HELP! Sick chicken

[duckluver110]

It is good news that it is an egg. A hernia would be a much more difficult thing to fix.
The warm water should help to relax her. The egg needs to come out so don't push it inwards. Get some lubricant and apply it around and into her vent and gently massage it being careful not to break the egg. Giving her a calcium supplement will help her to push it out... a half a Tums tablet if you have nothing else. Being egg bound will certainly make her ill and can kill her if she doesn't get it out or it breaks inside her and causes an infection.

Okay. She is in the warm bath and has tried pushing twice in the past five minutes. What are lubricant suggestions? I will give her tums.

 

[rebrascora]

KY Jelly or similar if you have it. If not, whatever you have that will make her slippy... washing up liquid is probably as good as anything as long as it isn't strongly perfumed....only use a tiny amount. Olive oil or mineral oil or any cooking oil or any mild soap. Try working a finger very gently into her vent with some lubricant on it when she is not pushing.

 

[duckluver110]

KY Jelly or similar if you have it. If not, whatever you have that will make her slippy... washing up liquid is probably as good as anything as long as it isn't strongly perfumed....only use a tiny amount. Olive oil or mineral oil or any cooking oil or any mild soap. Try working a finger very gently into her vent with some lubricant on it when she is not pushing.

It seems as if the egg is almost sideways..what do I do for that?

 

[rebrascora]

Do your best to lubricate one end particularly and hopefully it will slip round and come out. I'm afraid I am going to have to leave you to do your best, as it's early hours of the morning here and I need to get some sleep. Good luck and remember that she will die if it doesn't come out so balance that against your undoubted fear of injuring her.
So sorry to leave you to it but you can do this, I know you can! Hopefully someone else will come along and "virtually" hold your hand through this. I will be keeping my fingers and toes crossed as I sleep.

Best of luck

Barbara

 

[rebrascora]

Just woken up and was hoping to read an update? I'm now worried that it didn't go well

 

[duckluver110]

Just woken up and was hoping to read an update? I'm now worried that it didn't go well

Sadly the egg is still stuck. I tried my best last night but it is really stuck in there. I bought some KY jelly today and am currently giving her another epsom salt bath. I'm hoping today will be the day we get it out. I can't imagine how uncomfortable she is. ):

 

[duckluver110]

Today my chicken has new symptoms. I gave her two epsom salt baths today and put lubricant around her vent after. Today in her first bath she had one of her "episodes" when she strains and looks like she's trying to push an egg out. Her swollen butt takes the shape of an egg. It is very red and inflamed today. During her little episode, I took her out of the bath and tried to see if I could help her out. I put on a glove and tried to poke around with a q-tip to see if I could move the egg. But there was no egg! It was all just poop. I tried to remove some of the poop, but there was so much of it. I put her back in the bath, then drained it, and left her alone for a few hours. I then came back and there was large piles of poop all over the tub! It seemed as if she pooped her weight. I cleaned out the tub and gave her another bath. I checked her vent again and it was as dirty as before and it didn't even seem like I did anything. I looked up her symptoms and came up with something called vent gleet. Could this be it? Are these the symptoms for it? If so, what do I do to help her and what do I give her? ):

 

[rebrascora]

Well done for helping to remove some of the blockage. That will at least relieve some of the pressure. I assumed you had already had a finger into her vent and felt or seen the egg when you said that it seemed to be sideways. A Q tip is not really big enough and could break the egg..... you need to be gently working a finger into her vent with lots of lube on it and slowly easing it around the obstruction. She is in serious danger of dying, so you need to be quite assertive about removing that blockage. Even if it is vent gleet (usually a pale yellow,bad smelling discharge) that blockage will kill her if you don't manage to shift it. Treatment for vent gleet is Canesten cream applied in and around the vent and a little ACV in the water and probiotic yoghurt in her food. These are no good unless that blockage is removed though, whatever it is, so continue with the bathing and lubricating and massaging and don't be shy about gently working a finger inside her. An egg comes out of that hole once a day, so it can easily accommodate a finger!
Good luck and please keep us updated.