Egg bound? Day 4 - hard to find vets to treat

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

I went out to sit with my chickens Saturday afternoon, my lap hen, Bandit jumped up to sit on my lap as she usually does. After she was done, she got down and it looked like her chest was puffed out - not quite penguin stance, but like something wasn't right. It was about 4pm. I decided I would check on her later- she's had trouble with eggs before, but to my knowledge she hasn't laid in quite a while. Around 8pm, I took her inside, and she started squeezing - trying to lay an egg I assumed. This has happened before, usually taking her inside, giving her some tums, and a warm Epsom soak helps her get it out. This time it didn't. We were up with her until around 2am, she was still trying to get it out. The emergency vet here stopped seeing chickens due to avian flu and it being a state funded ER. Of course, it was a Saturday night. They referred us to a new emergency vet that opened bout 2 months ago. We called them, they told us they don't do overnight but we could come in at 12pm the next day. So we did. They didn't have an avian vet, however, but they did have a tech that knew how to give fluids to chickens, so Bandit got LRS, B12, and a shot of calcium. They also did a non-sedated Xray to see if they could see an egg (which I will attach) and you can very much see a big egg. Bandit tried to squeeze some more while we were there. We went home around 3pm and she squeezed a little more that day, to no avail. Her normal vet wouldn't even be available until Tuesday, but we called Monday and got her an appointment. We ended up back at this emergency vet Monday night, from around 9pm-11pm, where they gave her more fluids. The vet said she could theoretically do a procedure to drain the egg and retrieve it, but she's also never done it before. Which of course, made us nervous. It's day 4 now so we are very much like, well, is she going to die if we don't do this? We called her vet today and he said he wasn't comfortable sedating her because that can be tricky with chickens, and they referred us to other vets. We played wild goose chase and called about 10 vets, up to two hours away. Either they won't take chickens because of avian flu, or they are full booked out for at least 2 weeks. If she needs surgery, she'll be dead by then.

TL;DR:
1) 2.5 yr old Swedish Flower Hen started squeezing on Saturday (4 days ago), did not produce an egg- administered crushed tums, Epsom bath soak, probed with ky jelly
2) Sunday, still squeezing, went to ER for fluids and calcium shot, took an Xray, confirmed presence of egg
3) Monday, no squeezing, started panting/acting agitated around 3pm, around 10pm was given more fluids, gabapentin
4) Tuesday, waiting for regular vet to evaluate
5) Other info: she has been pooping through all this, waste is still exiting her body, she is still eating, drinking, acting fairly normal aside from when she was panting/agitated and when she was squeezing
6) Emergency (non-avian) vet just called and said that since it's been 4 days the egg may be hardened/stuck and they wouldn't have the capability of doing open cavity surgery.

Thoughts? Advice? This was my nightmare happening on the weekend (as it always does) and then not being able to find an emergency chicken vet. She's such a sweet baby, the kind of chicken you dream of getting, the one that runs to you and loves to sit with you on you lap. Getting desperate.

 

[ChickenFeeds]

It is good that she still eats and poops and drinks normally. Calcium should be helpful.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

I'm sorry to hear about this. Usual things are a calcium deficiency, oviduct disease, but parasites may cause the oviduct to swell and make the passing of the egg harder or impossible. At this time, I would consider aspiration of the egg and removing it, but this is an extremely delicate thing to do and no novice should attempt to do it.

Goose chase for your chicken is not acceptable. Aren't they supposed to know what to do? not find someone else to do it?

Yes, week ends can also be that good for me too. I'm sorry..............................

So the emergency vet we went to was willing to do the aspiration, but when we called today they said that since it's been 4 days that might not be possible because the egg may be too hardened in the oviduct? They may be willing to try but we'd have to accept the possibility they will need to euthanize her during the procedure. And when it comes to vets that are already don't know avians very well, the risk seems even higher.

Parasites are possible - we have cryptosporidiosis in our flock and every time they molt (like right now) they have a flare up. I don't know that I could treat her fast enough for that to make a different here. I did also start sulfatrim since my indoor chicken is on it anyway (chronically ill with crypto, bad immune system) They were de-wormed about 2 months ago, but maybe we could do that again (they did have worms).

