Egg bound hen - am I handling this right?

[Zinnia-Hen]

I soaked her for around 15 minutes to get her to relax her muscles. Dried her, took her into my garage in a crate so she'd be more comfortable. We massaged her a bit and tried to get the egg out manually, but to no avail (though I think it did get pushed out a bit more). It's been a little over an hour since we've soaked her and tried to get the egg out. Right now I'm just letting her hang out a bit to see if she'll pass it herself. She was pooping a bit earlier, but it was gross, thick whitish poo. I gave her some water, which she took a tiny sip of, and tried to give her some crushed up Tums, but she refused to eat any. I'll try putting the Tums in something to convince her to eat it later.

Is there anything else I can try doing? I really don't want to have to break the egg inside her.

Thanks.

 

[chickcrack]

Any progress? Can you see or feel the egg? I would try another warm bath then lube inside vent with some olive oil.

 

[Zinnia-Hen]

I soaked her again a couple of minutes ago. She's been drinking water, but still refuses to eat anything. I put some olive oil in her vent and the egg is even further out now, about a millimeter or less away from the opening. Basically right there on the surface. I massaged her a bit more, too. Now there's also some membrane or part of her vent that's kind of out around the egg. Still, it's not coming out. She doesn't seem to be in any serious pain, just discomfort. I feel like she might have given up on pushing, though.

I'll try to see if I can convince her to eat some Tums again. Maybe mix it with some scrambled egg or something?

 

[circesfire]

Why are you only soaking her for 15 minutes? I have had a hen egg bound twice now and I just let her soak until she's ready to get out. The first time it was about 5 minutes, the second time it was about an hour and a half. It's worked both times though.

 

[Zinnia-Hen]

I was just looking at other people's instructions, and they said about 10-15 minutes works fine. Technically, I went over the time a bit, about 20-ish minutes. She was definitely relaxed but by the end of each soaking, she wanted to get out.

 

[circesfire]

Ok. Just sharing what worked in my experience. I always prefer to do what is least intrusive and stressful first, but know how dire egg binding is. Have you tried dissolving the tums in water and then feeding it to her with a syringe (without the needle)? I know when my hen was egg bound she wasn't very interested in food.

 

[Zinnia-Hen]

I was just about to dissolve the Tums in water, but the syringe sounds like a good idea. I'll try that.

 

[chickcrack]

Try breaking the calcium up and hiding it inside pieces of cheese or even moist cat food. KY jelly may help if olive oil hasn't. Or preparation H but DO NOT use the one with pain killer-its very bad for chickens and will numb her and she may lose urge to push. If she's done with her bath maybe dry her (hair dryer on low) set her in a quiet area on a heating pad set low or a hot water bottle. Anything to try to relax muscles. I had an egg bound hen just this week but it turned out to be a broken rubber egg. As the hen was pushing she was on my lap and I placed my thumbs on her "shoulders" and it gave her something to push against. It seemed to help. The membrane that appears to be coming out with the egg I think could be normal. I thought my little girl was having a blow-out as she was pushing that rubber egg out but it went right back in. If there's any way to slide an oiled up qtip inside that maybe it would help? Is she pooping?

 

[Zinnia-Hen]

Yes, she is pooping, though it's gross whitish-yellowish poop. Usually it comes out after we poke around at the egg or after we soak her.

We gave her some water with the Tums dissolved in it a moment ago, she took about 3-5 good sips of it and refused to take any more. Will that be enough? The Tums-water mix wasn't very diluted, for reference.

 

[chickcrack]

Pooping is a good sign at least. She's not getting backed up. I think with the calcium right now the more the better but if she's getting agitated trying to get that in then it's not helping her relax any. Maybe leave her warm and quiet for a bit in a dark room and see what happens. You may need to try to find a vet.