Help! Chicken trying to lay for over an hour! Vent may be starting to prolapse!?

amyduck

Songster
11 Years
Jan 20, 2011
319
198
241
Oakland, California
1) 5 year old easter egger
2) behavior: Penny, my oldest hen has been trying to lay an egg for the last few days, going into the nest box and then coming out...which has happened before and eventually she lays an egg, although sometimes the shell is very thin or even shell-less or what looks like a long, thinnish eggshell with no egg yolk or egg white inside... so maybe that's happening right now and I just never witnessed what led up to that.. Today she sat on the next box this morning for an hour or so but got up and went about her day. She was was out in the yard and doing fine this evening, before going up to roost (which right now is in my back room) and I heard her making the noises she typically makes when she is trying to lay (light clucking and panting), but usually, that lasts no more than a few minutes...
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? she's been at it now for about an hour although she is starting to stop sometimes because I guess she's tired.... and I'm really starting to worry about her, especially because her vent is looking pretty red
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No, but her vent doesn't look good... see photo
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. She's older...
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. She ate before going up to roost, has been fine
8) How does the poop look? has been normal, but you can see some has come out with her straining... some might be egg white... you can see the paper towel is wet
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? nothing! I don't know if to let her be, put her into warm water, open her beak and put in some calcium.... go get some K-Y (or would coconut oil work?) and put on a latex glove to see what I feel....
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? Since it's Saturday night, I think I should try something myself
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. see attached
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use - right now, a perch over paper towels changed daily. She's the only one roosting there.
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I just opened a calcium/magnesium capsule, cut it in half, closed it, opened her beak and she swallowed it. Followed that with some drops of water on her beak to hopefully help the capsule start to dissolve... She stopped the pushing noises for now, doesn't seem in bad shape, but she was turning away from me and I'm sure she's pretty tired.... Hopefully she can get some sleep and pass something overnight... I'll be up for another couple of hours and so I'll see how she's doing before I go to bed, and of course check back here for any advice... just hope she makes it through the night...
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1) 5 year old easter egger
2) behavior: Penny, my oldest hen has been trying to lay an egg for the last few days, going into the nest box and then coming out...which has happened before and eventually she lays an egg, although sometimes the shell is very thin or even shell-less or what looks like a long, thinnish eggshell with no egg yolk or egg white inside... so maybe that's happening right now and I just never witnessed what led up to that.. Today she sat on the next box this morning for an hour or so but got up and went about her day. She was was out in the yard and doing fine this evening, before going up to roost (which right now is in my back room) and I heard her making the noises she typically makes when she is trying to lay (light clucking and panting), but usually, that lasts no more than a few minutes...
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? she's been at it now for about an hour although she is starting to stop sometimes because I guess she's tired.... and I'm really starting to worry about her, especially because her vent is looking pretty red
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? No
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No, but her vent doesn't look good... see photo
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. She's older...
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. She ate before going up to roost, has been fine
8) How does the poop look? has been normal, but you can see some has come out with her straining... some might be egg white... you can see the paper towel is wet
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? nothing! I don't know if to let her be, put her into warm water, open her beak and put in some calcium.... go get some K-Y (or would coconut oil work?) and put on a latex glove to see what I feel....
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? Since it's Saturday night, I think I should try something myself
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. see attached
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use - right now, a perch over paper towels changed daily. She's the only one roosting there.
--------
I just opened a calcium/magnesium capsule, cut it in half, closed it, opened her beak and she swallowed it. Followed that with some drops of water on her beak to hopefully help the capsule start to dissolve... She stopped the pushing noises for now, doesn't seem in bad shape, but she was turning away from me and I'm sure she's pretty tired.... Hopefully she can get some sleep and pass something overnight... I'll be up for another couple of hours and so I'll see how she's doing before I go to bed, and of course check back here for any advice... just hope she makes it through the night...
View attachment 2706014
@Eggcessive
@Wyorp Rock
@sourland

??
 
She just passed the egg!!!! Whew, maybe the calcium helped... it seems like a pretty normal egg, but I'm not testing the thickness of the shell! Her cloaca looks okay too.
Thanks cherrynberry! for bumping to the others.

Now I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for preventing this in the future. It does seem that she isn't eating as much eggshell as before... should I sprinkle calcium powder on her food? Something else?

 
She just passed the egg!!!! Whew, maybe the calcium helped... it seems like a pretty normal egg, but I'm not testing the thickness of the shell! Her cloaca looks okay too.
Thanks cherrynberry! for bumping to the others.

Now I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for preventing this in the future. It does seem that she isn't eating as much eggshell as before... should I sprinkle calcium powder on her food? Something else?

Do you put out oyster shells at ALL times? If not, always do, you can have a small feeder just for that...other than that, I don’t have too much advice, sorry about that. Great that she passed the egg though... :)
 
Yes, it's generally advised that you continue to give her the extra Calcium until she lays a normal egg. I have a hen that does this same thing. I have to keep oyster shell and crushed egg Shells available for her at all times. She prefers the egg Shells. What do you feed your hen (feed and treats)?
 
I'm so happy she finally laid an egg. My hen is going through her cycle of weird laying right now too. I have noticed her in the nesting box on several occasions but I never see an egg from her. Tonight, after lock up, I found her in the nesting box. She stood up and under her was a perfectly normal egg and right in front of it was a soft shelled egg. I am so thankful she didn't have problems laying because that can be serious and possibly even fatal.
 
What do you feed your hen (feed and treats)?
I had a hen die from fatty liver disease from about 3 months ago.... so I've been trying different layer feeds, and just started using this about a week ago: https://www.scratchandpeck.com/shop/naturally-free-organic-layer-18/
They really didn't like the crumble or the pellets, but they went for this immediately. I also give them about a teaspoon of yogurt because they love it so much, mealworms, a little arugula, and sometimes a couple of blueberries or grapes if I have them around. She's also outside in my garden all day with a variety of grasses that have gone to seed, and grubs she finds every now and then....I have a dish of oyster shell and also sprinkle it outside in the same spot of ground.
 
I'm so happy she finally laid an egg. My hen is going through her cycle of weird laying right now too. I have noticed her in the nesting box on several occasions but I never see an egg from her. Tonight, after lock up, I found her in the nesting box. She stood up and under her was a perfectly normal egg and right in front of it was a soft shelled egg. I am so thankful she didn't have problems laying because that can be serious and possibly even fatal.
Wow, you too! But I've never heard of two eggs at the same time! Who knows, maybe there will be another one from my Penny in the morning. This was so scary... it was the closest I've ever seen to childbirth in a hen! I'm glad your girl is okay!
 
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One odd thing that I found was that Mally, my hen with egg shell quality issues, doesn't really like oyster shell. She much prefers crushed up egg Shells. That has helped a tiny bit
 

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