Egg bound or egg peritonitis?

[Trish1974]

About a month ago my 1 1/2 yr old buff orpington quit laying. It was a gradual cease; she'd go two days without laying, then three, then four days, then just stopped. She has been fine, not trying to lay, no loss of appetite or lethargy, absolutely no signs of any problems. This morning she would not come out of the coop. I finally coaxed her out and she slowly walked across the run, stopped for 2 sips of water, and perched up on a tree limb at the back of the run and just sat there all fluffed up. I noticed this stuff on her bottom that looks like it may be yolk but hard to tell since she herself is yellow. I lifted up her tail and looked at her vent, which was throbbing a little bit and when it throbbed open I couldn't see any obstruction. I also noticed she hasn't pooped yet this morning. I picked her up and her back end (under all the fluff) felt swollen. So, kind of signs of both egg bound and egg peritonitis?? What should I do for her? I offered her a chopped up calcium pill and she didn't accept it. There is no vet within a 2 hour radius of here that will see a chicken, so a vet check is out unfortunately. The picture of her in my avatar was taken just yesterday. As you can see, she looks pretty darn healthy.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Watch to see if she's pooping.

Since she was able to get on a perch outside, I would say she's most likely not egg bound. A truly egg bound hen won't poop, is usually lethargic, stands like a penguin or with her legs spread apart and can be lethargic.

The yellowish poop could be yolk or a combination of poop/yolk/white - she may have laid a soft shell egg that she or another hen quickly gobbled up - this can make them a bit off and not feel well. Swelling of the abdomen can be an indication of EYP or other internal laying/reproductive disorder. You can try giving her a soak in a warm epsom salts bath to see if that gets things moving. If you want to give extra calcium - I find that crushing it, then stirring/sprinkling it over cooled scrambled/hard boiled egg works best. Keep her drinking and see how it goes. Watch to see if her crop empties overnight.

 

[Trish1974]

Thanks so much @Wyorp Rock. I had to leave for several hours today. Before I left I checked on the chickens and she was in a nest box. Just now when I returned home, I opened the coop door to see if she had laid anything and a beam of sunlight came in and I saw something weird on the coop floor directly under her roosting spot. Unfortunately I think this is a lash egg - if so, that means EYP? Can you confirm if this is a lash egg? Or is it a soft shelled egg? In the second picture I sliced open the thick end and as I pushed down on it with the blade some yolk came out. It also appears there may be poop at the very tip (to the right of the yolk in the second pic). Right now she is slowly walking around the run. Definitely not herself, but not as bad as when I left her this morning. And there was nothing in the nest box she was in.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It looks like a soft shell egg to me - these are very hard to expel.

Lash eggs are more solid - like a chunk of smelly coagulated yuck - how's that for a "scientific description" There's some photos of lash egg in this article - http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/12/salpingitis-lash-eggs-in-backyard.html

I have a girl that occasionally has a soft shell egg - I can always tell when she is having troubles - when I inspect her sometimes there is some yolk and whites draining from her vent - sometimes I can see the soft shell, other times it's still inside - so far I have treated her and she has expelled the shell, but one day she may not and become severely ill- this is probably a precursor to EYP and possibly a sign misery to come later - but she continues to rally and lay some normal eggs in between times so I just keep a watch on her closely.
Poultry Nutri-Drench, for me really helps - I direct dose at 1cc per 3lbs of weight, then I crush a TUMS and mix it in with some chopped or scrambled egg - she gobbles this up. I make sure she is drinking very well. If she's a bit sticky or dirty from egg goop - I give her a little soak in espsom salts, just to help things along, then wash her.

Now, this could be a one time think with your girl, it's just hard to know. Do the best you can to keep her hydrated - and see how it goes. I wish I had better answers for you - keep us posted.

 

[Trish1974]

You have helped tremendously, thank you!

