Help! Egg bound chicken

[Ricky Rooster]

Not sure what is wrong with my girl...she hasn't laid any eggs for a few days, I went to put the girls to bed and one kind of stayed put in the yard. I walked up to her and she let me pick her up, not normal for her! Her bottom is bare and her vent was pulsing. By the time I was able to get my roommate's attention, yellow stuff oozed out of her backside. I let him hold her and in the commotion of her flapping her wings, something about the size of my thumb came out of her with the yellow oozing stuff inside of it. Could this possibly be a misformed egg?? She feels full from the outside, but when I felt from inside he vent, I didn't feel and eggs or shell fragments. I put her in the tub with warm water, am keeping her inside for the time being. How can I tell if she is still egg bound? Will give her a warm bath and massage her belly, any other suggestions? Thanks!

 

[FenikT]

My runt Dark Cornish had a similar issue last week.

I noticed some yolk stains in the coop but couldn't find the rest of the broken egg. I looked at all the girls and saw Brownie trailing everyone. She also let me walk right up and pick her up w/out fanfare, which is a bit unusual. Her vent was pulsing and I noticed a strip of soft shell hanging out her vent. I pulled what I could see.

I wound up giving her a couple warm baths, not only to clean her up, but hopefully to lubricate and relax her vent. I probed a bit while she was soaking but didn't find any additional soft shell or fragments. I gently manipulated around her belly and vent, pulling toward the vent, hoping if their was a bound egg that it would wiggle loose. Her vent pulsed for two days straight, seemingly non-stop. She was reluctant to eat or drink and isolated herself from the rest of the flock. After her first bath, I put her in an isolation cage in the garage and provided free-choice yogurt, sliced oranges, and water. Atop this, I pushed 4cc of a liquid calcium/Vitamin D supplement (Wellesse brand from Walmart) down her throat and hit her w/ 0.5cc of tetracycline under the skin. She wasn't happy w/ either.

Day 2 was more of the same. After her morning warm bath, calcium supplement push, and needled meds, I let her free-range w/ the flock. She continued to lag behind and isolate herself. She did make her way to the nest box midday, however I think it was more of a rest stop than urge to lay. She spent most of the day by herself. She made her way to roost on her own in the evening, so I figured I'd let her spend the night in the coop.

Day 3 she was a new chicken, like nothing ever happened. She was eating, drinking, begging for treats, and scratching in stride w/ the rest of the flock. I have yet to confirm she has laid since returning to "normal."

Of note, I have noticed a drop off in egg production for the flock in the past 10 days, which coincides w/ the removal of their heat lamp. I had this on during the night over the winter when temps dropped below 40. I had to remove the heat lamp for my make-shift brooder for a few chicks I recently hatched out. Perhaps the abrupt night-time light change threw the birds' cycle off. Who knows...

 

[motleysussex]

A good tip I came across on google is the "spa treatment" works a treat, hope this helps your poor hen

 

[Ricky Rooster]

I did mix in some powdered bone meal in her water for The calcium. She's drinking a bit, not eating much though. She doesn't appear to be in distress, but will keep her inside and continue with warm baths and massages for the time being. She's survived a rooster attact, hopefully she'll pull through this as well.