Egg bound?

[JAR26]

Hi everyone.

I noticed yesterday that one of my 1 year old PBR had a poppy butt and after observing her I could tell she was way less active than the others. She stood in one spot while everyone was busy doing chicken stuff. She also hangs her tail low. So I tought maybe she wS egg bounc. I have no experience with that but read up on it. We soaked her behind in warm water and cleaned the poop off her. Her vent looked normal to me and I'm unsure how her abdomen should feal. She drank water but I havent seen her poop. This morning she stayed in the coop instead of going outside with other who all act and look normal. Any advice? I'm scared if I dont do anything now, she wil die.

 

[Aapomp831]

An egg bound chicken will stand / walk upright like a penguin, pulsating their tails up and down. An egg bound chicken will not be able to poop as the vent is clogged up. Try inserting a gloved finger into the vent to feel an egg... but be very careful not to break it.

 

[JAR26]

As a further note: yesterday also happend to be the day I extended their pasture for the summer. They pecked at fresh dirt, got fed chia seeds for the first time. My son gave them a bunch of earth worms he dug up and they got some tomatoes. I really shouldnt have allowed so many treats on top of their regular feed and the scratch they got. I do think she had a pasty butt before any of the treatts however.

 

[JAR26]

An egg bound chicken will stand / walk upright like a penguin, pulsating their tails up and down. An egg bound chicken will not be able to poop as the vent is clogged up. Try inserting a gloved finger into the vent to feel an egg... but be very careful not to break it.

I did not observe any tail pumping or funny walking. When i looked at her vent yesterday, it was VERY tight and I tried a little bit but I couldnt see any way to insert a finger but perhaps it was just my inexperience.

 

[Aapomp831]

As a further note: yesterday also happend to be the day I extended their pasture for the summer. They pecked at fresh dirt, got fed chia seeds for the first time. My son gave them a bunch of earth worms he dug up and they got some tomatoes. I really shouldnt have allowed so many treats on top of their regular feed and the scratch they got. I do think she had a pasty butt before any of the treatts however.

Ok, then def stop all treats immediately; just their regular feed and fresh water. I would also not purposefully feed your chickens earthworms as they can carry parasites and give your chickens worms. Of course you can’t prevent them from eating worms they dig up themselves; but the less the better. Scratch should only be a once in a while thing, maybe just a couple of tablespoons a day or once or twice a week. Scratch is a high carb filler with very little nutritional value and chicken crops are delicate; if there is ever an impaction and the food can’t get down, high carb diets can contribute to sour crop since sour crop is a yeast infection (yeast LOVES carbs, it feeds it). I would separate this bird and observe its poop / and check the crop first thing in the morning to make sure it’s flat and empty (crops empty after 8 to 12 hours, if full and squishy after this long of a period of time, then the crop in impacted).

 

[Aapomp831]

.... and please post a picture of the vent. You want to make sure it’s not the beginning of a prolapse.
....: sorry, keep thinking of things.... did you remove the greens from the tomato plants? Tomato leaves are toxic to birds (but really only if eaten in large amounts).

 

[JAR26]

.... and please post a picture of the vent. You want to make sure it’s not the beginning of a prolapse.
....: sorry, keep thinking of things.... did you remove the greens from the tomato plants? Tomato leaves are toxic to birds (but really only if eaten in large amounts).

Hi! No greens on the tomatoe no and noted for earth worms. I dont have a picture of her vent but did compare with online pictures and it looked perfectly healthy. I just isolated her to see if i could observe her poop and feeding habits more closely. Just before I picked her up, i noticed this puddle in front of her. I assume, happily that she had a poop but when i picked her up, her crop wasnt empty from yesterday and she started to vomit. Didnt smell overly sour. I have had a chicken with an impacted crop that turned to sour crop before and I successfully treated her. This hen however doesnt have an appetite and more lethargic than my previous experience. Could a severely egg bound hen also vomit due to the back up of poop?

 

[Aapomp831]

That is concerning bc chickens can’t vomit; when any liquid comes out of their mouth it’s either bc they were picked up and pressure was put on the crop / or the food isn’t going down. Maybe try the steps you took to treat your last chicken with a crop issue? But that picture looks like poop to me... doing a fecal float test for worms probably wouldn’t hurt either

 

[JAR26]

That is concerning bc chickens can’t vomit; when any liquid comes out of their mouth it’s either bc they were picked up and pressure was put on the crop / or the food isn’t going down. Maybe try the steps you took to treat your last chicken with a crop issue? But that picture looks like poop to me... doing a fecal float test for worms probably wouldn’t hurt either

Hi! I decided to treat like I did last time. Only difference is my previous impacted crop + sour crop never stopped pooping and would eat like there was no tomorrow. I'm guessing this hen has a more serious blockage so i'm using a syringe to give meds. Crossing finger!

 

[Aapomp831]

Yea, chickens with sour crop are usually hungry since the food isn’t being digested. If it gets out of control, I’ve heard people using Monistat to help (weird right) lol. Good luck I really hope she gets better?