Help! Cracked egg inside my hen

[EmilyH23]

Noticed my hen straining really bad a few days ago and thought she was constipated, she became really lethargic and wouldn't leave her nesting box so took her inside. She had a seeping vent- constant yellow/ white liquid dripping from it. She was in terrible pain everytime she strained trying to poo. We followed everything we were reading online to treat chicken constipation and vent gleet which her symptoms also matched the description. This included feeding her yoghurt, warm bath, hemerroid cream etc. We did this for a few days but still no difference.

We then decided we had to get out the poo- we thought maybe it could be a big grassy lump blocking her.. We read online about squirting warm olive oil up there so we tried this.. Then started using tweezers to grab what she was trying to push out. We pulled out some grassy bits of poo and then eventually found egg shell!!!

We took her to the vets the following day who was great and they stuck their hand in and pulled out the rest of the Brocken egg! She was bleeding a lot- it must have caused a lot of damage in there. They then gave her an enema and we took her home and gave her antibiotics. The rest of the day she cheered up and has been almost like normal again, leaving us very hopeful!

The vet wanted to see her again the following day (which is now today). We woke up this morning and went into the kitchen where we have been keeping her and there was a lot of yellow liquid on the floor and a seeping vent again- but she seemed quite happy still. So we took her to the vet (different vet this time who saw her) and had a quick feel inside and could feel another broken shell... She said that its just going to keep on happening and we should put her down....

I couldn't bare the thought of doing that... Especially there and then. I had felt to hopefull that she was going to make it through. So we took her home and now she's happilly running around the garden.

Has anyone else been in this situation??

I am feeling desperate because she is such a loved chicken. She is an ex- bat who I got in March so I feel like she's has already had a crappy life and I don't want her happy new life to end so shortly.

 

[Braxton Brigade]

All I can say is "third times a charm". I would just give her another chance, however there is a possibility that it's dangerous and painful for HER to go through this again and again. Personally I would make sure she gets some ouster shell just in case the eggs are too thin.

 

[EmilyH23]

Thank you for your reply. I am strggling with the feeling of trying to save her life and the guilt of keeping her alive if she's in pain. I really wish there was more that could be done for poorly chickens but unfortunately they are just not seen as real pets to most people. If she was lethargic and huddled over right now I would take her to the vets and let them do the deed but she's not, she's fine when she's not straining?!

It is like she is back at day 1 again except we now know what the problem is. We have had a feel up her vent but can't find an egg which the vet said was up there? So we don't know!!

Been feeding her the oyster shell, antibiotics and normal food.. So maybe we will see how she is tomorrow?

Is it ok to only want to her put down if she gets in a lethargic state again when she is clearly in too much pain?

 

[Braxton Brigade]

It's totally okay to only want to confront having to put her down when she appears ill. I would even dare to say that, that is human nature to avoid death of killing. I'd say give her 3 days and rethink it and how you feel then. Putting her down may be right and it may be wrong... That's what you've got to figure out

 

[EmilyH23]

Thank you for your support Braxton Brigade and I am pleased to report you good news. I also hope that some other people will come by this thread and it can help them out if they ever come by a similar problem.

I did some research after being told she needed to be put down thinking that there must be a way of stopping them producing more eggs. I found that they can have like a contraceptive implant which lasts 3-12 months depending on the chicken.

I phoned up a different vet- one recommended by the British Hen Welfare Trust: http://www.bhwt.org.uk/information/find-your-nearest-hen-friendly-vet/

I asked them if they offer this treatment and they did, they managed to squeeze me in yesterday for an appointment.

I had prepared myself for bad news still and knew if I was told again to put her down then would have done. However the vet was amazing, he was so gentle with my chicken and really cared which was really reassuring and made me feel at ease straight away. He told me all the options and possibilities before he examined her and there was NO mention of being put down. He stuck her fingers up her to see if he can get the supposed egg the previous vet had said was up there and there was nothing up there but lots of poo!!! He then gave her an X-Ray to see if there was an egg further up which needed to come out, the X-Ray came back showing that there was no additional egg on its way down either-result! If there had been he would have needed to get this out. So while she was under anethsetic from the X-Ray he gave her the implant to stop anymore eggs being layed. He then prescribed some painkillers with anti-inflammatory and I took her home.

Ok the downside is that this was expensive- however if someone offered me £200 or my chicken, I would choose my chicken! You can't put a price on a life right? The rest of the afternoon I let her out in the garden and it was soooo good seeing her run around the garden and sunbathing- it brought be so much happiness to see her happy again.

So basically the 'vet assistant' who told me to put my chicken down claiming she could feel another egg was wrong as there was nothing in my chicken but poo that day! So it's so worth finding a vet that actually knows what they're talking about.

We still have her separated from the other chickens as they keep trying to peck her vent, she's got her antibiotics and her painkillers with anti-inflammatory so her constipation and piles should clear up in the next few days!