HELP! Egg bound?

[SurferchickinSB]

I would get her to the vets as soon as possible. If you don't catch it early there's a good chance she'll die and you can't really tell how long she's been like that for. I've had an egg-bound hen and unfortunately, that same sad fate happened to her not too long ago.

A reason a hen would become egg bound is due to lack of things like oyster shells.

I would still take her to the vet ASAP because I don't want your hen to die because of something so sad like becoming egg-bound like my poor girly.

I really wish you the best of luck, let me know what happens!


*UPDATE* I just saw the replies that just posted above mine as I'm finishing typing this. If you're still having problems, I'd take her to a vet. I know its not ideal, but you never want to lose a hen <3

Wishing you the best of luck and please keep me updated if you don't mind!

Thank you

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I feed them organic layer crumbles, but they don’t eat that much of it, they always want other stuff. I give them a bucket of greens from my garden twice A day and they have a flock block and also I give them about a cup of meal worms a day, also, watermelon, cantaloupe, berries, veggies and fruit from my yard. I give them 2 pans of treats like a little bit of rice or pasta or bread mixed with sprouts and different kinds of seeds. I have oyster shell out for them, but I noticed only a few of them eat it, so I have been making them pancakes that I grind up the egg shells and put them in the pancakes and feed it to them.

I am a first time chicken owner, so what else can I do? I am having so many problems with my chickens getting sick!

This is the reason why you are having some troubles.
Cut out all the extras and make sure they are eating the balance poultry layer crumbles.
While all those goodies sound nice, you are diluting the nutritional content and they are lacking.
Aim for giving 1 treat per day and let that be only 5-10% of their daily intake.

A grown hen depending on breed will eat 1/3 to 1/2 cup of feed per day - think about how small that actually is - if they are eating all that other stuff, then there is no room for their balanced feed.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Thank goodness she passed it. Softie are harder for them to pass. Mine have passed softies. Sometimes it’s just a glitch in their system. Oyster shell really does wonders and they instinctively know how much and when they need it. Best wishes

I didn’t think she would eat enough oyster shell, so that is why I broke up the tums and I made her eat them. I have read that calcium can bring on contractions and have them expel the egg. It seemed to work because the egg was on the poop board right away!

 

[MissChick@dee]

This is the reason why you are having some troubles.
Cut out all the extras and make sure they are eating the balance poultry layer crumbles.
While all those goodies sound nice, you are diluting the nutritional content and they are lacking.
Aim for giving 1 treat per day and let that be only 5-10% of their daily intake.

A grown hen depending on breed will eat 1/3 to 1/2 cup of feed per day - think about how small that actually is - if they are eating all that other stuff, then there is no room for their balanced feed.

Sooo very true. I had to really check MYSELF on this.
I’ve cut my treats way back even though I give them quality treats. And guess what....they still interact with me just the same. Too many health issues to kill them with kindness...well really fatty-liver disease or obesity=egg binding. It’s easier to prevent than to treat. For sure

 

[MissChick@dee]

I didn’t think she would eat enough oyster shell, so that is why I broke up the tums and I made her eat them. I have read that calcium can bring on contractions and have them expel the egg. It seemed to work because the egg was on the poop board right away!

Yes the tums is a “quick fix” in certain instances. You need to provide oyster shell all the time.
A chicken will pull calcium out of other areas of its body (bones).
For egg laying hens they need this for a long healthy life and egg production.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I didn’t think she would eat enough oyster shell, so that is why I broke up the tums and I made her eat them. I have read that calcium can bring on contractions and have them expel the egg. It seemed to work because the egg was on the poop board right away!

TUMS works fine, there was no problem with that. I use those when one is having trouble.

Just make OS available free choice, they will get what they need.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Sooo very true. I had to really check MYSELF on this.
I’ve cut my treats way back even though I give them quality treats. And guess what....they still interact with me just the same. Too many health issues to kill them with kindness...well really fatty-liver disease or obesity=egg binding. It’s easier to prevent than to treat. For sure

I guess I am guilty of giving them too many treats!

TUMS works fine, there was no problem with that. I use those when one is having trouble.

Just make OS available free choice, they will get what they need.

I have it available everywhere and sprinkle it all around in their chicken yard, but I noticed the two that have had problems with the soft shells eggs never eat the oyster shell and I have even started giving my Wyandotte 1 tums every 8-10 days because she was only laying soft shell eggs or even just runny yolks and whites coming out of her vent. Today was the first day my Australope seemed sick. I watch them a lot because I probably spend about three or four hours a day with them. I didn’t know what it could be other than a stuck egg or a crop problem.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Okay I just put the oyster shell in a bowl right by the feeder. They don’t have to go looking for it.
You said you had one with-white stuff and yolk coming out of her- that sounds like a egg broke inside her. Different problem than laying a soft egg. How’s that hen doing?
A crop problem is completely different too. The crop is at the opposite end. That’s where food is kept before it goes on to a where grit does it work to grind it for digestion. Do you have a hen with crop troubles too.
Ima just a tad confused.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I guess I am guilty of giving them too many treats!

I have it available everywhere and sprinkle it all around in their chicken yard, but I noticed the two that have had problems with the soft shells eggs never eat the oyster shell and I have even started giving my Wyandotte 1 tums every 8-10 days because she was only laying soft shell eggs or even just runny yolks and whites coming out of her vent. Today was the first day my Australope seemed sick. I watch them a lot because I probably spend about three or four hours a day with them. I didn’t know what it could be other than a stuck egg or a crop problem.

If you cut back on the treats, their layer feed has calcium which they can utilize, that will help tremendously.
For the 2 that are having laying problems, give them both 1/2 calcium tablet like Caltrate for 4-5 days. No more than that since excess calcium can do damage too.

Getting your feed situation straightened out, hopefully you won't have many more problems. I like to give mine goodies too, but that can pack on the pounds too - fat hens can build up stores around the organs which can make it hard for them to lay eggs or the excess fat can cause Fatty Liver disease.

A few other things that cause egg laying problems are stress/overcrowding, being picked on and history of respiratory illnesses like Infectious Bronchitis and Mycoplasma.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Okay I just put the oyster shell in a bowl right by the feeder. They don’t have to go looking for it.
You said you had one with-white stuff and yolk coming out of her- that sounds like a egg broke inside her. Different problem than laying a soft egg. How’s that hen doing?
A crop problem is completely different too. The crop is at the opposite end. That’s where food is kept before it goes on to the gizzard where grit does it work to grind it for digestion. Do you have a hen with crop troubles too.
Ima just a tad confused.

Must have broken inside of her but the membrane came out because I found it laying on the ground. My chicken was sick so I felt her crop to see if it felt squishy or over stuffed from eating too much. It felt empty, so I thought that was weird and that she must really be sick if she didn’t eat food this evening, so then I felt between her hip bones to see if it felt like there was an egg. I couldn’t really feel anything hard, but it felt a little swollen so I gave her a tums anyhow because she had a big hump on her back like my Wyandotte had when she had the same problem about a month and a half ago when she first started laying eggs. My chickens are about 6 1/2 months old and they started laying eggs on Labor Day about a month and a half ago.