Egg Binding Cures: Making sure I tried everything

[624444]

Yesterday one of my hens had an impacted crop. I dealt with it like I usually do, and have been able to cure them every time.
That same day, around 12 pm, she began to act like herself and went into the hen house to lay...However, she did not lay. Later that evening she began to sit around. I continued to treat her for the impacted crop.

This morning, the same hen had a 90% empty crop, minus a tiny little bit of grass/feed/etc. I continued to treat her for the impacted crop, but soon realized that she was egg-bound. I came to this conclusion, due to the fact that she was sitting around, only drinking water, and had her vent feathers hanging low.

So, I started to treat her for egg binding too. I gave her nutridrench, calcium supplements, olive oil, diluted apple cigar vinegar, yogurt, and massaged her vent/felt inside her vent a few times.

Her crop is still full of the liquid I have been giving throughout the day....She was only drinking, up until now, when she was walking around (sitting down at different intervals) and I gave her a bit of banana.

Is there anything else I can do? Or is it just a waiting game now?

She has walked around for a little bit, pecked the ground and such....

 

[azygous]

What kind of calcium are you giving and how much?

Is she dripping fluids from her vent? Is she squatting or preferring to sit in a nest? Has she had egg quality issues?

 

[624444]

@azygous
She had (I assume it was her) laid a broken egg twice.

I didn’t see any fluids leaking out…I did feel inside her vent and one time got a some bit of the clear liquid (from the egg) but couldn’t feel anything inside.

I have been giving her a calcium tablet (Tums brand) in a water and apple cider vinegar mix.

She prefers to sit down, and was only drinking. I always give my hens the Durvet Lauer Vitamins, since I have a larger hen who has a calcium deficiency. As long as I put the vitamin mix in their water, I usually don’t have any egg quality issues.

After I gave her the first apple cider calcium mix, yesterday evening, she started to walk around and peck with the flock. She wouldn’t eat the dry feed, so I wet it, and she happily ate a few handfuls. While she free ranged she would only rest a bit until it was bedtime.

This morning she came out of the henhouse (unlike yesterday) and ate some more handfuls of wet feed.

I gave her another calcium apple cider mix this morning.

 

[azygous]

Try giving her the Tums straight into her beak without diluting it. If she is eggbound, she needs a heavy infusion of calcium. I prefer calcium citrate form in cases if reproductive emergency because it's absorbed much faster than other forms, Tums being calcium carbonate and not as quickly absorbed. She needs access to plenty of plain, fresh water. Skip the ACV for now. Offer her food as she will eat it.

Give one tablet of calcium each day until this resolves. I usually continue beyond the egg(s) being expelled until I see the shells are normal quality.

If she's had eggs break inside her in the past and not had a round of antibiotic to clear any infection from the yolk, she may now have a chronic reproductive tract infection. If this is the case, she wouldn't very likely

be improving

 

[624444]

Thank you for the information, and for taking the time to offer your advice!

She has been walking around and pecking, and now is in the nesting box to hopefully lay either an egg or the remains of an egg. I hope she is able to expel something.

I am going to order an antibiotic today, since there is no feed store near me that has antibiotics for poultry. I was considering Baytril 2.5%

 

[azygous]

Baytril is a good one, but you may need a prescription from a vet. There are many online sources for antibiotics, and many don't require a prescription unless you're from California or one or two other north-western states that also require prescriptions for all antibiotics purchased by residents of those states.

 

[624444]

Baytril is a good one, but you may need a prescription from a vet. There are many online sources for antibiotics, and many don't require a prescription unless you're from California or one or two other north-western states that also require prescriptions for all antibiotics purchased by residents of those states.

Okay thanks again!

My hen is eating dry and wet feed, and even some clover now, out of my hand. Yesterday she wouldn’t even come over to eat clover, or even dry feed.

I am going to keep up the calcium supplements.

She went in to lay, and about an hour and half later I found an egg…I’m not sure if it’s hers, but I am going to keep tabs on the eggs until the end of the day.

 

[azygous]

Even if you aren't able to match an egg in a nest with the hen that laid it, let the behavior of the hen you are concerned about guide you.

A hen that is having egg binding issues will be behaving very unwell. If a hen that was egg bound succeeded in passing the troublesome egg, she may not bounce back to her normal behavior. It's possible, in fact common, for a stuck egg to be immediately followed by a second egg, usually one without a shell.

Shell-less eggs are more likely to get hung up and even to collapse inside the hen. This is important reason to monitor a hen closely after she may have passed one stuck egg. If you see your hen continue to act unwell, this may be the reason for it. If a second egg is expelled with membrane and yolk broken, it's absolutely imperative to get her started on an antibiotic.

 

[624444]

this is very helpful information @azygous!

She’s up walking around, eating clover, and now dust bathing! She hasn’t done that since she got sick

Maybe she will recover…However, I’ll keep monitoring her and definitely get some antibiotics in her.

Here is a picture of her feces….Now I usually see this type of feces in hens that have an impacted crop…

Also, is there any good way to help a hen gain weight to achieve a healthy weight?

 

[azygous]

Don't place too much significance on the poop appearance. Behavior will be a better guide.

Poop can give us small clues in itself, such as if it's very watery with green chunks in it, very watery, brown and very smelly, very watery and mostly clear, or very scant and small. But as long as a hen is behaving normally, even these poop signs can be nothing more than a transient phenomenon.

A chicken that has lost a lot of weight will quickly regain it once they recover. A few months ago, I thought I had a two-year old Golden sex-link that was about to die. Her comb went so pale it looked like spoiled lunch meat, and she became so emaciated, I doubt she weighed even a pound, just skin and bones. She recovered and is now back to her fighting weight of around four pounds. It didn't take her long once she got her appetite back.

I have another hen currently that is normally petite, and she's now in the process of regaining her appetite and weight. As your hen becomes stronger, her appetite will gradually improve, and the weight will come back on. But you can get her headed in the right direction with special feedings of tofu, egg, fish, and other high protein foods. Poultry Nutri-drench is an important aid in getting a hen's strength to return, as well.