Egg-bound problem -- broken egg high up in chest -- need advice, please

[Stumpy]

Chooks4life, thanks. No sighting today, but it is possible that she could come into the yard, go into the coop to grab a bite to eat, and head back to a nest. We searched extensively today.

 

[chooks4life]

Quote:

Chooks4life, thanks. No sighting today, but it is possible that she could come into the yard, go into the coop to grab a bite to eat, and head back to a nest. We searched extensively today.

How much land do you guys have to search? You don't have a dog or anything that could help you? It can be very hard to find a hidden nest and sneaky hen, I don't really have a good suggestion for you there, sorry. The method I've resorted to is tracking them until they give in and reveal the location, but this hen sounds extra careful to not be seen. Her behavior sure does sound like she's brooding somewhere sneaky.

Her condition sounds fairly severe, I wouldn't think she would last much longer without treatment, but that said we don't know enough about what's really going on here.

I once tracked a hen back to her nest and it took me a few hours because she knew I was watching. Also she didn't want to show the other hens where her nest was either. She would approach the nest area, circle away, head a long way in another direction, and regularly attempt to vanish into small patches of brush to lose me. I'd find her hiding, peeping out to see if I'd spotted her. When she knew she was spotted she'd saunter out and pretend she was so very busy looking for bugs in the dirt etc, but wasn't actually eating --- it was akin to when a rooster is pecking and dropping nonfood items as part of his sneaky approach into the personal space of another roo he doesn't like and plans to attack. Ulterior motives poorly disguised. And this was not one of the smartest hens I've ever had either. I actually figured out the location of her nest before she went to it just because of the detours she kept taking in the other direction, it was too obvious a distraction, but the nest was very well hidden yet in plain sight.


edited by staff
Good luck with your hunting and best wishes.

 

[seminolewind]

Thanks again. I live in a rural area and I don't think cold-pressed olive oil is available. She's gotten away again, so I hope I can catch her tonight.

Don't worry about the cold pressed. All extra virgin olive oil is cold pressed.
I was kind of disappointed to learn that olive oil only contains 10% of the average daily requirements in a Tablespoon. I guess it's back to the gels for me

 

[Stumpy]

chooks4life, I got a chuckle out of your description of that hen. I didn't know they could be so secretive and work so hard to conceal a nest. We live in thick woods/steep terrain. We have been surprised that our dog didn't sniff her out. It doesn't help that she's black.

My missing hen finally appeared again today and was very wary. Even though I saw symptoms which concerned me, in addition to feeling what felt like egg shell fragments in her crop, I believe the main thing that's going on here is broodiness. I guess I couldn't "see the forest for the trees." I waited until she went into the coop and locked her in. She ate voraciously and her crop appeared to have gone down, thankfully. My DH doesn't want any more chicks, so I will do what I can to break her of it.

This incident, as well as DH's suggestion, convinced me to get started on a first aid kit. All I had on hand was chick saver packets.

Thanks again!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Oh, so glad you didn't have to go down the ' crop surgery ' route!

 

[Stumpy]

Oh, so glad you didn't have to go down the ' crop surgery ' route!

Thanks. Me, too! And I'm feeling a bit foolish about my initial assessment

.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Thanks.  Me, too!  And I'm feeling a bit foolish about my initial assessment  .

No need to feel foolish ! Never be embarrassed to ask questions. BYC is the perfect place to get answers.

 

[chooks4life]

Oh, so glad you didn't have to go down the ' crop surgery ' route!

Only ever necessary when something is stuck in the crop and not removable by other means.

Thanks. Me, too! And I'm feeling a bit foolish about my initial assessment

.

Don't feel foolish, the things you described about her crop initially sounded suspicious --- after all, crops should not sound 'crunchy' as a general rule --- but thankfully so far it appears there is no crop blockage.

Best wishes with her.

 

[Stumpy]

Thanks, chooks. She has definitely calmed down somewhat. I've kept her locked in the coop/run -- just trying to decide how long is necessary. I don't want her to suddenly take off into the woods again.

 

[chooks4life]

Thanks, chooks. She has definitely calmed down somewhat. I've kept her locked in the coop/run -- just trying to decide how long is necessary. I don't want her to suddenly take off into the woods again.

If you want to find and destroy her nest, she will stop brooding immediately in most cases. If you just want to break her off the brood, minimum of 2 days' caging is generally required. However some hens I've had literally would not stop. Permanent broodyness. It reached a point where they were physically unable to keep going but remained unable to stop --- so I culled the trait out. You don't hear of too many hens who will brood to death but they do exist.

Mods deleted the info on how much land you have to search and I don't offhand recall at the moment... Anyway, this is a random and perhaps not too practical/applicable idea, you decide.... If you have a long length of string, preferably colorful and bright, you could tie it around one ankle in such a way to make sure it won't slip off nor slip tight --- and let her go.

No matter how well she conceals herself, the string will be sticking out to mark her path.

You'd need it to be at least 2 meters long and not fuzzy or likely to catch on anything and you'd need to spend some time staying fairly close so you don't risk her hiding away and possible getting stuck. Unless you have the time and can stay close enough it may be too much of a risk, and if you have a lot of underbrush or tangled bushes or brambles close to the ground it may be a bad idea. You'd have to decide based on your area.

Best wishes.