Egg bound ? (48+ hours) but able to poop?

[desertsunshine]

Newbie here, freaking out and need some help / advice please. Sorry if this is long just want to cover everything.

I’m a little over a year into raising chickens, so this is my first encounter with what I think is a hen being egg bound.

The day before yesterday (Friday, May 2nd) I noticed one hen was just sitting under the stairs of the coop, but didn’t think much of it. When I went to tuck them all in for the night I realized she was still there and seemed lethargic and seemed to have just been laying there and pooping (diarrhea) onto her lower feathers. My first thought was egg bound maybe, but wasn’t sure so I brought her in (she didn’t put up a fuss at all, definitely lethargic). Gave her an Epsom salt soak and a blow dry and took her back out and into the coop because I thought it might be better for her.

The next morning while everyone else was out and about starting to eat at sunrise, she stayed in the coop. I kept an eye on her and she later came out and drank a little water, but was still very lethargic, not moving beyond that, not eating, closing her eyes most of the time, hunched with her tail down, and still had diarrhea.

Again, thinking egg bound, I brought her back inside and set up an open container for her to stay in between soaks, which she seems to enjoy while she’s in there. She wasn’t eating, drinking, or pooping anymore. I offered water with electrolytes, water with a little molasses, regular feed, and a scrambled egg with the shell (I live half an hour outside the nearest town and no Tums or I would have tried that.) She wasn’t going for any of it.

She seems puffy and swollen below vent, I tried massaging gently downwards towards vent and she seems uncomfortable with the added pressure.

Not sure if I could or could not feel an egg externally, I finally used a syringe to insert some olive oil into her vent and then decided to glove up because I was starting to get really worried if she was egg bound and it didn’t come out soon she wouldn’t make it.

When I did I could definitely feel a hard egg above my finger, but covered in thick membrane. Like I could wrap my pointer finger around the end of the egg (with my finger up in a cone here kind of motion) and pull it towards the vent a bit, but it’s like it wasn’t directly in the vent, I could move my finger around it, but only touching it through thick membrane. But moving it around a little seemed to allow for some poop to come out, which seemed to relieve her a bit.

But I really wasn’t very hopeful that she’d make it through the night at this point.

This morning I was surprised. She seemed more alert and awake when I came in at sunrise and she was eating the scrambled egg with the shell that I had made her the day before. She finished that and started eating some of the regular feed so I went to make her another scrambled egg. She still wasn’t drinking. But her comb was looking more red and she just seemed better. She pooped a few times right after eating. The first was one kind of thin long pellet with a lot of liquid that came out, the next two were little piles of multiple pellets. I was so glad to see her eating and able to poop on her own I thought for sure she’d pass the egg this morning after that, but didn’t. She seemed to get very sleepy again after eating and went back to hunched sleeping, no more pooping and has stayed like that through today.

Decided to give her another soak right now and as soon as I got her out she had a big liquidy but chunky poop (sorry), and then one more about 20 minutes later.

So I’m so confused. Is she egg bound if she can still poop right now? Why was she able to only dribble liquid poop before, but can now do the little tuck squat and have a normal looking poop? She’s been inside so I know she hasn’t passed the egg I felt. It’s been almost 48 hour since I gave her the first Epsom salt soak, but I don’t know maybe 56 hours since I first noticed her isolation and lethargic.

Any insight or advice? Egg bound or something else? Thanks in advance

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

@Eggcessive @azygous @Wyorp Rock

 

[desertsunshine]

Reading more and starting to wonder if it might be egg yolk peritonitis.

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is your hen? Can you go to the store and get some human calcium tablets with vitamin D. Tums will do, but the calcium is best. Has she been laying eggs recently, and have you seen any soft or abnormal shell? She could be having some other reproductive problem. I would not bathe her anymore. Is she eating or drinking? I would hold food and water up to her beak often. Wet chicken feed is sometimes appealing. Let us know how she is doing tomorrow. Any pictures of her or her poop are welcome.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She seems puffy and swollen below vent, I tried massaging gently downwards towards vent and she seems uncomfortable with the added pressure.

When I did I could definitely feel a hard egg above my finger, but covered in thick membrane. Like I could wrap my pointer finger around the end of the egg (with my finger up in a cone here kind of motion) and pull it towards the vent a bit, but it’s like it wasn’t directly in the vent, I could move my finger around it, but only touching it through thick membrane.

