Egg bound - when is it a lost cause?

[fatcatx]

I've got a hen I am pretty certain is egg bound. I watched a lot of videos and her behavior was spot on. First time dealing with this so I want to be sure I am covering all the bases.
Right now she is in her Epsom spa #2. How often do I need to give them? Is 20 min each long enough?

When she gets out I will be doing an internal exam to see if I can feel an egg. I will be lubing here up with oil. I've got a crate indoors to put her in. It is almost dark here so I will be putting her to bed for the night.

What are the signs that treatment is not working and/or she is suffering? How many days can they be egg bound and pull through?
Thanks for any help.❤

 

[fatcatx]

I did confirm there is an egg. There is a lot of inflammation and edema in her vent area. The egg felt like it had a thin layer of tissue over it and I could not find a spot with clear access so I could not help it out. I did not want to aggressively poke around. Can anyone tell me what I was feeling or was it just the inflammation?

 

[Byrd gal]

You can give her a tums. I know from other posts it will help. I did the soaks and tums and thank heavens she passed it.

 

[Carson213]

You can give her a tums. I know from other posts it will help. I did the soaks and tums and thank heavens she passed it.

how in the world did you even notice this? all of my hens look the same...i would have never even thought to look for this...

 

[fatcatx]

You can give her a tums. I know from other posts it will help. I did the soaks and tums and thank heavens she passed it.

Thanks - I will try this. I was going to limit feed since she can't easily poop. Is this not necessary?

I know Prep H is recommended for prolapse. Should I be using it here as well since the tissue was swollen?

 

[Byrd gal]

Hmmmm never tried it for this but if all else fails... hopefully the experts see this post and have more ideas.I got lucky I just needed baths and tums. Whatever you do be carefull not to break her egg it will kill her.

 

[fatcatx]

Can any "expert s" chime in? I've given multiple Epsom soaks, lubed her up etc. with no improvement. This evening will be at least 24 hours but possibly more. She doesn't necessarily lay every day but she may have had issues beginning almost 36 hours ago. I don't want her to suffer. I imagine she is getting toxic from not being able to poop. She isn't eating or drinking so she Is not getting the recommended calcium supplement. Is it time to put her down?

Edited to add: the hail Mary would be to break the egg, but I'm still not confident I have direct contact with it when I do an internal check. There is so much swelling and fluid it seems like there is a barrier of some kind.

 

[AntiqueB]

@Eggcessive ?

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not an expert on egg binding or prolapse, but do you have pictures of the vent? A vet would be the best one to evacuate an egg. You probably should put the calcium down her throat, and calcium citrate with vitamin d is best when they are not eating. There have been a couple of threads in the last week with prolapsed vents with egg binding who got the egg out. And here is a video of an older one:

 

[fatcatx]

Thank you for the info. Chicken vets are few and far between where I am but I'll make some calls. She does not have any of her insides protruding out. Vent "pucker" is normal other than all the edema and inflammation.