So, I live in Florida, and apparently the state says avian flu is still a threat so most places won't treat chickens here. Everywhere I have called has given me 1-2 references, and each of those have given me 1-2 references. So yeah, no one is confident/can do it/has time to do it so it's just.. I'm so sad. The internet says to get your chicken to a vet in this situation, we have zero issue doing this and still can't find care sometimes. It's so frustrating.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

Yeah, it took us months to figure out the crypto, this was our first flock of chickens and if you read my post history, we've definitely been through it. All the research I did before getting chickens- nothing could have prepared me for it. I think the crypto affects EVERY OTHER ISSUE we've had. I love our chooks so much but I don't think I'll ever get them again (at least not at this property) after this. It's just not fair.

Yeah, at this point, I do think getting someone to aspirate is the only option. Just trying to find someone to do it... Because she needs to be sedated. The emergency non-avian vet seemed concerned it might be adhered at this point. I'm so anxious to hear what her primary vet has to say this afternoon.

I know there isn't much else to work with, but I really, really appreciate you responding. It means a lot.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

I'm speechless. I don't ever consider how good I've got it until I encounter something like your situation. Yes you have seen it all. I think one of the reasons why crypto makes other things harder is because it's got no cure and it can affect all the systems of their bodies.

They will always give you a warning about sedation, but try not to freak out. One of our older hens has been under 3 times for things, she has come out ok. They say that as a big bad warning kind of thing that they do. Now she (your hen) needs help and sedation is a bit harder on birds than other animals, but they can hold up and get through.

I know you are anxious and will be, that's ok, those are the right feelings, but I'm sure this is going to work out for you.

I wish I could do so much more. I'm happy to send along some encouragement. We never want to ever be in a situation where we have to make hard decisions. But these situations always come along for us no matter what we do to escape them. They find us. Fine, then. We can manage at these times, we find a way. You'll be ok, it's going to be ok.

First flock! then it's all about learning so much for the first time, getting things right, starting over for some things. It's all legitimate. We've all been there You're definitely not alone in that one

Please feel free to let us know how things go.

Yeah, I mean, if she was going to the normal emergency vet we used to bring all the chickens to (the one that currently cannot take chickens because of a state mandate) I would be less concerned about the sedation. I know they have to tell you that, but sedation with vets that don't specialize in poultry is a bit scarier.

As for our first flock- we've had everything from broken beaks, wry neck, sour crop/crop stasis, bumblefeet, egg yolk peritonitis (unfortunately she didn't make it, we extended her life about 8 months), mild respiratory infections, crypto, now this. I've learned how to treat the bumbles, tube feed/medicate, stop bleeding, given vaccines, etc. Some of these things- my birds would be dead if I didn't have that emergency vet to go to - and now I don't have it. It's ALWAYS on a weekend!! Our first babies are 3.5 yrs old. I feel like we've seen so much you hope you never have to encounter in such a short amount of time. It's hard to love something so much when the odds are so against them.

Thank you for hoping for the best for us <3 At this point, I'm sure we will try for surgery, it's just a matter of who we can get to do it, and it may not be our first choice of vet.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

Oh boy, no one mentioned a second egg developing, but we were worried about that. Thank you for pointing it out! We may need to get a second Xray since that was from Sunday.

 

[coach723]

Where in Florida are you? Have you called UF in Gainesville, is that drivable for you? Not sure about chickens, but they do treat raptors and other wildlife. I have taken injured wild birds there and have seen other wildlife dropped off, turtles, squirrels, a fawn, so would assume they do have avian knowledge. It's worth the ask anyway, particularly if budget is not an issue for you.
The small animal hospital number is 352-392-2235, that is where wildlife is dropped off. They should at least be able to answer your questions.
If all other options run out, then you can try to do a removal yourself. If death is the only other option, then for me, I'd be willing to try, but that is entirely your decision. This site has some instructions on doing that:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/chicken-egg-binding-causes-symptoms/

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

That was our go-to for emergency, unfortunately they stopped taking chickens (or even wildlife birds) for at least a year due to avian flu. We are in Gainesville so it was only 20 minutes from us. We've called half a dozen places as far as Jacksonville, no luck.

 

[coach723]

I was able to take an Osprey in last year, despite the flu, they said they had adequate isolation ability, but I know that chickens are not considered important in many places, and I've never tried to take one there. Good to know. I'm sorry you are having so much trouble finding one, I don't even try anymore honestly. I got laughed at and hung up on, so many times........ It's a sad state of affairs to be a lowly chicken. I wish you luck with her.

 

[Sarahh_Janeyy]

Osprey is a bit of a showstopper I guess. I tried to bring an injured juvenile cardinal in last year but they turned me away and gave me like 3 rehabber numbers. Most of them were busy with baby birds. Sadly, the rehabber who finally was able to take it ended up euthanizing it