Egg bound hen with damaged vent

[mymilliefleur]

Just finished reading this thread. Lots of good info regarding how to remove a broken egg! Sorry that you ended up losing her! You did all you could.

I just had this exact some thing happen to a hen a few weeks ago. Thankfully she was not laying, but she had the same kind of crusty vent. It would not go away after weeks of treatment (soaking, nustock, antibiotic and wound ointment). Finally I realized it was FUNGAL and not an infection. I grabbed my Desanex anti fungal powder and dowsed her with that, out of desperation. After a day or two I saw HUGE improvement. Sadly though, she had the same problem as your hen, her vent healed too small, and she got constipated.

 

[Fontaine]

I'm not good with medical stuff either. My hands shook each time I did it. But you do what you have to do.
I used a heavy gauge (16) needle on a 3cc syringe to open the end of the egg. I put the point of the needle on the end of the exposed egg and gave it a sharp rap to drive the point into the egg without driving the egg back into the hen. Then I broke a small hole open from there and started sucking the egg contents out using the syringe. I also used a 10 cc syringe and injected a very dilute warm solution of betadine water into the egg to further flush out the contents then around the egg to clean her up as good as I could.
I used tweezers to pull more pieces of shell off and got my finger over the egg and started breaking the shell while at the same time trying to protect her vent tissue. I tried to push all the fragments toward the middle to keep the membrane holding them together and then got a grip with my thumb and ever so carefully pulled the clump out in three sections.
I followed up with more irrigation to remove any residual egg contents then started her on amoxicillin prophylactically, 250mg capsules, twice daily in the form of FishMox.

Sadly, she was euthanized tonight and will not suffer any further trauma to her vent. I had to remove three eggs and had to clear her out of poop twice. It was too much for either of us to take anymore. As the title said, her vent was damaged and I also feel she had internal swelling that prevented her from being able to push things out of her body that needed to come out.

She was a lovely girl and I'm a bit heart broken over loosing her but am at peace that she will suffer no further.
Seneca's last visit to the bathroom for egg removal. She spent a sunny day with her flock and enjoyed normal chicken activities. View attachment 2519785

I’m at a loss for words. What a horrible ordeal for both of you. Your efforts were remarkable and I’m so sorry there was no happy ending. At least your darling girl is at peace.

 

[micstrachan]

Awww... you did a great job with her. Sorry you lost her, but in my opinion, that was your kindest option. Hugs!

 

[KauaiChickenMama]

I just finished reading your thread and wow...I was very impressed with how you handled everything. I loved how you admitted that it was a VERY challenging thing for you to tackle, yet every step of the way you forced yourself to do what was necessary. I was cheering you on in my heart with each of your comments as I read further into your thread. Thank you for the time you took to go into such great detail including the pictures you posted as it helps everyone reading this to learn from your experience. I was equally impressed with the awesome members that helped you through the process. Thank you for sharing.

Rest In Peace, Seneca.