Egg bound?

[Harriet]

I believe one of my 2 1/2 year old Wyandotte hens may be egg bound. I noticed that she was straining to lay and found her near the nesting boxes several times. She has not layed in about 2 1/2 months due to molt and weather (I don't give them any additional light in winter). She is free-range. I first noticed her symptoms two days ago. Last night we put her in a tub of warm water, which she didn't seem to mind, for about twenty minutes. She sat in the nesting box all night, but with no success. This morning I lubricated her vent with petroleum jelly. I cannot feel an egg when I message her abdomen or as I was lubricating her vent. Her vent is not red or swollen. It looks normal, except that you can tell has not been laying. Today I have had her in the coop, by herself. I've but a towel covered heating pad in her nesting box, but she won't have anything to do with it. I've put heat in the coop to try and make it warm for her. She is eating and drinking, but not as much as normal, since she's too busy trying to lay. I am going to attempt to soak her in warm water again this afternoon.

Is there anything else I can do for her or could I have misdiagnosed her? Is there anything else which would cause her to act like this?

I'm Worried sick!

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greating appreciated.

 

[CMV]

She may be trying to pass a soft-shelled egg which is not uncommon after coming into lay again after a molt. Keep doing the warm baths. Hopefully she will be able to pass it. Soft-shelled eggs are particularly difficult for a hen to pass because the body has no hard surface to push against. Unfortunately, she will pass it or not and there is not much you can do to help her except for continuing with the warm baths. Make sure she has access to water so she stays well hydrated.

I hope she can move it. Keep us posted.

Good luck.

 

[Harriet]

Thanks for the advice. We just finished the second warm bath and she is now in a cage in the house laying on a heating pad. Hopefully she'll pass it soon.

 

[Harriet]

Still no egg. Other than the straining she doesn't have any other symptoms of egg binding. Her vent still looks good, no swelling in her abdomen and her poop is normal. She is eating and drinking. I'm going to give her another warm bath this morning. It has been 72 hours since I first noticed her straining. If she was truly egg bound, would she have survived this long? Could the straining be a symptom of something else?

 

[Harriet]

Gave her another warm dip in the bath this morning w/ no results. She continues to eat and drink. I just checked her vent and it is starting to swell from the straining. I'm going to leave a message w/ our local vet and see if they can do anything for her. Since it is Sunday, I doubt I'll get any response today. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

[DavidGriffiths]

We had an issue like that with one of our chickens, and it was constipation - one of the kids had taken to feeding handfuls of hard wheat berries, and it created a solid plug of partially digested grain.

We did the warm bath, etc, and then got an enema syringe from the drug store, and cleared it out with that.

One of the symptoms was wet poop that was able to make it around the blockage.

Sorry - don't know of anything else.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Other than what has already been posted, it's very hard to know. Please let us know what the vet says, also have you given her any tums dissolved in warm water? I heard this helps.

 

[Harriet]

I gave her a tums dissolved in water yesterday. I also gave her some electrolytes. She had another warm bath this morning. She did a lot of straining afterwards, but nothing but poop. Her poop is normal, not runny. She is eating and drinking. I'm going to call the vet in a few minutes. Hopefully they will be able to do something for her.

 

[Harriet]

I just spoke to the vet and it will be about $50 to $100 to treat her, depending on what they find. Since I can't feel an egg, an x-ray would have to be taken in order to find out what's going on and then go from there. I really hate these kind of decisions! He said the only thing I can do to that I haven't yet tried is to squirt some mineral oil up into her vent and see if that helps. I'm going to see how she does today. I have to go to work, so I'm going to leave her inside with food and water and low light and see how she does. What a Monday!

Thanks for all of your advice and your concern.

Harriet

 

[Harriet]

The vet called me after I got to work to let me know that he would fix up a calcium injection for me. My husband picked up the injection and we gave it to her around 6 last night. I also lubricated her with mineral oil. Nothing as of this morning. She continues to eat, drink and her poop is normal. However, she continues to strain and her vent is swollen. I guess my question is how much longer do I let this go on? This is day five. A friend of ours suggested that since she is eating and drinking, to just put her back out with the other chickens and see what happens. I don't believe that's the right thing to do. I'm going to give her another 24 hours and see what happens. If she wasn't eating and drinking I obviously woudn't be struggling with this decision. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks so much

Harriet