eggbound RIR hasn't passed egg yet.. advice?

[Farmerbetsy]

here we are on a holiday weekend. taking her to the vet is going to be 3X the normal rate if I go on the weekend.
some history: earlier this week, my husband noticed RIR was walking like a penguin. Other than that she was acting normal but hadn't laid an egg in a while. He didn't tell me till the 24th and I didn't get out to see her till the 25th. She has most of the classic signs of being eggbound except she isn't going "bawk bawk bawk." She seems healthy, just really uncomfortable. Her abdomen is extremely swollen. I palpated her abdomen and could not distinguish a distinct mass. She does not protest when I palpate her.

Last night, we gave her a hot bath with soapy water, blow dryed her, and kept her in a crate on a warm towel in a warm room overnight. She ate 1/4 cup oatmeal. I gave her water with a bit of electrolytes and a tiny bit of antibiotics (I hope that wasn't a terrible idea). She gobbled down the oatmeal.

This morning, she didn't eat much oatmeal but she seemed alert. We just gave her another soapy bath and blow dry. We will wait about an hour before doing an internal exam.

I am utterly terrified of attempting to break an egg inside her and remove it. that just sounds impossible. What are the chances she will die if I wait until Monday to take her to the vet? She seems alert and healthy other than the whole swollen abdomen thing. She's not at all acting like a sick chicken!

thanks, Chicken Friends.
Betsy
mom of two kids, a Bearded Dragon, 2 barred rocks, 2 RIRs, 2 bantams, and 2 Americaunas

 

[speckledhen]

She may not be eggbound at all. She may be an internal layer or she may have an ecoli infection. In those cases, you'd need to try penicillin injections for 3-4 days to see if you can fix that. Antibiotics that you put in water may not do anything for her, especially if you're using Terramycin, which is very weak.

 

[Farmerbetsy]

so if she has e. Coli can we all expect to come down with insane diarrhea over the next few days? we've all been exposed to her.
Obviously we are using hygiene precautions but still she's been splashing during the bath.

how do we know if she's an "internal layer?" she's been laying consistently and beautifully for at least three years!

 

[LynneP]

I've never dealt with an eggbound layer. so I hope speckled hen gets back here for you...(I'm sure she will).

But I want to add, and I hope she agrees, that one bath may not be enough. You may have to perform hour-long belly baths three or four times daily if there is an egg to pass. Is there any sign of yolk or albumin?

 

[Farmerbetsy]

hour long baths... OMG. we did two 1/2 hour baths and she got really fussed at the second one. this is a full time job!! because it takes 30 minutes to blow dry her, too! her poop is completely totally normal, her vent doesn't look swollen or red at all, her eyes are clear and bright. One of my friends is a vet and I may try to entice her to come visit.

 

[LynneP]

I think that's a good idea- it's so frustrating because hens tend to 'tough it out'. One minute they seem fine, then everything seems to decline...and I'm hoping you get some sign of a discharge soon.

How old is this hen?

and e.coli is usually avoidable by washing, just avoid touching your face if handling her and be sure you don't have any open cuts on your hands.

 

[speckledhen]

An ecoli infection is brought on by feces being sucked back into the oviduct. Happens sometimes with high-production types. It's nothing she "caught", really, just a system malfunction. I bet she isn't eggbound, from what you've said. I am treating one hen right now who has the "full abdomen" thing going on. She came back into lay after her molt and obviously, something didn't work right.

 

[PandoraTaylor]

Egg bound/binding:
insert 3-5 ml Olive Oil or vegetable oil into vent via eyedropper or syringe; then warm (No Soap) bath (30-60 mins), during this time gemtly massage Abodomen (front to back), .
crush 1/2 Tums (for Calicum) put in water or over food, you can also add 3-6 drops olive oil to a slice of bread or to her oatmeal.

Repeat as necessary every 2-4 hours.

 

[LynneP]

Cynthia- I was wondering if what this hen is showing could be ascites? How would one tell?
(glad to see you back!)

 

[speckledhen]

I'm not sure how you would actually tell if it was just ascites or infection. If you try to drain a hen with ascites, I think that it's basically just water and will drain with a smaller guage (maybe 20) needle. If infection, you'd get nothing much out of there. However, I've seen them with fluid plus little pieces of solidified infection floating around (during necropsy), and even if you could drain the fluid, the infection would still be there. I don't have any experience with ascites, so maybe someone else will be able to help with that.