Egg bound, broken egg inside?? Update #2 YEAH!!!!!!!

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

Last night, I heard one of my chickens fall off the roost. Today, a BA is acting "weird", not wanting to eat, is drinking and has a discharge that looks like egg white. It's doesn't smell bad. At first I thought she might have a broken egg inside but maybe she's egg bound. Please read my email below. I'm not confident about what to do. Thanks

 

[PortugalBreeder]

OMG, that sounds bad. I'm hopping for every thing to go right.

 

[tryxichicks]

Sounds unnerving. Well first off all is she eating and drinking? Is she moving ok?
I've had a hen that had poop that looked like egg white, there was alot of it and she started acting depressed, and sulking etc. It turned out she had egg peritonitis, I brought her inside to keep warm, originally I thought she was egg bound (her sister died from being eb) so I treated her for that, no luck...took her to the vet and they prescribed Baytril 22.7's pill form (its difficult to pill but worth it.) in a 14 day dose. She cleared up after about 4 days, and it took her awhile to be totally normal, and about 16 days after being better to lay again, as of now, she's one of my best layers ::knock on wood::.
If you can find a small animal vet around, even if they don't usually treat birds, you can ask for an appt. so that they can prescribe you antibiotics, it will cost you, but if she is your pet it'd be worth it.
If it is a broken egg either she will expel it herself in small bits, or you can have a vet remove it. You can try to do it yourself, but it probably wouldn't do much good, just introduce more bacteria. You will see significant degradation in her health if it is, it causes infection, if it comes to that you may have to put her down.
BUT a fall should not cause an egg to break, unless it's from VERY high. I'd try antibiotics.
Someone else will come along and they may be able to offer up some ideas on more accessible antibiotics.
Bring her inside, make sure she has food and water, and a small roost.
Good luck, keep posting if you don't get a response soon!!!

 

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

The more I read the more I'm thinking she might be egg bound. She's about 8 months old and not used to being picked up. It was no problem today. Not so sure if I should put her in warm water. I have looked at her vent and it looked totally normal. Should I take her to a small animal vet tomorrow who treats birds or try and treat her myself? She's in a large dog carrier inside the coop right now. She did drink water late afternoon but wasn't interested in eating. She basically looked droopy, eyes looked tired, tail down, and didn't walk around much.

 

[ace6175]

It sounds bad - I had a BR that was acting a little eggbound in the evening, and the next morning she was dead. I wouldn't wait to treat her.
If you really think she is eggbound, a warm bath would be the first thing to try.

 

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

Quote:
Should I bring her inside tonight and put her in a warm bath? She isn't used to being handled. How will I keep her in the bathtub?

 

[tryxichicks]

I wouldn't put her in warm water, because it can be a strange situation for them, and they can tense up more, especially if she isn't comfortable with being handled. And you have to dry her with a hair dryer, if she gets wet and cold it can kill her. Just try what I wrote, put her in the bathroom, get it really steamy, and let her chill for about an hour if steam dissappears quickly, get the room more steamy. It has worked well for me, please try. Egg binding kills, they can't poop properly, and essentially will rupture, you must act quickly.

 

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

Quote:
Thank you, thank you !!!! I brought the pullet into the house, in the dog carrier, put her in the bathroom all steamed up and in less than 30 min. she passed an egg with a soft shell. She's still in the bathroom. I'm planning to take her back outside tomorrow morning and see how she feels. YEAH!!!

 

[Tala]

What is she eating? Sounds like she needs more calcium! Do you offer oyster shells on the side just in case?
Calcium is needed not only for making shells, but also for the muscles to work to pass the egg.

 

[LaurelRidgeDreams]

Quote:
She's eating 20% layer feed. I also feed some BOSS, greens, and they go out on a much eaten down grass lot. They have free choice oyster shells in the run and inside the coop. Until today her egg shells have been very hard.