I'd work on hydration and getting Extra Calcium into her as suggested.

Your description sounds like you are feeling an internally laid egg that is in the abdomen. The Reproductive system goes slightly UP while the Large Intestine is somewhat straight on and ever so slightly down.

If she enjoys the soaks, I'd continue with those. I would not syringe oil into the vent, you risk flushing feces or bacteria into the reproductive system. You can apply a bit of ointment/oil to the outside of the vent if you wish.

Look forward to seeing how she is doing along with photos of her and her poop.

 

[desertsunshine]

How old is your hen? Can you go to the store and get some human calcium tablets with vitamin D. Tums will do, but the calcium is best. Has she been laying eggs recently, and have you seen any soft or abnormal shell? She could be having some other reproductive problem. I would not bathe her anymore. Is she eating or drinking? I would hold food and water up to her beak often. Wet chicken feed is sometimes appealing. Let us know how she is doing tomorrow. Any pictures of her or her poop are welcome.

She’s a little over a year old now. As far as I’ve noticed she has been laying normal eggs, haven’t noticed any soft or abnormal shelled eggs in the coop. I think there was one broken egg in the coop last week, I can’t swear by it but I think it was an egg from a different hen (different colored egg) that I figured was stepped on. She seems to be enjoying scrambled egg with the shell cooked into it, so anytime she finished what was there I’d go cook up another for her to have access to. Altogether she ate about 3.5 of those today and maybe a tablespoon or two of regular feed. I haven’t actually seen her drink since bringing her inside, but it seems like the little dish of water with a little mollasses mixed in isn’t as full, so I think she’s had at least a bit from there. I’ve tried throughout to hold water dishes up just towards her face but she shakes her head away from it. I can head into town to try calcium tablets tomorrow! When I was tucking the other hens in for the night I did manage to feel a few of their lower abdomens to get a feel for what it should be like. There’s seemed much smaller and light almost airy or soft. Hers seems definitely distended, mostly kind of stiff but also kind of squishy. I guess hers seems like it’s full of something, where there’s didn’t really. I was having trouble adding pictures, but I’ll try again. Thanks for the response!

 

[desertsunshine]

I'd work on hydration and getting Extra Calcium into her as suggested.

Your description sounds like you are feeling an internally laid egg that is in the abdomen. The Reproductive system goes slightly UP while the Large Intestine is somewhat straight on and ever so slightly down.

If she enjoys the soaks, I'd continue with those. I would not syringe oil into the vent, you risk flushing feces or bacteria into the reproductive system. You can apply a bit of ointment/oil to the outside of the vent if you wish.

Look forward to seeing how she is doing along with photos of her and her poop.

View attachment 4114764

Ahh okay! So based on that, when I tried to feel internally for a stuck egg yesterday, I did feel what I think was an egg within the shell gland. It felt like a whole, intact, already hard shelled egg above my finger that I could hook my pointer finger around with my palm facing up, but totally covered in membrane so maybe still within the shell gland. But then externally her lower abdomen is distended and seems full of quite a bit of something firm but also squishy. I managed to compare to my other hens when tucking them in tonight and by comparison their lower abdomens felt much smaller (not distended) and kind of lighter and almost airy compared to hers. Internally I couldn’t feel anything below, but could feel an egg above my finger. I’ll avoid more oil! Thank you for your reply! I’ll try to add some photos.

 

[desertsunshine]

Newbie here, freaking out and need some help / advice please. Sorry if this is long just want to cover everything.

I’m a little over a year into raising chickens, so this is my first encounter with what I think is a hen being egg bound.

The day before yesterday (Friday, May 2nd) I noticed one hen was just sitting under the stairs of the coop, but didn’t think much of it. When I went to tuck them all in for the night I realized she was still there and seemed lethargic and seemed to have just been laying there and pooping (diarrhea) onto her lower feathers. My first thought was egg bound maybe, but wasn’t sure so I brought her in (she didn’t put up a fuss at all, definitely lethargic). Gave her an Epsom salt soak and a blow dry and took her back out and into the coop because I thought it might be better for her.

