Egg Bound Chickens

[ElysetheMom]

I need advice from you experienced chicken-raisers: Over the last month we've had 3 egg-bound chickens. (Two died. The third we realized was egg bound when we butchered her.)
They were three different breeds, one chicken was over a year old, the other 2 less than a year. They have plenty of water available 24 hours a day, I feed them a pellet form layer feed, and they get oyster shell as a supplement. It's snowy up here in Maine, so they're not getting much exercise.
What am I doing wrong?!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. What breeds were the chickens? Was the chicken you butchered showing any symptoms of egg binding, or did you just find an egg in her reproductive tract? My chickens prefer crushed egg shells fed back to them if given the choice between that and crushed oyster shell. It could be that during the cold winter weather, that your chickens are not drinking enough water. Egg binding can occur because of dehydration, low calcium levels, but also due to overly large eggs and possible vent damage from that. Certain breeds such as production reds and hatchery RIR are egg laying machines and have a tendency to have egg binding problems.

 

[ElysetheMom]

Eggcessive, Thank you for your reply. One egg bound chicken was a Golden Comet, another a Leghorn, and the third was a Cuckoo Maran. The fact that it was three different breeds leads me to believe I'm doing something wrong. I can't imagine how to encourage the chickens to drink more water; it's available all day. The only thing I can think of is that they're too sedentary. We've had chickens for several years, but I've never lost this many to being egg bound.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi
Can you give us more info on how you know they were egg bound? Did you necropsy them all? If so, what exactly did you find? Just want to be clear that you are not mistaking egg binding for something else. Were the eggs all fully formed with a hard shell?
I appreciate that you butchered the third bird.... how old was that bird, what breed and was there a significant amount of fat in and around the abdominal cavity and organs? Too much fat is often a cause of egg binding as the fat forms around the vent and narrows the opening.
Do you feed any scratch at all or bread/pasta etc or other carbohydrate treats?

 

[ElysetheMom]

Rebrascora, the one chicken we butchered (an almost 2 year old Golden Comet) had 2 HUGE eggs in her. We were shocked. Two days ago we found a chicken lying in the dirt (10 month old Leghorn) late at night, so we put her out of her misery but did not butcher her. Then today we found a dead chicken (10 month old Cuckoo Maran) in a nest box, with blood around her vent. They're all a bit fat, but not too fat to strut around.
I do feed scratch and occasional bread treats. Could that be the problem? Maybe I should sprinkle the scratch outside and force them to move around more? Right now I'm putting it in the coop as it's cold and frozen outside.

 

[rebrascora]

How much scratch between how many hens and how much bread? Yes too much scratch and bread and not enough exercise can make them fat and being fat can cause them to become egg bound or prolapse, as well as more serious conditions like Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic syndrome, which can cause them to die very quickly if the liver ruptures. Leghorns are less likely to get fat because they are generally more active birds and I think it is a bit of a stretch to assume the Leghorn was egg
bound just because you found her lying in the dirt.... there are a number of ailments that could be responsible for that.... were there any other symptoms?
And finding the Marans in the nest box with a bloody vent does not mean she was egg bound either. She may have been sick with something else and set upon by the other chickens and crawled into the nest box to die or to get out of their way or she may have been prolapsed.
Was there a lot of yellow fat inside the hen you butchered?
I would definitely cut the scratch and bread from your remaining flock's diet for now and just give them layer pellets and see how you get on.

 

[Kathy Golla]

Like Rebrascora, I'm interested in what makes you think all three died of being egg bound? That would be quite...coincidental... and I think might be a stretch.
Only a necropsy would really tell what happened, but fat chickens are at definite high risk for dying suddenly.

 

[4 ever Orpington]

I need advice from you experienced chicken-raisers: Over the last month we've had 3 egg-bound chickens. (Two died. The third we realized was egg bound when we butchered her.)
They were three different breeds, one chicken was over a year old, the other 2 less than a year. They have plenty of water available 24 hours a day, I feed them a pellet form layer feed, and they get oyster shell as a supplement. It's snowy up here in Maine, so they're not getting much exercise.
What am I doing wrong?!

 

[Eggcessive]

The one that died yesterday with the blood around the vent, possibly could have been pecked, had blood from an intestinal infection, or suffered a prolapse. She may not have been egg bound, but without a necropsy, hard to tell. Two out of the three breeds are great layers, so egg binding can be common. Being sedentary might be another cause for egg binding, but I am not convinced they all had that. I have more than one water station in my coop and run, just so they have a chance to drink. Sometimes I put a lot of water into a flat pan of chicken feed to make it wet, and they will get more fluids that way.

 

[ElysetheMom]

Thanks, Everyone, for your advice and observations. This is much better than reading a book on chicken-care!
We've cut out their scratch, started giving them their morning scraps outside so they have to get out of the coop, and I'll put a second waterer in the coop. We'll see how it goes from there!