HELP! Eggbound

[erinnyes]

One of my hens is definitely eggbound. When I came to check the chickens at sunset, I noticed she was in the nest, and when I picked her up all of her feathers were fluffed and she was making angry noises. The egg in her abdomen is very obvious, and seems much higher than between her legs. Like, it's closer to her chest region. She has lost her feathers over the lump area, and the lump is definitely egg sized and shape. I will take a picture if needed, but I have no clue what to do. I have called around but there are no vets in my area that work on chickens.
Please help!! I am freaking out. I do not want to lose her and she is obviously very uncomfortable.

 

[erinnyes]

She's also wheezing a little, like it's restricting her breathing but not the the point maybe yet that she can't breathe. She had also already laid an egg earlier today... No clue what happened.

 

[new chick 203]

I've heard that a warm bath sometimes relaxes them and lets it pass. Some chickens like a bath and some don't. If I need to bath a girl I put a towel in the sink so they feel like they have traction. Have plenty of towels ready to dry her off. Good luck.

 

[new chick 203]

If she laid an egg today then I don't think she be that she is egg bound.

 

[erinnyes]

I will definitely give that a shot! Thank you! I've never tried bathing this particular hen, but she seems to not like being in the bathroom so I hope it calms her down.

 

[new chick 203]

Some of mine are afraid of the mirror so you might want to cover it..

 

[roxyblue]

Yes, give her a warm bath for at least half an hour, making sure that her vent is submerged,and if you can feel an egg lubricate the outside and as far inside.....yes inside.....as you can get with olive oil . If she has further problems please let us know.
Good luck!

 

[erinnyes]

Her bath is done! She did seem to enjoy it, but I could not feel the egg. Unfortunately it's kind of high on her chest, not where it should be, and I have no clue how she will pass it naturally. I tried gently touching it, seeing if it would move even a little, but it's not budging an inch. Since I can't leave her in water all night I have set her up in my bathroom with a space heater. She's in the shower (turned off obviously) with a wet washcloth to sit on, and my space heater should make it toasty in there. I hope that will do... unfortuately I don't have a way to keep her bath water warm for longer than a half hour. Do you think the space heater will be enough to help?

I'm actually convinced she's not even trying to lay the egg. I see no signs of her straining or anything like that. When I found ehr she was on her nest, but other than that she's just been sitting there. Any other suggestions?

Sorry, I have no experience at all with these kidns of things. I was hoping I'd never have to deal with an eggbound issue. :/

 

[new chick 203]

It's high up on her chest - are you sure it's not just a really full crop? maybe she is having problems with her crop. Does she have grit available?

 

[erinnyes]

Oh.... well actually, it could be. Now that I've looked at some pictures of it, it does seem to be in the crop location, and that would make a lot more sense than an egg that somehow moved up there. ATM they haven't been getting grit because they've only been getting feed and greens, no scratch yet, but it's possible she might have gotten into the horse's feed and eaten too much of it?

If that is what's going on, what can I do? Is it serious or fatal? I assumed it was egg binding because of the feather loss in the area, and the fact that a found her on the nest. I'm afraid I'm pretty inexperienced, I've only had my chickens since fall and I tend to freak out when stuff like this happens. I'm sure glad the people on this forum are here to help me out!