Help! Hen egg bound! :(

[The Turken Lady]

My little serama hen,Bead (don't ask) has been sitting on the nest box for about a day now. I'm sure she's not being broody. It looks like she's egg bound. We felt her and she still has an egg in her,and I'm afraid it may be cracked. Bead has a little raspy breathing so we gave her some Vet-RX,and some Mineral Oil to help her with her problem. Last year,we lost a chicken to being egg bound.

We didn't know what to do at the time so we couldn't treat her properly. I really hope this doesn't happen again!
I really don't want to lose Bead!! She's so sweet.

Should we do anything else..or let her try to lay? She's really small,so I'm afraid if it's cracked,it'll really hurt her.

Thanks.
~Cheyenne,Pip and the crew

 

[chickenlover96]

if the egg cracked it wouldnt hurt her but when they have gone broody they will not lay and some chickens are stuborn and they will sit in the nesting box trying to hatch chicks when there are no eggs under her the best thing to do is to break hers of her broodyness or put some fertile hatching eggs under her

ps. she is a nice looking hen thought

 

[The Turken Lady]

Thanks! She isn't broody I don't think... We have like 10 broodies at the moment. But she's in a different pen,so she probably wouldn't be broody. She lays an egg every other day,and she last laid one I think on Friday? She should still be laying. It's weird. I really hope she gets better.

 

[welasharon]

You can do a search on here but mostly it's to give her a good warm soak with water up to her back. You can try to gently massage her toward her vent. THis can help her to relax and release. I have had to do it twice with my marans. She has had an egg bust twice now but is currently fine. This is what I did to help her. She really liked when I used the blow drier...just be careful not to let it get too hot on her. I then put her on the roost, dried off good, and put some paper towel under her so I could see if she passed it. Mine have a very wide shelf to roost on, otherwise I would keep her in a cage in the house so I can see how she does.
Good luck!
sharon

 

[dawg53]

In addition to what Welasharon stated about soaking her, wear a plastic glove and put some olive oil on it and insert a finger into her vent and check for any obstructions. The warmth of the bath helps expand her innards, the finger insertion helps stretch and lube her vent with the olive oil making it easier to lay the egg.

 

[The Turken Lady]

Thanks guys!! I'll do that! I'm sure a wet Bead would look cute. Haha!

She's in a huge nestbox that could fit a BO right now. It's filled with shavings..should I add a little more to help her?