Egg bound? Constipated?

BlackIce

Songster
Mar 29, 2018
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I've had this hen for less that a year since she hatched in the summer of last year. So far this winter/spring we have brought her in the house because she has become egg bound. The first time we brought her in it was hard to fix the vent prolapse after dislodging the egg but I was able to put everything back in place. A week or two later she attempted to lay another egg resulting in her being egg bound yet again. This time when i tried to fix the prolapse there was a massive amount of dry grainy poop around her vent. She seemed severely constipated. After about a week of trying to get the constipation under control and fixing her vent yet again she is back outside. I worry that soon she will attempt to lay another egg and become egg bound again. Is there a way to permanently stop a chicken from laying or fix this issue? She is a golden comet mix and a very important part of our family and if she can feel better it would be a relief to us all.
 
I'm going through something similar with a hen right now. She is bearing down very heavily as if constipated and it makes the prolapse come back out. I'm interested to see what others have to say.

When searching for an egg, how far in do you need to feel?
 
I've read but there is a way to stop a hen from laying but it requires a Vet. Read it here somewhere, don't think it's surgery but some drug. Also read to lessen the food quality, less protein (scratch feed) & keeping under less light.
 
I'm going through something similar with a hen right now. She is bearing down very heavily as if constipated and it makes the prolapse come back out. I'm interested to see what others have to say.

When searching for an egg, how far in do you need to feel?
When she tried laying the egg she would prolapse with the egg still inside of the prolapse so that the egg and her inside both were out. we had to put massive amounts of vaseline to help lubricate the egg and get it out. once getting the egg was out the vent would stay out and it was tricky to get back in.
 
I've had this hen for less that a year since she hatched in the summer of last year. So far this winter/spring we have brought her in the house because she has become egg bound. The first time we brought her in it was hard to fix the vent prolapse after dislodging the egg but I was able to put everything back in place. A week or two later she attempted to lay another egg resulting in her being egg bound yet again. This time when i tried to fix the prolapse there was a massive amount of dry grainy poop around her vent. She seemed severely constipated. After about a week of trying to get the constipation under control and fixing her vent yet again she is back outside. I worry that soon she will attempt to lay another egg and become egg bound again. Is there a way to permanently stop a chicken from laying or fix this issue? She is a golden comet mix and a very important part of our family and if she can feel better it would be a relief to us all.

I'm sorry to hear about your hen.

Just a few things to ask - what type of food/treats do you feed?
How heavy is she - does it seem that she has a fatty rear end?

Unfortunately, laying issues are common in hens - sex links are high production birds designed to churn out the eggs, so I feel they may be even more prone to have these problems.

Being constipated, egg bound and prolapsing is a compound problem. The first thing to do is evaluate your food and treats.
Is she drinking well? Dehydration plays a huge roll in egg binding along with being too heavy (excess fat in the abdomen-restricts the smooth passage of the egg).
Make sure she is drinking, that her main source of food is a balanced poultry feed and limit treats to no more than 5% of her daily intake. Scratch/corn is low in nutrients and packs on the pounds, so make treats something a bit more nutritional (imho) greens (kale), cabbage, broccoli or a little fruit would be better as a daily treat.
Add poultry vitamins to her water once a week and make oyster shell available free choice - calcium helps not only with making hard shells, but also helps retain a prolapse. She may benefit from extra calcium for no more than 3days - you can use a crushed TUMS or 1/2tablet of calcium supplement like Caltrate.

For constipation you can give molasses in the water (use the molasses only 1 time to get things moving - it causes very loose stools) or direct dose her with mineral oil or give her a little coconut oil (my chicken will gobble pieces of coconut oil). As with anything moderation is key - don't overload her, give a little and see if that helps with constipation. Constipation could be due to fat or inflammation of the oviduct (or in your case a stuck egg) constricting the function of the intestines.

It always seems to be a favorite that has problems. To permanently stop egg laying, you will need to seek vet care about Suprelorin Implants - that may be an option for you. https://poultrykeeper.com/reproductive-system-problems/suprelorin-implant-for-chickens/
The only other thing I know to do would be to limit the amount of light to around less than 8hrs a day - that would mean caging her and keeping her in the dark. Short term, this may help stop production and allow her to heal, but long term, you would have to determine if that is quality of life for her.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your hen.

Just a few things to ask - what type of food/treats do you feed?
How heavy is she - does it seem that she has a fatty rear end?

Unfortunately, laying issues are common in hens - sex links are high production birds designed to churn out the eggs, so I feel they may be even more prone to have these problems.

Being constipated, egg bound and prolapsing is a compound problem. The first thing to do is evaluate your food and treats.
Is she drinking well? Dehydration plays a huge roll in egg binding along with being too heavy (excess fat in the abdomen-restricts the smooth passage of the egg).
Make sure she is drinking, that her main source of food is a balanced poultry feed and limit treats to no more than 5% of her daily intake. Scratch/corn is low in nutrients and packs on the pounds, so make treats something a bit more nutritional (imho) greens (kale), cabbage, broccoli or a little fruit would be better as a daily treat.
Add poultry vitamins to her water once a week and make oyster shell available free choice - calcium helps not only with making hard shells, but also helps retain a prolapse. She may benefit from extra calcium for no more than 3days - you can use a crushed TUMS or 1/2tablet of calcium supplement like Caltrate.

For constipation you can give molasses in the water (use the molasses only 1 time to get things moving - it causes very loose stools) or direct dose her with mineral oil or give her a little coconut oil (my chicken will gobble pieces of coconut oil). As with anything moderation is key - don't overload her, give a little and see if that helps with constipation. Constipation could be due to fat or inflammation of the oviduct (or in your case a stuck egg) constricting the function of the intestines.

It always seems to be a favorite that has problems. To permanently stop egg laying, you will need to seek vet care about Suprelorin Implants - that may be an option for you. https://poultrykeeper.com/reproductive-system-problems/suprelorin-implant-for-chickens/
The only other thing I know to do would be to limit the amount of light to around less than 8hrs a day - that would mean caging her and keeping her in the dark. Short term, this may help stop production and allow her to heal, but long term, you would have to determine if that is quality of life for her.
We dont usually give our chickens many treats but because of her problems we have been feeding her bananas and tomatoes and stuff like that. She is a pretty light chicken especially when she gets a prolapse she will drop in weight. definitely wouldnt say that she is overweight or overfed. She does drink and when she gets a prolapse fluid will run from her mouth when she eats which causes her food to be soggy and gross. We give all of our chickens oyster shells. I should probably go and get vitamines to put in her water. Im sure that will help a lot. When she gets a prolapse we keep her in the house with a towel over her cage to keep it dark. Because its still pretty much winter where i live we have all of our chickens in the barn with heat lamps so they arent outside yet. If the prolapsing continues then we will probably have to put her down:hit
 
She does drink and when she gets a prolapse fluid will run from her mouth when she eats which causes her food to be soggy and gross.

When she is prolapsed, there is internal swelling going on - basically this swelling is blocking bodily functions causing the crop to back up - hence the fluid running out of her mouth.

It's a bad situation to be in. Some people do eventually cull a bird that continually prolapses. I'm very sorry.
 
When she is prolapsed, there is internal swelling going on - basically this swelling is blocking bodily functions causing the crop to back up - hence the fluid running out of her mouth.

It's a bad situation to be in. Some people do eventually cull a bird that continually prolapses. I'm very sorry.
Poor peaches. If she prolapses again I'd say the only thing to do at that point is to put her down. Lets hope she doesn't! :fl
 

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