Egg broken internally- PLEASE advise.

chickensbythesea

Chirping
9 Years
Jan 1, 2011
187
1
99
The issue, and what I've done so far:
I noticed yesterday morning one of my pullets that just started laying wasn't eating and had a droopy tail and wings. At that time,her vent area felt completely normal, but I isolated her and had to assist her in drinking. She would not eat.

By evening, it was clear she was starting to pass broken yolk and egg whites, and her only bowel movement of the day was clumpy white and stuck in her feathers, so we gave her a warm soapy bath, and I applied vaseline superficially to her vent afterwards. I then dried her and nested her onto a heating pack (she readjusted and seemed quite fond of it). She was willing to eat a little scrambled egg and drink by herself when she was on the heating pack.
Over night she's passed a decent amount more egg mixed with some fecal matter.

This morning she seems more energetic and curious, but she won't eat. Unfortunately, she's feeling too restless for me to keep her on the heating pad for any sufficient amount of time.

How often can I bathe her? Last night's seemed to help her quite a bit, and she's perked up, but I know there's more she has to pass.
Does she need more vaseline?
What else can I do? Since she's moved some on her own, should I avoid any internal assistance for the time being? When do I need to do that?
She hasn't passed any shells, how concerned should I be about this?

I feel really helpless and there's DEFINITELY no vet that treats chickens on the weekends here.
Please give me any advice you can think of.
 
I'll wait for the pro's to comment on the internal assistance, but I would try giving her another bath/soak again. Sometimes multiples are needed. Do you have her in a small cage? I think that is how people generally get their hens to lay on the heating pad. Hope she makes it through this!
 
She's in a large dog crate, but she is feeling more perky this morning, so she's been up and readjusting her new living quarters a bit, and doing a little pacing, and is incredibly curious about the going-ons in the room beyond the crate.
She's definitely feeling better than she was, (though she's still droopy and not eating), which is why I really hesitate to go on an exploration in her vent.

I just don't want to find out the hard way there's such a thing as too many baths, either. I have a tendency to over-analyze things.
 

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