Egg bound symptoms - help!

[QuoVadis]

Since the bath I kept the bathroom warm and steamy and the hen has been straining trying to lay the egg, but she seems unable to. I think it may be just too big for her tiny frame. What is my next course of action? I have heard of breaking the egg to get it out... but I am terrified of doing that and accidentally injuring the hen. HELP!!

 

[QuoVadis]

HELP!
I am wondering if this is not egg binding. Though there is large egg shaped object I can feel it doesn't seem to be the right place to me. When I feel in her vent, it is below the vent, but from my understanding of the pictures of chicken anatomy, if it is caught in the egg duct it should be level or above the vent. Is that correct? She is still strain like she wants to lay an egg, but the "egg" I feel is definitely below the vent, I can't feel anything when I go slightly upward in her vent.
Thanks!

 

[casportpony]

Can you find the opening to the uterus? If it is an egg, you should be able to find the opening and touch the shell.

-Kathy

 

[QuoVadis]

I went at least half and inch in. I did feel what felt like an egg, but it was below the vent, and according to the diagrams you posted that's not where the egg is supposed to be. When I feel straight back, or a bit up I can't feel anything.

 

[QuoVadis]

PLEASE, Please HELP! Pics this time. Same hen. Never laid an egg, same symptoms, but today she seemed worse. I had been figuring it couldn't be normal egg binding since she has been like this for almost 2 weeks, most things say untreated egg bound hens die with in a couple days.

When I noticed she seems worse I force fed her some wet whole wheat bread with aspirin and calcium and examined her vent once again. There definitely is a huge egg shaped object right inside of it but it feels soft and smooth, not like a normal egg. When I pull my finger out from feeling it her vent prolapsed some. I don't know what to do for her, it doesn't seem like any of the "normal" ailments I have dealt with. Please help! She is my little baby and I'm just sitting here crying because I don't know what to do for her.

Below are pictures of her vent. I can see two different tracts exposed from her vent. I assume one is her reproductive tract and one her digestive tract but I am not sure which is which.

 

[QuoVadis]

Thank goodness!! Just went in to check on her and she had layed a giant, shell-less egg. (That is what happened last time she was egg bound but this one was even bigger.) Her vent is no longer prolapsed either. Her back end still feels big/swollen but not as big. Might that be from the trauma of laying so large an egg or maybe does she have another egg backed up behind the one she just layed?

Here is her with the egg. I set it on her back to give you a better picture of how big it is! And she is still sort of puffed up sick looking so she looks bigger in the pic than she really is!

Could she really have been egg bound for going on two weeks with that egg?

So I guess my main question now is, is there anything I can do to help keep this from happening again? How much calcium can I safely give her per day? Would lots of calcium and low protein be good so her reproductive system doesn't rush to make more eggs and has a chance to rest more? Or would that just backfire and be bad for her?

 

[casportpony]

Thank goodness!! Just went in to check on her and she had layed a giant, shell-less egg. (That is what happened last time she was egg bound but this one was even bigger.) Her vent is no longer prolapsed either. Her back end still feels big/swollen but not as big. Might that be from the trauma of laying so large an egg or maybe does she have another egg backed up behind the one she just layed?

Here is her with the egg. I set it on her back to give you a better picture of how big it is! And she is still sort of puffed up sick looking so she looks bigger in the pic than she really is!


Could she really have been egg bound for going on two weeks with that egg?

So I guess my main question now is, is there anything I can do to help keep this from happening again? How much calcium can I safely give her per day? Would lots of calcium and low protein be good so her reproductive system doesn't rush to make more eggs and has a chance to rest more? Or would that just backfire and be bad for her?

Read this thread and see how we treat our egg bound peafowl:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/980241/another-egg-bound-hen

-Kathy

 

[Goronson Chicks]

Can you give me the proportions of calcium and aspirin? I think one of my young purebred French Black Copper Marans is exhibiting those symptoms. Came on suddenly. Found her "nesting" on the ground last night in the dark. Seemed very listless when I picked her up. So I brought her into the heated garage and placed her in a cage. She can't walk. Is laying down. Her eyes are still bright and she is very aware. She did move herself around the cage some. Mostly to get herself into a corner, with her bum raised high in the air. Once I came back in and she had her whole bum inside the round water dish and was nesting on top of that, again with her but lifted high up into the air.

That's why I'm suspecting egg bound. I've been feeding her Poultry Cell, electrolytes and probiotics with antibiotics from an eye dropper. She likes this - with some coaxing (and if I don't push too much down too fast) she will accept it. She smacks her beak to tell me that she is hungry but doesn't seem to be drinking water or eating on her own.

Any other treatment recommended?

 

[casportpony]

Can you give me the proportions of calcium and aspirin? I think one of my young purebred French Black Copper Marans is exhibiting those symptoms. Came on suddenly. Found her "nesting" on the ground last night in the dark. Seemed very listless when I picked her up. So I brought her into the heated garage and placed her in a cage. She can't walk. Is laying down. Her eyes are still bright and she is very aware. She did move herself around the cage some. Mostly to get herself into a corner, with her bum raised high in the air. Once I came back in and she had her whole bum inside the round water dish and was nesting on top of that, again with her but lifted high up into the air.

That's why I'm suspecting egg bound. I've been feeding her Poultry Cell, electrolytes and probiotics with antibiotics from an eye dropper. She likes this - with some coaxing (and if I don't push too much down too fast) she will accept it. She smacks her beak to tell me that she is hungry but doesn't seem to be drinking water or eating on her own.

Any other treatment recommended?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1048620/how-to-provide-emergency-and-supportive-care
Post number 1 in that link I describe how I treat mine.

-Kathy

 

[Goronson Chicks]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1048620/how-to-provide-emergency-and-supportive-care
Post number 1 in that link I describe how I treat mine.

-Kathy

Thank you, Kathy!