PrettyCoolChicks
Songster
3 days ago, she has a poopy butt again, I figured she's not dust bathing because of the rain (again!), but then she tried to sleep in a nesting box two nights in a row, so the second time I looked her over, and noticed her crop and abdomen were firm. I took her in the house to check that her crop emptied (and forgot to remove all food before bed, but it was definitely smaller in the morning).
I also noticed her lower abdomen is quite firm and swolen, checked the forums and ended up on the egg binding quick guide https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/quick-guide-to-treating-egg-binding.66043/
I think that fit the bill of early egg binding (dirty from diarhea, she still moves and eats but reduced apetite, she stands idle in a corner a bit fluffed up maybe). She still poops though, and I read elsewhere egg bound hens don't poop at all, so now i'm not sure of my diagnosis anymore and could use a second opinion - if anyone here recognizes the symptoms or thinks it's actually something else.
Anyway, so far, I started giving her tums (750mg calcium carbonate) half yesterday, whole today cause I finally figured out how to pop one in her mouth. She drank a half cup of water and ate half a scrambled egg each day (with a bit of milk, olive oil and poultry vitamin mix). I gave her daily epson salt bath and sprayed her vent with a bit of olive oil. For now, my plan is to continue with this and keep her comfortable.
I'm also counting eggs in the coop now that she's out of it to confirm if she was the hen that didn't resume laying after her winter break (only been getting 5 daily eggs from 6 hens), but I'm not 100% sure yet.
Do the baths need to be more frequent?
Is calcium carbonate ok or do I need to find calcium citrate somewhere somehow?
Anything else this could be, that I should rule out? and how?
First time dealing with this situation so I'd welcome any additional tips.
I also noticed her lower abdomen is quite firm and swolen, checked the forums and ended up on the egg binding quick guide https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/quick-guide-to-treating-egg-binding.66043/
I think that fit the bill of early egg binding (dirty from diarhea, she still moves and eats but reduced apetite, she stands idle in a corner a bit fluffed up maybe). She still poops though, and I read elsewhere egg bound hens don't poop at all, so now i'm not sure of my diagnosis anymore and could use a second opinion - if anyone here recognizes the symptoms or thinks it's actually something else.
Anyway, so far, I started giving her tums (750mg calcium carbonate) half yesterday, whole today cause I finally figured out how to pop one in her mouth. She drank a half cup of water and ate half a scrambled egg each day (with a bit of milk, olive oil and poultry vitamin mix). I gave her daily epson salt bath and sprayed her vent with a bit of olive oil. For now, my plan is to continue with this and keep her comfortable.
I'm also counting eggs in the coop now that she's out of it to confirm if she was the hen that didn't resume laying after her winter break (only been getting 5 daily eggs from 6 hens), but I'm not 100% sure yet.
Do the baths need to be more frequent?
Is calcium carbonate ok or do I need to find calcium citrate somewhere somehow?
Anything else this could be, that I should rule out? and how?
First time dealing with this situation so I'd welcome any additional tips.