 

[Diannastarr]

About a month ago my 1 1/2 yr old buff orpington quit laying. It was a gradual cease; she'd go two days without laying, then three, then four days, then just stopped. She has been fine, not trying to lay, no loss of appetite or lethargy, absolutely no signs of any problems. This morning she would not come out of the coop. I finally coaxed her out and she slowly walked across the run, stopped for 2 sips of water, and perched up on a tree limb at the back of the run and just sat there all fluffed up. I noticed this stuff on her bottom that looks like it may be yolk but hard to tell since she herself is yellow. I lifted up her tail and looked at her vent, which was throbbing a little bit and when it throbbed open I couldn't see any obstruction. I also noticed she hasn't pooped yet this morning. I picked her up and her back end (under all the fluff) felt swollen. So, kind of signs of both egg bound and egg peritonitis?? What should I do for her? I offered her a chopped up calcium pill and she didn't accept it. There is no vet within a 2 hour radius of here that will see a chicken, so a vet check is out unfortunately. The picture of her in my avatar was taken just yesterday. As you can see, she looks pretty darn healthy.
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THAT DOES NOT LOOK SO BAD , but the calcium pill its very important that she get it, crush one up and mix it in a small bit of cooked egg yolk, and make sure she eats it all , i would let her walk around to see if she will produce and egg, ive noticed that some times when hens are having a bit of a problem with laying an egg the will try to drop it from up on a perch , you just have to go with the flow to see what transpires i did use oilve oil around the vent on my hen that had this same problem 2 week ago but also make sure your hen is not dehydrated, i would feed her the water from a can of tuna, she should drink that, i just had a hen with those same symptoms , i was worried about this stuff on her bottom that looks like it may beyolk and whites but it was hard to tell i could not see if she had an egg stuck , when i had her up side down on a towel on my lap trying to get her coated feathers clean of all the discharge stuck to her, so it would not attract fly's , and possibly cause fly strike , she was on my lap when she started pushing for the first time, i didn't see any egg then a second later the egg was visible & i applied olive oil at the vent area on the out side & she popped out that egg , there was a bit of blood but not much its was a first i must say HA, now she is fine i have been keeping an eye on her and she is doing great...! so no worries you can do it..!!! i just used my common sense..!! use colloidal silver 1-1/2 a droper full into her mouth slowly , if you feel your hen could possibly have an infection..? if she is not back to normal with in hours.

 

[Diannastarr]

You have helped tremendously, thank you!

i wish you good luck with your hen, how is she doing by the way..??? it could take a few days altogether my hen took 4 days to produce the egg that was stuck higher up , and it took all that time to come down, so not knowing exactly whats happening i would at least give the colloidal silver & the tuna water & calcium and some hi protein food like cooked egg or the tuna mixed with a bit of oatmeal , since all of that will help, give it some time & see what happens .

 

[Trish1974]

Thanks for asking, @Diannastarr! So far so good with my Goldie. She was back to her normal self by yesterday afternoon. I keep my flock on a non-colloidal silver supplement 4 out of 7 days a week so we are good there! I am still concerned though because she stopped laying altogether about 5-6 weeks ago, so there is definitely something wrong. Before she stopped laying most of her eggs were body checked eggs. I fear I may have brought this episode on myself because I recently switched their feed to half layer half flock raiser because she wasn't laying...scared she'd get too much calcium she didn't need since she isn't producing eggs. Don't know if its possible, but I'm hoping after she has her first molt next month something will reset or trigger her reproductive tract into laying again.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I don't think you did anything wrong

They can stop laying for numerous reasons - body checked eggs can from disturbances, frights, age and sometimes illness (reproductive disorders).

Sometimes going through a molt may "reset", but if she is developing a laying/reproductive disorder then there's not much that can be done, but to keep watch on her - see that she is eating and drinking well. A lot of us feed flock raiser all year with oyster shell free choice, so the extra protein shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Trish1974]

Thank you @Wyorp Rock!