Help!! Egg bound hen??

[elmtree]

By pictures on the web and this forum I believe my hen is egg bound. I have her in a bath and I'm giving her calcium in liquid. What's next??

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[elmtree]

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[FoxyChicken]

Sounds like you're doing the right things. Have you tried putting some olive oil around the inside of her vent? I've had success putting oil on my gloved finger and gently inserting it in the vent, only and inch or two. You should be able to feel the egg and possibly encourage it to come out. Just be very gentle and careful not to break the egg. Good luck!

 

[elmtree]

She's obviously trying to work it out as her cloaca is pulsing like mad. She got out of the basin and promptly took a HUGE diarrhea poo. What do I do now? I sprayed her cloaca with oil and felt around for an egg but I didn't feel a hard egg. I can feel on the outside what feels like a soft shelled egg I guess.

 

[elmtree]

 

[FoxyChicken]

I'm definitely not an expert at this, but I think the fact that she had a big poop is a good sign. That means her digestive tract isn't blocked. I have a hen who acts egg bound on occasion, but it's never been a hard shelled egg so she eventually just kind of poops out raw egg. She'll act sick for about a day and then she poops it out on her own and she's fine. Scares the heck out of me every time though. If it is a soft egg I think it might actually help to break it so it's easier for her to expel. I've done that a couple of times with my girl and it seems to have worked out, but sometimes I just leave her and she takes care of it herself. It's hard to not do anything when you know they're not feeling well, but it's happened enough times with her that I'm getting more comfortable with it. It's never lasted more than a day with her though, so I would intervene if it went on longer than that. Did the poop look like it had egg in it?
If somebody else with more expertise is reading this please chime in if this isn't the best advice!

 

[elmtree]

Thanks foxychicken! I did insert a finger gently to put some apricot oil around her vent and a bit inside. I would say over the last three days she hasn't been herself. She hates people lol (she was raised by my since deceased bantam hen) and hasn't had much handling and she has been letting me handle her so I know something isn't right. I recently had a hen pass away from similar symptoms and looking back I think it was the same thing. I feed them organically and not a lot if scraps and they've all been healthy until the last hen that passed. I've only ever lost birds from predators in the past. It's just breaking my heart cause I want to help her. We've had horribly humid and hot weather here for weeks an I think that had affected them all terribly. Even my roo wasn't crowing at all lol

 

[FoxyChicken]

Hmmm.... The fact that it's been going on for a few days and you had another hen pass after similar symptoms makes me rethink the "wait and see" approach. Unfortunately I don't have any other advice to give you

I'm not sure she's eggbound though, from what I've read they don't live much longer than a day once they're eggbound because they can't poop and everything backs up. Maybe internal laying? Did you feel an egg when you put your finger in? Has she ever been dewormed? I sure hope somebody comes along and can help you!