The next morning while everyone else was out and about starting to eat at sunrise, she stayed in the coop. I kept an eye on her and she later came out and drank a little water, but was still very lethargic, not moving beyond that, not eating, closing her eyes most of the time, hunched with her tail down, and still had diarrhea.

Again, thinking egg bound, I brought her back inside and set up an open container for her to stay in between soaks, which she seems to enjoy while she’s in there. She wasn’t eating, drinking, or pooping anymore. I offered water with electrolytes, water with a little molasses, regular feed, and a scrambled egg with the shell (I live half an hour outside the nearest town and no Tums or I would have tried that.) She wasn’t going for any of it.

She seems puffy and swollen below vent, I tried massaging gently downwards towards vent and she seems uncomfortable with the added pressure.

Not sure if I could or could not feel an egg externally, I finally used a syringe to insert some olive oil into her vent and then decided to glove up because I was starting to get really worried if she was egg bound and it didn’t come out soon she wouldn’t make it.

When I did I could definitely feel a hard egg above my finger, but covered in thick membrane. Like I could wrap my pointer finger around the end of the egg (with my finger up in a cone here kind of motion) and pull it towards the vent a bit, but it’s like it wasn’t directly in the vent, I could move my finger around it, but only touching it through thick membrane. But moving it around a little seemed to allow for some poop to come out, which seemed to relieve her a bit.

But I really wasn’t very hopeful that she’d make it through the night at this point.

This morning I was surprised. She seemed more alert and awake when I came in at sunrise and she was eating the scrambled egg with the shell that I had made her the day before. She finished that and started eating some of the regular feed so I went to make her another scrambled egg. She still wasn’t drinking. But her comb was looking more red and she just seemed better. She pooped a few times right after eating. The first was one kind of thin long pellet with a lot of liquid that came out, the next two were little piles of multiple pellets. I was so glad to see her eating and able to poop on her own I thought for sure she’d pass the egg this morning after that, but didn’t. She seemed to get very sleepy again after eating and went back to hunched sleeping, no more pooping and has stayed like that through today.

Decided to give her another soak right now and as soon as I got her out she had a big liquidy but chunky poop (sorry), and then one more about 20 minutes later.

So I’m so confused. Is she egg bound if she can still poop right now? Why was she able to only dribble liquid poop before, but can now do the little tuck squat and have a normal looking poop? She’s been inside so I know she hasn’t passed the egg I felt. It’s been almost 48 hour since I gave her the first Epsom salt soak, but I don’t know maybe 56 hours since I first noticed her isolation and lethargic.

Any insight or advice? Egg bound or something else? Thanks in advance

Her feathers around her vent got olive oil on them so even after baths they are staying clumped like that, but you can see the swollen lower abdomen here, will try to get better pictures tomorrow. First picture of poops: on the left three little dried clumps from her pooping after finally showing interest in food for the first time in 24 hours, right after eating some scrambled egg with shell right after sunrise. Second photo of poop was fresh after a much bigger one in the tub right after her last soak this afternoon (wish I had a picture of that) that poop is kind of in the center of the picture. Also for months, maybe longer, she has always seemsed to have a little dribble of poop below her vent on her feathers. I’ve always thought it was just a quirk, like maybe she just didn’t do the little movement they do when pooping as well as she should so she was a little messier than the other ladies and it caught on her feathers a bit, but now I’m wondering.

 

[Eggcessive]

Her lower belly is enlarged. Usually, that can be from salpingitis and internal laying, ascites fluid, or in some cases, cancer. I would not soak her, unless for some reason her vent is very soiled. I would just make sure that is has some dry and wet chicken feed and a spoonful of scrambled egg occasionally offered. Let her do what she wants to do. Watch her droppings. They can develop yellow urates (normally white) which is common with reproductive disorders and infection.

 

[desertsunshine]

Her lower belly is enlarged. Usually, that can be from salpingitis and internal laying, ascites fluid, or in some cases, cancer. I would not soak her, unless for some reason her vent is very soiled. I would just make sure that is has some dry and wet chicken feed and a spoonful of scrambled egg occasionally offered. Let her do what she wants to do. Watch her droppings. They can develop yellow urates (normally white) which is common with reproductive disorders and infection.

Thank you, should I keep her inside separate from the rest or just take her back outside and keep an eye on her?