Egg bound hen. Any at home remedies?

[Dalylah]

Hi everyone. I have an RIR around 7 months old and has been laying for 2 months . This morning around normal egg laying time she developed a bad limp on one leg.My daughter being the crazy chicken girl knew something was wrong and she didn’t just hurt her leg she then started researching a bunch of stuff and found something that said she could be egg bound and to stick your finger up the vent and see if you feel an egg ,well we did. The hen is eating and drinking and alert we tried to give her a warm bath but we don’t have Epsom salt and after we felt the egg in her vent we put Vaseline on her vent, I am hoping she passes the egg overnight or early morning but if she doesn’t what else can I do for her?

 

[BellaM]

A warm bath and a very gentle tummy massage (be very careful that you don't break the egg) should help her expel the egg.

 

[Shezadandy]

Here's a good guide:

https://the-chicken-chick.com/chicken-egg-binding-causes-symptoms/

Liquid calcium, warm water, and lubrication are the main recommendations.

I would keep her separated in case she prolapses when the egg is expelled so she doesn't end up with another problem.

Edited to add: other chickens see prolapsed tissues as a yummy treat and can badly damage - even kill - the affected bird. Every time a hen lays an egg, technically she prolapses, but when they've been straining and everything is inflamed, it can be enough to leave the insides hanging out. On top of damaging that tissue, the other chickens can pull out her intestines. So be sure to give her a good 24 hrs where the others can't touch her after the egg passes to make sure everything stays put.

Be prepared for a prolapse. Hydrocortisone cream (nothing with "pain relief") and Vetricyn ...

https://the-chicken-chick.com/prolapse-vent-causes-treatment-graphic/

 

[Dalylah]

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Here's a good guide:

https://the-chicken-chick.com/chicken-egg-binding-causes-symptoms/

Liquid calcium, warm water, and lubrication are the main recommendations.

I would keep her separated in case she prolapses when the egg is expelled so she doesn't end up with another problem.

Edited to add: other chickens see prolapsed tissues as a yummy treat and can badly damage - even kill - the affected bird. Every time a hen lays an egg, technically she prolapses, but when they've been straining and everything is inflamed, it can be enough to leave the insides hanging out. On top of damaging that tissue, the other chickens can pull out her intestines. So be sure to give her a good 24 hrs where the others can't touch her after the egg passes to make sure everything stays put.

Be prepared for a prolapse. Hydrocortisone cream (nothing with "pain relief") and Vetricyn ...

https://the-chicken-chick.com/prolapse-vent-causes-treatment-graphic/
[/QUOTE
Thank you! They are all asleep right now so can I separate her early in the morning or do it now?

 

[Shezadandy]

Thank you! They are all asleep right now so can I separate her early in the morning or do it now?

Any progress on the egg? Usually I move them as soon as I know there's a problem, sorry- went to bed before your question.

 

[Dalylah]

Any progress on the egg? Usually I move them as soon as I know there's a problem, sorry- went to bed before your question.

She layed around 9:00 today! Yay! But know there is is a problem with her leg and she has been limping all day. I separated her again so she can rest.

 

[Shezadandy]

She layed around 9:00 today! Yay! But know there is is a problem with her leg and she has been limping all day. I separated her again so she can rest.

I'm so glad that egg popped out! I've only had a couple go eggbound on me and it wrecked me each time.

About the limp- it could well be that the egg pressed on the equivalent of her sciatic nerve and is the culprit for the limp. If you like you could crush her up some aspirin and give it to her in a treat- mine love watermelon and gobble it up without suspicion.

I keep the low-dose chewable aspirin on hand, the 81mg version because it's easier to guesstimate dosage as opposed to a 325mg regular aspirin. The dose is something like 25mg per pound of chicken per day. So if she's a 6lb hen, 25x6=150mg (or really ... just 2 baby aspirin) - either one in the AM and one in the PM or you can give it once a day. I'd give her the first dose as the full dose and see if it helps her along. Wouldn't do aspirin for more than 2-3 days.

 

[Dalylah]

I'm so glad that egg popped out! I've only had a couple go eggbound on me and it wrecked me each time.

About the limp- it could well be that the egg pressed on the equivalent of her sciatic nerve and is the culprit for the limp. If you like you could crush her up some aspirin and give it to her in a treat- mine love watermelon and gobble it up without suspicion.

I keep the low-dose chewable aspirin on hand, the 81mg version because it's easier to guesstimate dosage as opposed to a 325mg regular aspirin. The dose is something like 25mg per pound of chicken per day. So if she's a 6lb hen, 25x6=150mg (or really ... just 2 baby aspirin) - either one in the AM and one in the PM or you can give it once a day. I'd give her the first dose as the full dose and see if it helps her along. Wouldn't do aspirin for more than 2-3 days.

Will do! Thank you very much!

 

[Dalylah]

I'm so glad that egg popped out! I've only had a couple go eggbound on me and it wrecked me each time.

About the limp- it could well be that the egg pressed on the equivalent of her sciatic nerve and is the culprit for the limp. If you like you could crush her up some aspirin and give it to her in a treat- mine love watermelon and gobble it up without suspicion.

I keep the low-dose chewable aspirin on hand, the 81mg version because it's easier to guesstimate dosage as opposed to a 325mg regular aspirin. The dose is something like 25mg per pound of chicken per day. So if she's a 6lb hen, 25x6=150mg (or really ... just 2 baby aspirin) - either one in the AM and one in the PM or you can give it once a day. I'd give her the first dose as the full dose and see if it helps her along. Wouldn't do aspirin for more than 2-3 days.

Her tail is also down, should that worry me or is that because of the leg pain?

 

[Shezadandy]

Her tail is also down, should that worry me or is that because of the leg pain?

If she's not feeling well that's where you'll see the tail down, that is a sign of discomfort/pain, the source is harder to know for sure. Now, if she's squatting like a penguin and straining like when she was egg bound, that means there might be trouble with the next egg coming out.

I assume the first egg came out intact? The other possibility is there's an egg behind it that started its normal development and she's already got nflamed tissues and sore muscles from the first one. Continued support with liquid calcium - maybe offer her a heating pad on low (covered with a towel)...

Remembering that of course she did just go through something really difficult, see if you can feel the next egg. If you can't feel the next egg and there's something worrying like what appears to be "egg goo" stuck around her vent - then it's time to feel around manually and make sure she doesn't have a collapsed shell she can't expel.

If there's egg debris (chunks of shell, an egg that broke internally) - it can turn serious quickly and that is the bane of chicken ownership. Again, if that's what's happened- it would be extremely unusual if there was no other evidence of a broken egg.