Emergency!!! Egg bound hen with Huge egg visible inside vent please help!!!

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

To be honest, this hen has a steadily decreasing chance of this resolving in her favor the longer this goes on.

Yes I've read enough to understand the seriousness of her situation. Unfortunately I don't have tubing to give fluids. (I've never tubed before but have watched the "tubing" video enough to know how to do it. Tubing supplies will be added to my medicine cabinet next time I go to town.

I am going to caveat this by saying that I am a novice at chickens and have never experienced a stuck egg in my flock (I was following your thread because I am terrified and want to learn). I can also say that I have some real experience in emergency medical situations in people.
So with that caveat I will share some thoughts for your consideration:
- You have already seen egg yolk coming out so you must be ready for infection. I would start her on antibiotics now
- You are at the stage where shock is as likely to kill her as anything else. I think @azygous has already mentioned sugar water and electrolytes. I would make sure she is taking in some Nutridrench or Gatorade
- Given that you already have a broken egg the overwhelming concern about not breaking the egg (if it is a real egg) diminish. They are not zero because broken shards of shell can cut her up, but the basic infection risk is already there (see my first point), so, I would prioritize getting it out over keeping it unbroken.
This suggests one more trial of high dose calcium citrate and wait an hour to see if she can pass it - during the hour focus on the other end and give her lots of short term energy in form of sugar water.
Then see if you can pull it out. If it is a lash egg you might be able to grab the tip of it with tweezers and pull while applying some pressure behind it.
If it is a real egg I would be tempted to go ahead and break it if it. I hate to say it but you may not have much to lose at this point.
One last point - to reduce the swelling you can use sugar - it is faster acting than steroids. If you cover her vent in granulated sugar the fluid will come out and massively reduce the swelling.
Good luck!

I applied cortisone creme on her vent late last night. I can use raw honey on her vent; I think I remember reading honey is beneficial to reduce swelling? Or i can reapply the creme, probably best to do before giving calcium tablet. I will give her calcium tablet to start contractions and try one more time to get it out. "It" is much too large to pull out with tweezers. Makes sense this is a lash egg and a real egg broke behind the "lash" egg. Ok I'm beginning to accept her condition is hopeless and terminal, but she doesn't seem to have given up yet, so I won't either.

 

[azygous]

I would do the same thing you are. You can get some fluids into her by syringe. See if she will drink on her own first. She needs fluids or she will just get weaker and her tissue will get dryer.

 

[RoyalChick]

Yes I've read enough to understand the seriousness of her situation. Unfortunately I don't have tubing to give fluids. (I've never tubed before but have watched the "tubing" video enough to know how to do it. Tubing supplies will be added to my medicine cabinet next time I go to town.


I applied cortisone creme on her vent late last night. I can use raw honey on her vent; I think I remember reading honey is beneficial to reduce swelling? Or i can reapply the creme, probably best to do before giving calcium tablet. I will give her calcium tablet to start contractions and try one more time to get it out. "It" is much too large to pull out with tweezers. Makes sense this is a lash egg and a real egg broke behind the "lash" egg. Ok I'm beginning to accept her condition is hopeless and terminal, but she doesn't seem to have given up yet, so I won't either.

Yes honey works as well as sugar - same osmotic effect to draw water out of tissue. Honey is also naturally a bit antiseptic. Honey is commonly used on wounds in people where you are away from high tech medicine - sugar is more generally available in the average kitchen. Cortisone acts in a different and less direct way so they won't interfere with each other.
And yes, fluids are critical.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I would do the same thing you are. You can get some fluids into her by syringe. See if she will drink on her own first. She needs fluids or she will just get weaker and her tissue will get dryer.

I found some tubing. Its in an unopened package for a human nebulizer, & package doesn't give tube diameter. Yesterday I offered her live mealworms and she ate them eagerly. Just now I made same offer; she watched them wiggle and pecked once but didn't eat. Yeah I'm losing her. When she gives up completely I will too. Syringing her sugar water now.

 

[RoyalChick]

I found some tubing. Its in an unopened package for a human nebulizer, & package doesn't give tube diameter. Yesterday I offered her live mealworms and she ate them eagerly. Just now I made same offer; she watched them wiggle and pecked once but didn't eat. Yeah I'm losing her. When she gives up completely I will too. Syringing her sugar water now.

Just sending some emotional support - this cannot be easy on you either.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Just sending some emotional support - this cannot be easy on you either.

Thank you. Yes I'm frazzled and exhausted after all day yesterday doing little but trying to get the "egg"out of her. And this morn is round 2, except she's much less alert than yesterday. She's resting quietly on my lap now, in between syringing her sugar water. Gut instinct says hold her and pet her and then let her go. I love this wonderful girl.

If anybody thinks I should try one more time to get the "egg" out, I will. Otherwise I don't want her last memories of me to be that I caused her more pain.

 

[casportpony]

Can you still see the shell if she pushes?

 

[azygous]

This is emotionally wrenching. Follow your instincts.

Your hen looks just like my Blue Australorp April, the lone survivor out of four, the other three afflicted with LL two years ago.

Yes, she's fading and is getting weak. She's also in pain. Please reassure yourself that even if she got the egg out, this would almost surely happen again. And it would likely happen before she fully recovers from this ordeal.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Thank you. Yes I'm frazzled and exhausted after all day yesterday doing little but trying to get the "egg"out of her. And this morn is round 2, except she's much less alert than yesterday. She's resting quietly on my lap now, in between syringing her sugar water. Gut instinct says hold her and pet her and then let her go. I love this wonderful girl.
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If anybody thinks I should try one more time to get the "egg" out, I will. Otherwise I don't want her last memories of me to be that I caused her more pain.

I am so sorry, she's such a pretty girl.
When we have a cow or pig that gets swollen like that it is extremely hard to get the babies out. The vet has to come with the "forceps" like contraption to pull while the mother pushes. It's like a vacuum though, if you let up it sucks back in.
I have never heard of using that on a chicken, because of course it could break the egg.
I'm so so sorry.

 

[casportpony]

@Allsfairinloveandbugs, if you can still see the shell, get something with a bluntish tip, like a Philips screwdriver, place it on the shell and tap the handle with a hammer, then syringe out the egg contents and collapse the shell. This is what I did once when this happened and the hen did recover.