Egg-binding??

[ColtHandorf]

Well I've had chickens on and off for years and never experienced an egg bound hen. I've had an egg bound finch before, and successfully helped her pass her egg. I'm posting this from the computer, but I'll upload a few pictures from my phone in the next post. I'm at work currently and can't do anything for her from here.

So for a few days she's basically been acting like she was lame. She can get around in a very uncoordinated manner to get to food and water, but mostly hung out near the nest boxes on the floor. I'd felt her legs, joints, and abdomen when I initially found her and didn't see anything so I thought maybe she'd just sprained a leg jumping off the roost. I picked her up yesterday and to me it looks like she's egg bound. Which would explain the issues with her walking. She got 1cc of liquid calcium orally while she was floating in a very warm bath for twenty minutes yesterday evening. After I drained the tub, I put some towels down which quickly became damp and warm. I tucked her down in the bath tub on the towels, placed a space heater in the bathroom to keep it warm and damp and left her alone hoping she'd pass the egg. Fast forward to this morning and no egg. She's still in the bathroom on some towels with food and water. I'm going to try a warm bath with Epsom salts this evening when I get home and another cc of calcium. But I'm thinking I'm going to have to help her out.

Please give me some advice as I'm terrified I'll break the egg inside her and make things worse. Even better would be if one of you experienced with the procedure lived somewhere close enough to show me how. lol I just don't want to hurt her. She's surprisingly alert and has no problem nipping you if she feels that's a necessary part of the procedure. She's definitely drinking and eating a small amount.

Also excuse the poor photos. I was trying to hold her in one hand and then snap the photo with the other. I can get better pictures this evening because she's cleaner.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Here are the photos I grabbed before and during the bath. Doesn’t she have a mean little stare?

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Im sorry i cant help with egg binding, but is that bumblefoot in her left foot or just mulch? Could be why shes not walking as well if so.

 

[Faraday40]

I don't have 1st hand experience, but it sounds like you're doing the right things so far.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/chicken-egg-binding-causes-symptoms/

Did she do the penguin walk? (Standing upright like she's pushing out the egg)

 

[ColtHandorf]

Im sorry i cant help with egg binding, but is that bumblefoot in her left foot or just mulch? Could be why shes not walking as well if so.

That's the first think I checked when she wasn't walking. No bumblefoot.

Did she do the penguin walk? (Standing upright like she's pushing out the egg)

Not really? She hardly walks at all. When she does it is very rushed and low to the ground; also very flappy. Mostly she's content to just sit.

I've been advised to try an Epsom salt bath. so I'm going to do that with another cc of liquid calcium. If I don't get any results the hour after her bath, I guess I'll warm her up again and then violate her with some lubricant like KY jelly to see if I can help her. As a last result I've looked into the imploding method which sounds very stressful.

 

[Faraday40]

When my 1st lav orp, Cuddles, fell ill, I looked into all kinds of things. I first thought egg bound but she didn't have the walk. I think she enjoyed the relaxing warm Epsom salt baths but when I tried the KY I never felt an egg. In your hen's case, I hope it is an egg. It's serious - but also treatable.


After several warm baths for 2 days, I realized my Cuddles was not egg bound. For a while I really thought she had peritonitis ( internal laying). Her abdomen was swollen but her keel bone was protruding. When the very sad day came I did my own necropsy and found she had Cystadenocarcinomas. I'm not saying that's what your hen has, but if you find no egg and she wasn't doing the penguin walk, you may have to research other possible causes, like:
egg yolk peritonitis
ascites or fluid in the lower belly causes problems walking
intestinal infection
worms

Could she have eaten something bad?
Aspergillosis (mold infection)
Botulism


I'm not an expert or a vet. I'm just sharing some of things I came across that had similar symptoms.

 

[ColtHandorf]

When my 1st lav orp, Cuddles, fell ill, I looked into all kinds of things. I first thought egg bound but she didn't have the walk. I think she enjoyed the relaxing warm Epsom salt baths but when I tried the KY I never felt an egg. In your hen's case, I hope it is an egg. It's serious - but also treatable.

I too am hoping it is just egg binding. I'm going to try another Epsom salt bath today after work and see what results from that. She's still bright-eyed and drinking well. And very grumpy/nippy. She's not eating much and her breast feels thin to me. She was able to expel a very green, explosive, liquid, foul-smelling, large amount of feces/urates yesterday afternoon while I was at work. After that she doesn't appear to be as swollen as she was. After palpating her vent region I was unable to even be sure I felt what I thought was an egg anymore.

After several warm baths for 2 days, I realized my Cuddles was not egg bound. For a while I really thought she had peritonitis ( internal laying). Her abdomen was swollen but her keel bone was protruding. When the very sad day came I did my own necropsy and found she had Cystadenocarcinomas. I'm not saying that's what your hen has, but if you find no egg and she wasn't doing the penguin walk, you may have to research other possible causes, like:

I've never even heard of that. So off to Google I'll go.

egg yolk peritonitis

- I've heard of this, but am unsure of what the symptoms are.

ascites or fluid in the lower belly causes problems walking, intestinal infection, worms

I don't think she has worms? I certainly didn't see any parasites in the mess she made yesterday. But I'll do some reading. I may actually call around and see if there's a vet that would see her.

Could she have eaten something bad?
Aspergillosis (mold infection)
Botulism

She's been in a pen with a lot of other birds, over a dozen. So I'd think if there was something bad they ate, that more birds than just her would be feeling off. I'll investigate the barn after work today and just sit out there and watch them for a while. It's rained for the first time in about three months, so it's cooler.

I'm not an expert or a vet. I'm just sharing some of things I came across that had similar symptoms.

I appreciate you sharing your experiences and findings with your own bird. It helps to have someone with some knowledge and experience share that.