Blue Baldy was a bit under the weather yesterday. Not enough for concern, but something wasn't quite right. When I checked the girls this morning, she her rear was covered with urates & mucus. Uh oh.
Picked her up and took her to the house for a look. After she was cleaned up, more urates and mucus. And I could feel an egg. A long, warm sitz bath later she still couldn't push it out. Wearing a latex glove, I carefully but liberally covered what I could reach of the egg, as well as her vent, then put her in a big plastic tote and covered it with a sheet.
Checked on her frequently, but still no egg. Finally picked her up, laid her on her back and could see just the tip of the egg. With the ancient memory of Lamaze classes, carefully pushed on her abdomen, behind the egg with one hand and a lubricated finger in her vent with the other and encouraged her to push every time I did. Each time the egg "crowned," a bit more showed. Finally, one hard push & sploot, the egg went shooting out & landed, unbroken, on the floor. No prolapse, thankfully.
I'll keep her in the house for a few days for observation.
Update: she just laid a second egg, this time soft shelled. Poor baby!
Picked her up and took her to the house for a look. After she was cleaned up, more urates and mucus. And I could feel an egg. A long, warm sitz bath later she still couldn't push it out. Wearing a latex glove, I carefully but liberally covered what I could reach of the egg, as well as her vent, then put her in a big plastic tote and covered it with a sheet.
Checked on her frequently, but still no egg. Finally picked her up, laid her on her back and could see just the tip of the egg. With the ancient memory of Lamaze classes, carefully pushed on her abdomen, behind the egg with one hand and a lubricated finger in her vent with the other and encouraged her to push every time I did. Each time the egg "crowned," a bit more showed. Finally, one hard push & sploot, the egg went shooting out & landed, unbroken, on the floor. No prolapse, thankfully.
I'll keep her in the house for a few days for observation.
Update: she just laid a second egg, this time soft shelled. Poor baby!
hos balance) must be right. Using too many grains throws the balance off. I'll increase the laying pellets. Then I'll spot treat. Usually that means yogurt here as it's a source of calcium AND vitamin D, another nutrient absolutely necessary for calcium absorbtion. (That's why milk is often vitamin D fortified, note.) Because our birds aren't lactose tolerant like humans, we give them yogurt instead because the bacteria within it process the lactose to a tolerable amount. Also those bacteria help the bird to more readily digest food as well as producing B vitamins which help the bird overall.
