- May 4, 2015
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Hi!
Our favorite bird, an old English bantam of 3+ years, has miraculously started laying eggs after 1.5 years of not doing so. I have no idea why or how. She used to lay normal bantam-sized eggs, but the ones she is laying now are tiny-- the size of quarter.
Last week, I noticed her displaying all symptoms of egg binding, and after helping her out she laid this freaky, tiny egg with a jagged shell:
Yesterday she started acting egg-bound again.... I have soaked her in warm soapy water, kept her vent lubed, and fed her water with crushed TUMS (she didn't drink much). She has had a couple of poops today, but she is still having trouble walking and definitely very uncomfortable! I inspected her nest, and found that she had laid another deflated tiny egg at some point.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING to poor Mingo? I can't keep spending 5 hours per day "helping" this bird. Her vent is looking worse, perhaps becoming infected. I'm going to give her another soapy bath if she is still feeling poorly this evening in hopes that it will help stave off infection. I'm about to make her some watery scrambled eggs with a little more TUMS.
If anyone has been through this with a bird, I would love some advice. She is an Exceptionally Small bantam, only about 6" tall. I could really use a happy anecdote...
Thank you so much,
Caroline
Our favorite bird, an old English bantam of 3+ years, has miraculously started laying eggs after 1.5 years of not doing so. I have no idea why or how. She used to lay normal bantam-sized eggs, but the ones she is laying now are tiny-- the size of quarter.
Last week, I noticed her displaying all symptoms of egg binding, and after helping her out she laid this freaky, tiny egg with a jagged shell:
Yesterday she started acting egg-bound again.... I have soaked her in warm soapy water, kept her vent lubed, and fed her water with crushed TUMS (she didn't drink much). She has had a couple of poops today, but she is still having trouble walking and definitely very uncomfortable! I inspected her nest, and found that she had laid another deflated tiny egg at some point.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING to poor Mingo? I can't keep spending 5 hours per day "helping" this bird. Her vent is looking worse, perhaps becoming infected. I'm going to give her another soapy bath if she is still feeling poorly this evening in hopes that it will help stave off infection. I'm about to make her some watery scrambled eggs with a little more TUMS.
If anyone has been through this with a bird, I would love some advice. She is an Exceptionally Small bantam, only about 6" tall. I could really use a happy anecdote...
Thank you so much,
Caroline