Egg bound???

[MYNSBTR]

So, she's STILL in the box! I push her out every day to come eat the treats I bring out to the girls, she has all of her energy. I am going with a broody hen, because she's ALWAYS sitting on eggs. I am convinced that she moves them into her box and sits on them. How do I break that habit? She's never mean or nasty, just puffs up when I open the egg door to collect. Also, I don't know if anyone would know anything about this, but I would say 8 out of our 10 hens have bald spots on their back right by their tails. Could it be an illness, or do you think that they are overcrowded and are pecking eachother? It's bald...skin showing. Can I put anything on it to make it better?

 

[MYNSBTR]

Little Red Hen...how's your girl?

 

[KHoward]

Hi,

I think I also have an egg-bound hen ( 2 year-old Comet). Yesterday, I found her wedged between a crate and the house with her feet out behind her (think the witch under the house in the Wizard of Oz). I thought for certain she was dead, but when I picked her up she opened her eyes. Her body is colder than normal and her abdomen is swollen. She can't (or maybe doesn't want to) move her right leg or right wing. I separated her from the rest because they were picking on her.

Today, she ate a little bit but not much and her body is still cold. She keeps her eyes closed most of the time and moves around a bit during the day, but not more than a few inches, and her comb is pale and droopy.

Should I try a warm bath, and how warm is warm? I have seen some posts about breaking the egg, but that seems so dangerous to me, and I have no idea what I'm doing anyway. And since we are on day two or maybe even three, is it too late?

Kristen

 

[KHoward]

Here is the update: I gave her a warm bath for 25 minutes and she seemed to relax and enjoy it, then I wrapped her in a towel until she dried off. She is in a crate by herself with food and water but she isn't very interested in either.

One odd thing is that occasionally throughout the day, she will stand up, I think she would try to push, and then immediately lay down as if her legs are giving out under her. Then she closes her eyes.

When I touch her she "wakes up" and will take a drink or a bite of scrambled egg (like: Don't touch that, I was still eating/drinking!), then it's as if she falls asleep again - even with the scrambled egg in her mouth. It's like chicken narcolepsy?!

How often should I give her a warm bath? When I looked at her vent it didn't seem that the egg was close to it so I didn't go poking around.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Urban Farmer]

KHoward, can you please post an update? I am seeing the same symptoms in one of my girls. I'm going to give her a 30 minute bath and see what happens....Thanks!

 

[Urban Farmer]

I gave my girl a bath, but sadly, she was too far along. The egg must have broke, and she is wasting away. The other girls are attacking her, so I guess I'm off to look at the "Most humane way to kill.." threads. This is/was my favorite girl, and this is going to be really hard.
Thanks BYCF for all the help over the years!

 

[herbmom]

my chicken puffs up everytime I try to get her out. She's been wanting to sit for many days. Yesterday I felt just above her vent and it feels like an egg. I'm going try the warm water bath. My friend also recommended using disposable gloves and vaseline and trying to move it around.

This is my first experience with this.


thank you.

 

[herbmom]

I just put my chicken in a warm bath and the more I feel around the more it seems that it's just a lump at the base of her tail feathers. Is that normal. Also when my son put her in the tub she pooped a huge amount. Does this sound like she isn't egg bound?

She has been sitting in the nesting box for about 2 weeks where she doesn't want to come out. When we try and pick her up she will sit back down unless we put her outside the coop. Any thoughts?

Thank you.

 

[MagicMarcy66]

I just can't believe how many of us are having this problem with our hens becoming egg bound. I hate to say it but I believe my Barred Rock, Whinnie is egg bound. I found her this afternoon in the backyard walking slowly, like she was struggling to walk and then laying down about every 6-8 feet. I brought her in the house immediately and she is holding her tail down off and on and lays down like she is going to lay an egg but doesn't produce anything. After reading on here I put her in the kitchen sink in warm water for a period of time. I don't think it was a half hour, but she did seem really relaxed in the water. Her comb looks normal except one little area that is slightly pale. She is eating and drinking and I disolved a roalids in her water because that was what I had. She is in our kitty crate in the bathroom in the dark for tonight. I did do a vent check and I notice that I could feel a structure that was possibly an egg but it is straight in her vent as if its up high in her abdomen not in a superior position to her vent or just inside her vent and up toward her tail. I hope you can picture how I explained that. We really like her a lot and don't want to see her pass away. We just lost one of our hens Marcy to egg perotinitis and that was awful and I hope that is not what Whinnie has.

Please pray for her that she recovers as I will do the same for the other hens on this thread. If anyone can add any advice please feel free to help me. I am in need. And how long can this whole process take to pass the egg?

Magic Marcy

 

[lclough1998]

herbmom, your hen sounds broody