Egg Bound Hen, gigantic egg?

[Beegrl3]

I've been reading through a lot of other threads and forums about egg bound chickens, but want to make sure i'm on the right track. One of our red star hens seems to be egg bound, she has had the droopy, hunched back, slightly down-turned tail look before and resolved it on her own. This time she continued to look more and more lethargic. One of the hens laid a very large egg with a wrinkle at the end, the shell was easily cracked, i'm assuming it was hers.

Even after this egg was laid, she was having problems getting on the perch at night. After two or three nights, I decided to bring her in. Did a warm bath, could feel an egg in her stomach and felt it move down towards her rear. It has not passed in two days. All day yesterday I could feel the large egg in her bottom, almost seems like its sideways or just too big for her to pass. She's still eating, drinking and pooping and will forage with the others, but stands hunched up a lot and closes her eyes. She always walks like she has a ball between her legs.

I'm trying to keep her inside warm and quiet as much as possible. She's had two warm baths (going to give another today), a little olive oil just at the opening of the vent (she pooped on both of my hesitant attempts) and last night she was on a warm water bottle covered by a towel. What else can I do? Anyone else ever felt a huge egg? I can only imagine how uncomfortable it is...I don't want to break it and risk killing her. Maybe her insides are just exhausted.

Thank you for any insight!

 

[willowbranchfarm]

I had a hen like that. She passed the egg after I gave her a warm bath, dryed her with a hair dryer, and worked with her body on pushing the egg out for an hour. She passed the egg and then a egg yolk and then a soft shell, after that she recovered and I put her back with the others.

 

[Beegrl3]

Thank you for the replay. How long did it take? I've done the bath and hairdryer twice, going to again shortly today. I massage her abdomen while in the bath, i can feel her trying to push it out, but no egg yet :/

Another detail, last night and maybe this morning two weird globs came out, like a poop, but looked like a glob of crisco, very strange.

thank you again!

 

[willowbranchfarm]

That glob could be a soft shell egg or egg white. It took my pullet a day but I worked with her nonstop. Keep doing what your doing. your doing a great job.

 

[Beegrl3]

still no egg. just did another warm bath and shes laying down on a towel that has a warm water bottle under it. I feel so bad for her. Anyone have success feeding olive oil? There has to be a way to get it out safely...

 

[Beegrl3]

Today is the fourth day, still no egg. This morning she smells horrible, the whole area of the house smelled gross, like really really awful disgusting morning breath times one thousand. I gave her another warm bath and she's really enjoying yogurt and collards. Lots of poop, but no egg. She has passed some things i think are lash eggs (https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/684913/egg-bound-chicken-or-what - looks just like post # 2).

I can feel a hard egg shaped thing in her abdomen and i've felt it move from higher in her stomach region, it's just not coming out. I'm afraid there is a bunch of egg matter backing up inside of her. Her comb is folded over, but slightly pale. I'm almost starting to wonder if she has an internal problem, i was so distracted by the egg before that I didn't realize how boney she feels, barely any meat on her. She's eating and pooping a lot though. I don't know what to do, I don't want us to have to cull her because she still has some spunk in her. Anyone?

 

[willowbranchfarm]

She could be laying internally.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

My heart goes out to those that encounter this sorta thing ...

>> peck here << for the best article I've seen on egg binding.

>> peck here << for an introduction to an interactive online presentation on the anatomy of the chicken.

And, finally ... this thread's a bit more graphic, but it shows some similar (but much larger) ... whatever these eggs 'n such became.

 

[Beegrl3]

Thanks for the links, I had seen the first article already. I feel like i've read so many threads and articles and I just don't know what else to do, all I can do is will the egg out now, but it's not working haha. She seems to like to be warmed up. I'm afraid there is something more serious going on, I just really don't have the heart to cull her...I guess if she takes a turn for the worse I'll have to recruit a man to do it for me.

How can I tell the difference between being egg bound and laying internally or some other possible condition? Is the hen being stinky a sure sign for something? She's had plenty of baths, makes me feel just awful to imagine that something inside of her is rotting.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Thanks for the links, I had seen the first article already. I feel like i've read so many threads and articles and I just don't know what else to do, all I can do is will the egg out now, but it's not working haha. She seems to like to be warmed up. I'm afraid there is something more serious going on, I just really don't have the heart to cull her...I guess if she takes a turn for the worse I'll have to recruit a man to do it for me.

How can I tell the difference between being egg bound and laying internally or some other possible condition? Is the hen being stinky a sure sign for something? She's had plenty of baths, makes me feel just awful to imagine that something inside of her is rotting.

It's that feelin' of helplessness; of wishin' we could do somethin' more ... that's, to me, even harder than the rest. And, yes ... there's some parts of 'animal husbandry' that are best left to those that have already experienced it. Unpleasant, always, but something best done by someone that's not so emotionally attached. But, let's hope it doesn't come to that; maybe she'll get better, or .. if not? Just peacefully shut down.

Here's a few more links to check out ...

This one describes Egg Yolk Peritonitis (EYP) ...
http://www.avianweb.com/eggyolkperitonitis.html

This one discusses differences between EYP (or the ascites which often result from it) and being egg bound, w/ some excellent links as well ...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...scites-and-eggbound-what-is-wrong-with-my-hen