Egg bound or something else?

[Little Coop]

One of my RIR 3 yr old hens is exhibiting all the symptoms...tail down, comb limp, pushing, no egg. One of the girls left me a 4oz egg two days ago, so am suspicious that it was her and she's backed up. Gave her two 15-30 minute warm baths, lubed vent with some olive oil, mostly external. Can't see or feel an actual egg, although there is swelling below. After the last bath, she was outside in hopes moving around would help, and when I went out to ck her, there was a small (maybe an inch long oval) piece of flesh, looks like fat, on the ground. She has pooped, but otherwise, this is all I've seen. She seems alert, but not wanting to move around.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I saw your second post on the other thread, but I thought I would respond here as well. Sorry I misunderstood, about the "flesh" on the ground. The other response mentioned a lash egg, which seems like a possibility. I was wondering about the swelling. Is it right around the vent or more in the belly, hard swelling or soft?

 

[iwiw60]

I don't know if you've dealt with this before but in case you haven't here's a great page with great info:

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/search?q=egg+bound

Best of luck...hope everything turns out okay!

 

[Little Coop]

Belly, below vent, soft, and she keeps working at pushing. What is a lash egg?

 

[Little Coop]

Thank you! This is the second one but the other was easily resolved with very little involvement from me. I appreciate the link and will read up on it!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Here was the other response to your post on the other thread from @Eggcessive about lash eggs:

It sounds like she may be an internal layer by her laying the piece of flesh that could have been a "lash egg." I'm not an expert on that, so I would still suspect that she could be egg bound. I also agree that a dose of calcium would be good for her. You can insert a finger 1-2 inches inside the vent to check for an egg (use a rubber glove, and lubricant if needed.) Internal laying and egg yolk peritonitis are both diseases that older high production egg layers can get. Here is some info:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/473989/weird-egg-weird-clump-lash-graphic-pics
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/79443/tell-me-about-your-internal-layers

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Belly, below vent, soft, and she keeps working at pushing. What is a lash egg?

The soft swollen belly might mean more than being egg bound. She might still be egg bound, but I might also consider egg yolk Peritonitis (EYP) or ascites. Poor hen, she does sound uncomfortable. Trying the calcium still might be worth a try. The electrolytes alone don't raise the calcium level enough to encourage contractions, I don't think

 

[Little Coop]

This looks like what she passed, all right. I don't know how to add pictures, but the link has some, and they're very much what she passed,

 

[Little Coop]

I should also mention that she, and eight others, are all free range, on organic laying ration, free water, shade, elevated nests in open air coop, and oyster shell randomly scattered around where they scratch the most. They have a big run (50x25), with grass, bugs, weeds, dust, shade, etc.

Does anyone think that big egg could have been a harbinger of this? The thing weighed a full 4 oz on my kitchen scale!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I should also mention that she, and eight others, are all free range, on organic laying ration, free water, shade, elevated nests in open air coop, and oyster shell randomly scattered around where they scratch the most. They have a big run (50x25), with grass, bugs, weeds, dust, shade, etc.

Does anyone think that big egg could have been a harbinger of this? The thing weighed a full 4 oz on my kitchen scale!

It is a possibility, but it is hard to say for sure. That big egg sounds like a double yolker. My hens have laid those on occasion which might be a sign of irregular laying but it did not cause immediate problems.