Egg bound hen

[Greystone farm]

My hen, Myrdle, is straining her abdomen and vent a lot, her comb and wattles are pale, and she’s waking funny. She is pooping fine, so I’m guessing she’s eggbound . I just soaked her in Epsom salts and massaged her abdomen for an hour or so but she hasn’t laid yet. I’m planning on keeping her in the house in a warm dark crate to try and get her to lay. I don’t own any liquid calcium but I do have oyster shells. Should I give them to her? Am I doing everything right? Myrdle hasn’t been laying for months now because she is molting and this could be her first egg in a while. Is this enough of an emergency to call my vet? Thanks for any help!

 

[GoatGirl123]

@Wyorp Rock
@Eggcessive
@cherrynberry

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My hen, Myrdle, is straining her abdomen and vent a lot, her comb and wattles are pale, and she’s waking funny. She is pooping fine, so I’m guessing she’s eggbound . I just soaked her in Epsom salts and massaged her abdomen for an hour or so but she hasn’t laid yet. I’m planning on keeping her in the house in a warm dark crate to try and get her to lay. I don’t own any liquid calcium but I do have oyster shells. Should I give them to her? Am I doing everything right? Myrdle hasn’t been laying for months now because she is molting and this could be her first egg in a while. Is this enough of an emergency to call my vet? Thanks for any help!

Do you have any Caltrate or TUMS? You can give her either of those.

With her being able to poop, an egg is not blocking the cloaca, but she may be having trouble with a soft shelled egg.

 

[Greystone farm]

Okay. I don’t have any TUMS but I can buy some tomorrow. If she were having trouble with a soft shelled egg, what would that mean? I’ve never had this happen to any of my ladies before

Do you have any Caltrate or TUMS? You can give her either of those.

With her being able to poop, an egg is not blocking the cloaca, but she may be having trouble with a soft shelled egg.

kay

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sometimes when a hen is coming out of molt and going back into lay they may have some difficulties.
It could just be a glitch that will work itself out. It's a guess that she may have a soft shelled egg that she's trying to expel.
She's pooping, so if there is an egg, right this minute it's not low enough to block the vent.

It's possible she may have something else going on but from your description, I would take a guess that it's reproductive.

 

[Greystone farm]

Sometimes when a hen is coming out of molt and going back into lay they may have some difficulties.
It could just be a glitch that will work itself out. It's a guess that she may have a soft shelled egg that she's trying to expel.
She's pooping, so if there is an egg, right this minute it's not low enough to block the vent.

It's possible she may have something else going on but from your description, I would take a guess that it's reproductive.

Okay, thank you so much for your help. Update: this morning she has started shaking/trembling a bit. She doesn’t like to move her legs for some reason and if she walks she walks weirdly. I can’t feel a definite egg shape in her abdomen but she are some weird hard things that feel almost like bone. Maybe somehow something happened to her pelvis? I just dont know. Am texting my vet in an hour or so

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hopefully the vet can see her.
Has she been drinking? I would offer her a little warmed sugar water or electrolytes. Get her hydrated first, then see if she can manage a little wet feed.
The trembling is concerning.
They do have bones around the vent, while the article is about checking to see if a pullet/hen is in lay, the diagram(s) are informative about the location of bones in a chicken.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

 

[NatJ]

I can’t feel a definite egg shape in her abdomen but she are some weird hard things that feel almost like bone.

Do you have any other chickens?
If so, go feel their abdomens too, and compare what you feel.
That is a good way to figure out which "weird" things are normal for a chicken, and which ones might be a problem.