Help! Hen trying to lay egg..

[BenAnnaMama]

So my hen is trying to lay her FIRST egg. This is MY first egg as well as a chicken owner. She has been trying to push it out for at least 2 hours that I know of. The rest of the morning she had been hanging out in her nesting box. She has since come out and is walking around the yard bearing down and hiding under bushes and closing her eyes to take little naps. I wouldn't be concerned except her vent is very RED and protruding out. I don't know if this is normal or the process of a prolapse. She appears to be ok, pecking around once in a while, eating mealworms, etc. How do I post a picture?

 

[BenAnnaMama]

 

[bald k9]

I dont know but heres a [bump] poor girl

 

[bald k9]

bump I would like to know

 

[BenAnnaMama]

Its not looking good... She's just laying there with a very red and irritated looking vent. Its going on 4 hours now...

What should I do??

 

[bald k9]

from what i have read on here you could give her a warm bath to soak for about ten or twenty minutes, they say them call down with the warm water , it is worth a try, I hope she is OK

 

[allieloveschickens]

Here is some good advice from eggchel about how to help an eggbound hen, I hope this helps your girl out!

Separate her.
Plan on keeping her separated from the other hens for a couple days so that you will know if she passes an egg, what condition the egg is in (although a broken egg will often be eaten right away) and so that the other hens do not peck at her vent if she has egg yolk or blood in the area.
Examine her externally.
Examine her by gently feeling her belly from the outside. Can you feel a hard egg? If so, you
can give her a warm bath (see instructions below) and massage her belly towards her vent to help move the egg out.
Examine her internally.
Now, I can understand that you might not feel that you know your hen well enough to check inside her vent for an egg or shell pieces, but it really might be necessary. You could put on a pair of surgical gloves if that makes you feel better and put some vasoline or mineral oil on your finger and then just gently feel around inside her vent to see if you can feel a hard egg or sharp shell pieces.
This will not only give you an idea of what might be going on, but it will also apply some lubricant where it might do some good if there is an egg stuck in there. If you feel any broken pieces of shell, see if you can carefully slip them out without cutting her.
Unfortunately, they sometimes get twisted inside and it becomes impossible for the egg to come out without surgery, or it causes the reproductive tract to prolapse (invert itself outside of the vent). If that happens then you need to gently push the prolapsed part back inside and hope it stays, but often that becomes chronic and requires culling.

Giving a chicken a massage bath:
You can use rubbermaid tote, a baby bath, a 5 gallon bucket or an old dishpan for the bath. I use the sink on my back porch or the laundry sink. (Some folks use their kitchen sink but I dont suggest that for sanitary reasons... )
Check the water temperature the same as you would for the baby, good and warm but not hot.
Lower her gently in the water. It should come up to her back. Keep your hand over her back to prevent sudden escape attempts and to keep her from losing her footing and panicking. Either one will result in her flapping her wings and you will get soaked.
Massage her belly gently moving in the direction of her vent. She should relax in the warm water. Some birds even fall asleep.
Getting her dry.
After the bath, wrap her in an old towel and put her under a warm lamp or inside the house to keep her warm. Keep her wrapped in the towel for at least 15 minutes, or longer, to absorb as much of the water from her feathers as possible. Then move her to a rubbermaid tote or a dog/cat carrier with a lot of shavings to help dry her. Again, keep her inside until she is dry, it will take overnight, and she needs to be in a warm place. It takes a long time for them to get dry all the way to the skin unless you want to speed the process with a hair drier. Amazingly, after the first minute or two, they dont seem to mind the hair drier. Just be sure to frequently use your other hand, between the hair drier and the bird, to be sure that it isnt too hot.

(note: a bath to prepare a chicken for a show or to treat mites/lice would require the additional steps of shampooing the bird plus rinsing a couple of times. I dont recommend that you do that while the chicken is already in distress)

 

[BenAnnaMama]

I gave her a warm bath for almost 30 minutes and at the end she kinda freaked out and tried to get out and when I looked again at her vent it looks like the egg is out but covered in skin...

 

[BenAnnaMama]

Quote:
Thanks for the info... I can't feel around in her vent because it is protruding out. She did enjoy her bath but I did not massage her belly. I feel sick for her... I don't know what to do now. She is the only one laying so far. This would have been her first one.

 

[bald k9]

How is your hen doing?