Egg bound? Or something else?

[Wyorp Rock]

I hope it keeps up. She's still not eating really...just a little yolk or butter. Her being in a better mood(and able to poo) though is encouraging, and really hoping. Poor little darling.

She has always been the runt, but she's a fighter.

Work on hydration first, then offer her wet soupy feed, bits of egg, etc. to entice her.

 

[sbmcqueen]

Work on hydration first, then offer her wet soupy feed, bits of egg, etc. to entice her.

Still no egg, unfortunately :-(. Poor girl. My husband says she is looking a little weaker but eating small amounts.

I fly in tomorrow morning to help. Other than lube, and calcium citrate, is there anything else we should consider trying?

My husband was also reading up on syringing out the egg, but this would be a last resort as it sounds quite risky. Any thoughts on this?

We are on a remote island, so going to the vet unfortunately is not an option.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Still no egg, unfortunately :-(. Poor girl. My husband says she is looking a little weaker but eating small amounts.

I fly in tomorrow morning to help. Other than lube, and calcium citrate, is there anything else we should consider trying?

My husband was also reading up on syringing out the egg, but this would be a last resort as it sounds quite risky. Any thoughts on this?

We are on a remote island, so going to the vet unfortunately is not an option.

You might be able to do that if you can visibly see the egg. I would have an antibiotic on hand to begin treatment if you are going to do that too.

 

[sbmcqueen]

You might be able to do that if you can visibly see the egg. I would have an antibiotic on hand to begin treatment if you are going to do that too.

Things are much better today, so back to "wait and see" and nothing risky.

In egg binding, how often does the chicken show no interest in trying to expel the egg? When we had a dark calm place for her, she stayed standing (could not get her to sit). She hasn't really been trying to get an egg out. She doesn't seem to have any interest in nesting. Just wondering if this might be a clue something else is up?

Today she seems improved (It started Wendesday, so we would be on day 6). I arrived back home today... she has reduced appetite(not interested in what I offer her), but otherwise she's been foraging around the yard, eating grass and bugs, and even enjoyed a dust bath. She's climbing up and down stairs, and has gone back to being hard to catch. She pooped a few times...latest one is greenish, (which I know can be a bad sign). She's been really into eating fresh grass and not much else though, so that might be the reason

She does have a swollen abdomen which I will get a closer look at...she's been having such a good day though so I haven't wanted to handle or stress her too much other than to get her calcium into her.

Any thoughts are welcome! I'm starting to wonder if something else is up, but maybe this is common for egg binding if the egg is further up.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

In egg binding, how often does the chicken show no interest in trying to expel the egg? When we had a dark calm place for her, she stayed standing (could not get her to sit). She hasn't really been trying to get an egg out. She doesn't seem to have any interest in nesting. Just wondering if this might be a clue something else is up?

Is she wandering around and foraging, not in distress and pushing, then she's not egg bound. Egg bound is when an egg is blocking the cloaca (vent).
She may have laid the egg internally if she's got a swollen abdomen or the swelling may be from some fluid. If she's eating/drinking and moving about, then I'd monitor her. Do provide calcium for her for a total of 7 days from whenever you started it.

 

[sbmcqueen]

Is she wandering around and foraging, not in distress and pushing, then she's not egg bound. Egg bound is when an egg is blocking the cloaca (vent).
She may have laid the egg internally if she's got a swollen abdomen or the swelling may be from some fluid. If she's eating/drinking and moving about, then I'd monitor her. Do provide calcium for her for a total of 7 days from whenever you started it.

Is the calcium to help with expelling anything/everything she needs to expel?

She was eating less, and weaker yesterday than the day before, poor thing. I did get a better feel of what is up. It is quite large, but feels a little irregular. Could be a misshapen egg, but I think could be a lash egg in there? I guess it could be many things. There is also a lot of strange white material in her poop. I think perhaps an infection, but also a longer term condition.

This is really hard. This is our first time raising chickens(we got the flock about 18 months ago), and first hen in trouble. We want to give her a chance to recover but also do not want to see her suffer. She is having a hard time, but she is better than a week ago(in the beginning, she wasn't even moving). She's in a kennel in the living room at night, and came out and wandered around first thing this morning. She pecked around a little. and I got her to eat a small piece of egg. She's now foraging in the yard. I guess maybe best to wait and monitor her as long as she doesn't seem in distress, and she's doing chicken things.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The calcium can help with contractions in the reproductive system, so if she's having trouble expelling an egg or material from the reproductive tract it may help.

Photos of her and her poop may be helpful.
If you suspect infection, then you can try treating with an antibiotic like Amoxicillin to see if that helps as well.

 

[sbmcqueen]

The calcium can help with contractions in the reproductive system, so if she's having trouble expelling an egg or material from the reproductive tract it may help.

Photos of her and her poop may be helpful.
If you suspect infection, then you can try treating with an antibiotic like Amoxicillin to see if that helps as well.

Here are a few. I'll see if I can get some more throughout the day.

I'm in Canada so it is harder to get meds. We're also living pretty remote, so by the time we take the ferry and back, it's about a 12 hour return trip to the vet.

I did though find a telehealth vet...so they might have some more thoughts or be able to prescribe something

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is her crop emptying overnight?
You've dewormed her?

 

[sbmcqueen]

Is her crop emptying overnight?
You've dewormed her?

The crop is emptying.

Just sharing incase it benefits any Canadians but vetster.com was a good telemedicine option and they can prescribe, but it takes a couple of days.

The vet thinks the issue is the mass(there is something that feels like an egg in her abdomen, but is a little more irregular, and not something she is trying to pass). Unfortunately, she does not think very much can be done. It may be a tumour or internal laying. It may also also salpingitis, but with no lash egg the vet thought that was less likely with her age. She didn't think antibiotics would help, or that her quality of life will improve. She was starting to eat MondayTuesday, but since has not been very interested. The vet suggested we put her down which is heartbreaking, but I do not want her to suffer or spend too much time in distress. She has always been the underdog but pulled through, so this is really hard.