when we got her. By the time she started acting sick, she was full of infection from the bound up eggs.