Egg bound?

[Dropbear]

I’m not sure if this is what happened or not, I thought I’d ask here for a more experienced viewpoint. Our white leghorn Louise laid her first egg today, but she had problems. The egg wasn’t clearing her vent although it was right there at the vent and ready to come out. There was a small amount of blood and the whole vent area was swollen as she tried hard to lay it. She was clearly exhausted from the effort.

We dipped her in warm water with Epsom salts as described in a video my love saw on YouTube to help ease the egg out. It worked, but she still looks swollen and the bleeding has stopped but the vent area still looks raw. She appears to be doing much better after a bit of rest and the egg looks good.

i have all sorts of questions about this but the main questions involve: is this something that is likely to be a recurring issue? The other chickens have not attacked or been violent towards her as I have heard they might and they have been in the coop without bothering her. Is that something to worry about? Also, is there anything else we should be doing for Louise after this, besides keeping a watchful eye? Any sort of recommended after care?

I am not sure what else to do. Thank you so much!

 

[cherrynberry]

Well, typically chickens get egg bound because they have a lack of calcium. Make sure you switch to layer feed our provide them with grit. Glad you watched the video and saved her in time. Egg bound could have killed your chicken!