First Egg Help? Worried Chicken Mamma here!

[NewChickenMamma]

My BO is acting very strange. She has been doing the egg squat and is totally red around the face. Yesterday I noticed she was "laying around" more than normal, she often lays down in the grass on warm days. Today I woke up and found her unable to walk normally and shivering in the rain. She is walking on her whole leg (from foot to the bend in her leg) and won't move much. So I grabbed her (which she does not normally like, but today she let me no problem) and put in her inside away from the other chicken. I put down some bedding and a wooden egg, and she seems to be straining and puching (like she's giving birth), but it's been a few hours and no egg. Is this a first time egg trauma or something else? She is also preening a lot towards her rear end, wondering if she's feeling pain. I was able to hold her and feel her vent, and I don't feel an egg right there, but maybe off to one side? Not sure though. She is also sitting all the way back on her rear, like a human would with her feet stretched out in front of her for support.

Please help I'm worried.

 

[Tiss]

Mine are too young to lay too so I may not be much help. Perhaps she's eggbound? I guess it could happen with a first egg. Maybe read up on that?

 

[PoultryPedia]

Sitting in a pan of shallow warm water for 15 minutes or more can often help a laboring hen.

Also, if you have any personal lubricant such as K-Y Jelly, spread some on the inside of her vent opening afterwards.

 

[feathersnuggles]

Give an eggbound hen an emergency calcium dose. Crush a Tums well and mix into a couple tablespoons of plain active-culture yogurt. Feed to her, by hand if necessary.

Give her a warm bath, making sure her abdomen is submerged. Massage gently, stroking down towards her vent. Do this about 30 minutes before you dry her off with a towel. Then dry her feathers with a blow dryer set on low. Let her rest with water and food available. I had a hen once struggle with not being able to lay her shell-less egg and when I gave her a warm bath with an abdomen massage, she laid the egg right into my lap once she was out of the bath! It got me into the giggles.