Eggbound? no emergency.

[end9586]

Black Brown Bantam hen, unknown age. She was fine when all the chickens got breakfast about 2 hours later i went out and she was just standing in one spot. She had labored breathing, eyes closed but not crusted, drooping head and wings, wattles were shriveled and purple. I brought her in and quarintined(sp?) her, gave her water and some tlc and she started acting better raising her head and opening her eyes. Well we kept her in for the night and the next morning there was an egg and it was HUGE! sorry no pics the shell was thin and it cracked. But i'd say it was about the size of a medium to large standard chicken egg. Ever since she laid the egg she has been fine. Any ideas?

 

[LilBizzy]

I would guess the egg was stuck. It was probably hard for her to pass. That's a pretty big egg for such a little one. I'd say to just keep an eye on her to ensure there is no after effects. Poor girl. That would be like having a 15 pound baby. OW!!

 

[end9586]

as soon as she laid the egg she started doing great! In fact she became broody but we had 6 eggs that were just laid so she started laying on the other eggs. Her egg broke unfortunatly but she still has 6 eggs and just laid another one today.

 

[LilBizzy]

I am glad she is feeling better. Hopefully, it was just a one time thing. With the shell having been thin, I would make sure she has some extra source of calcium- they love yogurt or cottage cheese. It could be that it was hard to pass because of the thin shell.