EGG BOUND!!!

[Kiriamd]

Help, please! I have a 14-month-old chicken who seems very weak. I brought her inside, and she hasn’t been moving much. Her crop was empty this morning. She’s been inside for two days, and I’ve been massaging it and giving her vegetable oil.

However, I noticed her lower back feels hard as a rock. She is extremely thin and malnourished—not because of me, but because the other birds pick on her. I’ve separated her, but she is still very small and petite and seems fragile.

I tried soaking her and gently applied petroleum jelly to her vent. While doing this, I felt a small ball on the side of her vent wall and added the jelly. Then blood started coming out. I also felt something hard and solid when I gently inserted my finger straight down, but I did not pierce anything.

Did I hurt her? Could she be egg-bound? Is this related to her crop? I really need help!

THERE ARE NO AVIAN DOCTOR AROUND ME JUST REGULAR VETS.

 

[azygous]

You could have nicked a blood vessel when inserting your finger. I do not recommend inserting anything into a chicken's vent regardless of any suggestions to do this anywhere on this site or the vast internet. It produces no significant information and is simply too dangerous. This is my warning to you and all who will read this thread.

Have you observed your flock dynamics and how they treat this hen? Is she being picked on a lot and chased away from the food source? Starvation is often the result of bullying.

If she is in fact being bullied, removing her from the flock will work against her, making life even worse after she returns to the flock. If you do determine that she is being bullied away from the feeder, this is a method to address this problem. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

An empty crop is not a normal sign of egg binding. More often, egg binding causes the crop not to empty. This isn't to say that she can't be eggbound, though. I suggest you treat her for it regardless. Get some calcium citrate tablets, the same stuff humans take to strengthen their bones, and give her one whole tablet directly into her beak immediately. Do not crush or dilute or mix it into food. Pop the whole thing into her mouth.

This will encourage contractions to help her push out the egg. Give her another calcium tablet the next day if she still appears to be in crisis. Keep her quiet and calm.

If you do keep her inside to treat her, she will need grit along with the food you give her. Most people forget this.

 

[Kiriamd]

Sorry, typo her crop is not empty in the morning is hard and solid once I start massaging her it gets solf, she is weak… I think the egg is something else now.