Egg bound - gave bath - didnt' work

[Vickir73]

Ok, I gave her a warm bath, but now after reading more, I didn't have enough water for her to float in. I only put it about half way up her back and then gently splashed it onto her vent area. She is drinking (and drank quite a bit during the bath) but as of this morning, no egg. I read somewhere yesterday (and should have printed it out) about someone taking a syringe and drawing out the contents of the egg and then collapsing it. I think they said they used an 18 gauge needle? Does anyone know? Has anyone tried this and it worked. I'm assuming if I don't do something she is going to die so I'd rather try all I can.

Also, if they are egg bound, will they continue to have problems later on? Will this issue pass on to her offspring?

 

[donnavee]

I have have a little experience with egg bound hens and all came out OK. The needle thing I don't know about, just sounds dangerous to me. Try another warm bath, sometimes it takes more than once. I have also used a heating pad turned on low with a warm damp towel over it. I put this in a small cage and put the chicken in, then turned out the lights in the room so she would rest quietly for a while - usually around 30 minutes. I've also just held the chicken on my lap with the heating pad - we both watched TV. With one hen, I never saw the egg laid, but she started getting better so I guess she laid it somewhere. I had one girl that became egg bound twice, but no repeats in the last couple of years. Good luck, and though I've never lost an eggbound chicken, I understand it can happen.

 

[NCgirl21]

I've been reading a lot about this today because I think my chicken might have the same problem. What are some of your hen's symptoms? Are you sure it's egg bound? (I'm only ask because, as I said, I'm going through the same situation and I find it hard to know for sure) I read that if she is egg bound that sometimes it takes more than one warm bath. Also try massaging downward while bathing her. Really important to not let the water cool down. I would be wary to use a needle. If at all possible I would also avoid breaking the egg because I've read many, many stories where the broken pieces of the shell cut her insides and unfortunately leads to death so that would be my last resort. I haven't read that it's genetic and I have read that it can happen once in a lifetime or it can happen three times in the hen's lifetime. It's just unpredictable. I hope this helps! Please keep us updated on your little girl!

 

[Vickir73]

by the time I got home she had passed. she was egg bound, but since everyone in that coop is not laying yet I don't know if this was her first or just too big (i'm getting some very large eggs from my Marans).

Her symptoms were sitting on the ground (which those birds never do unless they are dust bathing) and being all huntched over with her tail feathers pointing down. Here's a picture of her after we picked her up from the ground and put her on the roost (after which she immediately jumped back down to the ground). It's not very good because it was dark by the time I got home

 

[Suzie]

I am so sorry for your loss.

Suzie