Egg Binding - Please help. Have already been to Vet.

[GMoody]

New Chicken owners. We have three 10-month-old buff Orpingtons. They all started laying last November and have laid on a regular basis with no problems. Over the past couple weeks, we have found 2 random eggs outside of the nesting box. We have 3 nesting boxes, but the girls like to share the same one and will wait for it to be vacated. We assumed these random eggs in the yard were because they were tired of waiting. For about a month, Daisy (largest of the 3) has had a pasty butt. We just assumed it was just because of her large poops and puffy feathered backend. Yesterday I found her not acting normal, just slowly moving around acting like she was constipated and pushing really hard with just some gooey stuff coming out. I called a Vet and they said it sounded like she was egg bound and that I needed to get her into the emergency vet. After I got off the phone I went into the backyard to check on her and found a white banded egg with lots of calcium deposits on it as well (attached). She was still pushing hard and contracting. I picked her up to look at her backside and when I did she pushed so hard it looked like her entire internal organs came out and then went back in..

I promptly got her to the emergency Vet. Upon examination, she was still contracting and pushing. They took an X-ray and said she still had a large egg inside. Concerned it was too big to pass? They gave her fluids, calcium injection, antibiotics, and pain meds. They recommended leaving her, but that would have cost another $700-1200 on top of the $800 I had just spent. So, I brought her home to try home remedies. I have her 2 Epsom salt soaks last night and again at 4 am this morning and put her back in her crate. A couple hours later I found what looks like egg yolk in her crate but no signs of any egg shell?

She is still pushing/contracting with ooze coming out of her vent..but I don't know what to do now? Any help would be appreciated..

Thanks! Gerald

Y

 

[azygous]

Did the vet give her an antibiotic, also? Call them and ask for a prescription. The egg has collapsed inside her and will soon launch an infection unless she gets on an antibiotic soon.

Next, she will need more calcium. This is what I suggest, but give her a Tums of that's all you have. It will assist her contractions.

Next, install her in a crate on a thick absorbent towel. This will let you know when she passes the egg fragments and will let you know how much fluid she's losing. It will also protect her if she prolapses.

Provide plenty of water for her to drink. She may be very thirsty from fluid loss. If you have Poultry Nutri-drench, put a few drops in the water.

Slip a heating pad under the towel to ease her stress and relax her muscles. This could take a few hours or a few days to resolve. Give one calcium citrate tablet each day this continues. When she's passed all of the egg, she will suddenly feel and act much better.

 

[GMoody]

Did the vet give her an antibiotic, also? Call them and ask for a prescription. The egg has collapsed inside her and will soon launch an infection unless she gets on an antibiotic soon.

Next, she will need more calcium. This is what I suggest, but give her a Tums of that's all you have. It will assist her contractions.View attachment 2632849Next, install her in a crate on a thick absorbent towel. This will let you know when she passes the egg fragments and will let you know how much fluid she's losing. It will also protect her if she prolapses.

Provide plenty of water for her to drink. She may be very thirsty from fluid loss. If you have Poultry Nutri-drench, put a few drops in the water.

Slip a heating pad under the towel to ease her stress and relax her muscles. This could take a few hours or a few days to resolve. Give one calcium citrate tablet each day this continues. When she's passed all of the egg, she will suddenly feel and act much better.

Thank you, and yes she is on an antibiotic..Clavamox. So it's possible there are still shell fragments inside even though I did not see any with the contents that were expelled?

 

[Kiki]

I would hold off on continuing to bathe her.
Sitting on a heating pad in low may be better.


What exactly have you been feeding your flock?
How much does she weigh?

 

[GMoody]

I would hold off on continuing to bathe her.
Sitting on a heating pad in low may be better.


What exactly have you been feeding your flock?
How much does she weigh?

KiKi, we feed them Praire's Choice Non-GMO backyard Layer feed, plus daily scratch (MannaPro). I'm not sure of her weight, but she's bigger than the other two..

 

[Kiki]

KiKi, we feed them Praire's Choice Non-GMO backyard Layer feed, plus daily scratch (MannaPro). I'm not sure of her weight, but she's bigger than the other two..

I figured they would have weighed her at the vet. The daily scratch could be the reason you are dealing with this problem.

Feeding daily treats takes away from her getting a complete balanced diet
and
It can cause overweightness which is a major contributor to all egg laying illnesses.


I highly recommend throwing the scratch in the trash.

 

[Kiki]

This is a good read:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...tem/egg-bound-or-impacted-oviducts-in-poultry

 

[Kiki]

If you read through all of these you should see how important prevention (weight and balanced diet) is.
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/disorders-of-the-reproductive-system

 

[GMoody]

I figured they would have weighed her at the vet. The daily scratch could be the reason you are dealing with this problem.

Feeding daily treats takes away from her getting a complete balanced diet
and
It can cause overweightness which is a major contributor to all egg laying illnesses.


I highly recommend throwing the scratch in the trash.

Her weight was 3.04 kg. So no more scratch? My daughter and wife also give them other treats, berries, melon etc...

 

[Kiki]

Her weight was 3.04 kg. So no more scratch? My daughter and wife also give them other treats, berries, melon etc...

Any thing you feed besides the complete balanced feed is considered a treat.
I would throw the scratch in the trash. That is what I think of it...it's trash.
Think of it like cookies, soda, candy...junk food.