Egg Bound Hen???? URGENT

[azygous]

Great. Let's see if she responds to an antibiotic. If this is an infection and not egg binding, she should be a little better by morning if you give her a dose tonight.

If you wish to give this a try, the dosage is 250mg per day. So you will need to divide one 500mg capsule into two doses.

Get a sheet of note paper. Twist the two gel cap sections apart or cut the end off, letting the powder spill onto the paper. Take a knife and divide the powder into two even piles. Just get it as close to even as you can.

Right now, you will give her one 250mg dose by tearing off a little half inch bite of bread. Dip it in olive oil or whatever oil you cook with. Then use the oily bread to sop up every bit of powder from one of the 250mg piles. Give her the bread to eat right now. Save the other 250mg dose for in the morning.

You will be doing this once a day for ten days.

 

[i_only_listen_to_dgd]

Okay. I appreciate this, but should I check her for an egg to be certain? Does an infection and egg binding have similar symptoms? I was planning on giving her another warm bath in epsom salt in the morning and using Vaseline to help her. I've read that that helps. If it is an infection, would my other chickens be showing symptoms?

 

[i_only_listen_to_dgd]

I gave her the amoxicillin. She definitely wants to move around. She is waddling a bit and kicking the wood chips around. Still eating and drinking. We will see how she is in the morning. Thank you for all this.

 

[i_only_listen_to_dgd]

Also, her droppings she just passed is green so I am very concerned about this.

 

[i_only_listen_to_dgd]

Update for anyone who reads this thread later: She is doing a lot better. Standing up and walking. Very alert and eating and drinking. Her droppings look back to normal. But she hasn't laid an egg. I'm keeping her still away from the other hens and in the house. Gave her another warm bath and crushed a Tums tablet in her water to drink. Also still giving her the amoxicillin.

 

[Pandang81]

Update for anyone who reads this thread later: She is doing a lot better. Standing up and walking. Very alert and eating and drinking. Her droppings look back to normal. But she hasn't laid an egg. I'm keeping her still away from the other hens and in the house. Gave her another warm bath and crushed a Tums tablet in her water to drink. Also still giving her the amoxicillin.

From what other more experienced chicken handlers than me gave said the warm bath is not recommended for a sick chicken. It can cause stress & some die afterwards. Your hen’s symptoms sound very much like mine. Mine started last Sunday. She perked up right after we started her antibiotics & acts normal now but still hasn’t laid an egg since last Sunday. Hopefully soon & hopefully your hen does too. Good luck!

 

[i_only_listen_to_dgd]

From what other more experienced chicken handlers than me gave said the warm bath is not recommended for a sick chicken. It can cause stress & some die afterwards. Your hen’s symptoms sound very much like mine. Mine started last Sunday. She perked up right after we started her antibiotics & acts normal now but still hasn’t laid an egg since last Sunday. Hopefully soon & hopefully your hen does too. Good luck!

That is actually what has happened with my hen too! She is acting very normal but still hasn't laid an egg. Super weird. When I tried reintroducing her to the flock though, the other hens started to pick on her immediately. After they seemed to calm down a bit they went into the coop to sleep. Going to separate her again in the morning and try to help them get along again. I also want to know if she will lay an egg at some point soon so I want to monitor her in another pen, but I don't know if she will feel too stressed to lay an egg outside of the coop. Hmm. Best of luck to you as well!

 

[Pandang81]

That is actually what has happened with my hen too! She is acting very normal but still hasn't laid an egg. Super weird. When I tried reintroducing her to the flock though, the other hens started to pick on her immediately. After they seemed to calm down a bit they went into the coop to sleep. Going to separate her again in the morning and try to help them get along again. I also want to know if she will lay an egg at some point soon so I want to monitor her in another pen, but I don't know if she will feel too stressed to lay an egg outside of the coop. Hmm. Best of luck to you as well!

Mine is the head hen and picked up right where she left off as head hen when I put her back in. She made sure they all knew she was feeling better. She’s a good leader. I’ve heard that if you separate her too much that puts her back at bottom of pecking order all over again so if she’s acting normally now then you may want to wait a day or two & see if they stop picking at her naturally or only remove her if it’s getting to be a constant bullying.

 

[Eggcessive]

That is actually what has happened with my hen too! She is acting very normal but still hasn't laid an egg. Super weird. When I tried reintroducing her to the flock though, the other hens started to pick on her immediately. After they seemed to calm down a bit they went into the coop to sleep. Going to separate her again in the morning and try to help them get along again. I also want to know if she will lay an egg at some point soon so I want to monitor her in another pen, but I don't know if she will feel too stressed to lay an egg outside of the coop. Hmm. Best of luck to you as well!

It can be best to leave them inside the coop with the flock when dry from the bath. A wire dog crate with food and water can keep them separate and safe, and help with reintroducing.

 

[i_only_listen_to_dgd]

Mine is the head hen and picked up right where she left off as head hen when I put her back in. She made sure they all knew she was feeling better. She’s a good leader. I’ve heard that if you separate her too much that puts her back at bottom of pecking order all over again so if she’s acting normally now then you may want to wait a day or two & see if they stop picking at her naturally or only remove her if it’s getting to be a constant bullying.

It can be best to leave them inside the coop with the flock when dry from the bath. A wire dog crate with food and water can keep them separate and safe, and help with reintroducing.

She is definitely the smallest. They all seem to be getting along ok now. She doesn't have any wounds or seem to be missing many (if any) feathers. She even is pecking back at them now and again, but no fights. She looks to be back in good health and is acting normal except for that she doesn't like to leave the coop very often to go into the pen. I think maybe she is still kind of anxious about being picked on or attacked, but again, I see no signs that that is still happening and I check on them 4 - 5 times a day. I still don't know if she has laid an egg though. But she is definitely doing so much better than she was a week ago. Thank you for the advice!