Egg bound???

[barkersbirds]

Great ideas on the warm baths. May I ask if any of you have advice on how to tell if a young pullet is egg-bound? We are new to this and concerned that one of our Buff Orpingtons may be...not exactly sure how to tell though.

 

[Kelliarm]

Barkersbirds, Has she already been laying and this is a break in her laying?

 

[barkersbirds]

Yes, she was introduced into our young flock about three weeks ago. She laid two eggs in the first day and hasn't laid since. She also has this strange head shaking that she does. We had thought that it might be stress coming into the new flock (we added her and two Ameraucanas and a Columbian Wyandotte all at same time), but both symptoms are continuing and she hasn't gone into the nest boxes since the first day here.

 

[Kelliarm]

I am not an expert at all... having done chickens only for about a year and a half. We've lost 3 hens to being egg bound. One confirmed by the vet. In all the cases the hens stopped eating and was clearly not feeling well. My understanding is that you can feel the eggs and a hardness in the chickens abdomen... but I frankly don't know if I could tell the difference between a normal belly and abnormal belly. Do a search on BYC as I know there is some discussion of how to feel the belly and then how to do a warm water soaking of the vent to try and get the egg out. But the down side is that if you break the egg inside its a bigger problem.

When a hen is first starting to lay its not abnormal for her to be sporadic. We've also had hens lay really small eggs initially, take a break, and then lay regular sized eggs. My other thought is she might be broody... not sure where you are at or if you free range. But my Buff Orpington has been laying somewhere other than the nesting box for a while (found a bunch of her eggs in my herb garden) and only recently decided to lay again in the box.

Sorry I don't have more or better information for you!

 

[casportpony]

It's very easy to check for an egg, just get a glove, KY Jelly and very gently do a cloacal exam. If you do find an egg, try giving a human calcium pill orally. These pictures should help:











-Kathy

 

[chrissyr]

I have a hen who lays soft shells.I sometimes do Tums mixed in water, then given by a dropper. They like Cherry flavor. Even mammals, if calcium deficient, can have labor problems. I assumed she was egg bound one day because of her issues. Did this and she perked up and laid her egg.
But the biggest improvement over time has come with adding red cell (just a little)and Manna Pro Poultry conditioner every 4-5 days. Her shell has improved dramatically. It used to break when I'd grab it. I would have to give tums 1-2 times a week for her to lay a good egg. Will probably also worm this fall too.

 

[nfitzgeraldRN]

I have a 7 month old White Californian Leghorn who I just let out for a little bit before bed. She puffed herself up and was squatting down a bit, then dropped a shell-less egg. She seems dazed. Not doing anything (scratching or eating) just kinda standing there, puffed up, and closing her eyes at times. About 10m later she dropped another shell less egg. Still acting dazed. Just standing around, not doing anything. Since night was falling and everyone else was going inside for the night, I picked her up and put her into a nest box thinking at least she would be warm and dry. She got out of the box and jumped to the roost. We will see how she is doing in the morning. Could this be egg-bound? She has been laying faithfully for weeks, no weird or soft eggs before. Seems like since she dropped two shell-less eggs it couldn't be. She was acting normal all day. Any ideas on what could be wrong with her?

 

[chrissyr]

I have a 7 month old White Californian Leghorn who I just let out for a little bit before bed. She puffed herself up and was squatting down a bit, then dropped a shell-less egg. She seems dazed. Not doing anything (scratching or eating) just kinda standing there, puffed up, and closing her eyes at times. About 10m later she dropped another shell less egg. Still acting dazed. Just standing around, not doing anything. Since night was falling and everyone else was going inside for the night, I picked her up and put her into a nest box thinking at least she would be warm and dry.  She got out of the box and jumped to the roost.  We will see how she is doing in the morning. Could this be egg-bound? She has been laying faithfully for weeks, no weird or soft eggs before. Seems like since she dropped two shell-less eggs it couldn't be. She was acting normal all day. Any ideas on what could be wrong with her?

Sometimes new layers do ageless eggs. Even my 1 1/2 year olds have some issues now and then. This is what I would do:
Get 2 tums (I used cherry and they loved it) crush and mix with A LITTLE water. Get a dropper to feed it to her. Mine loved it! Shells are made of calcium and this will hopefully help. Twice a week I give yogurt, wheat germ oil, a LITTLE red cell( not a must but I like if) and a couple handfuls of Manna Pro's poultry conditioner. My two girls who have had constant soft shells over the past few months, are now wonderful. I notice if I forget to give the yogurt mix, the shells suffer. Not all my hens have this issue just 2. Oyster she'll just wasn't enough

 

[nfitzgeraldRN]

Just took another look at my hen. Her vent seems inflammed...just puffier than normal. Dont know how else to describe it. Also some clear liquid coming out when I mess with it. I did just see her just poop, it was all liquid but normal color. Don't feel anything in her abdomen.

 

[nfitzgeraldRN]

Quote:
Thank you Crissyr. I will do that. Any ideas of why she would be acting weird also? Just seems odd that these two shell less eggs happened within 10m of each other and now shes acting odd.