Help! Something is wrong w/my hen!

[johnnalei]

Hi- I have two showgirls and one has just started laying and I think one is egg bound. At least one was making tons of noise this morning, thought maybe she was going to lay her first egg. When I got home just now they were both out there making stressed laborish sounding moans. I think one is actually having issues and the other one is just talking back. How do I know if it's eggbound and what can I do? What else could be wrong? They both seem very stressed and somewhat sedate. I have them in a box inside now to try calm them down. Please help!

 

[The Chickens' Maid]

Feel around between her legs and under her vent. If she's egg-bound, you should be able to feel the egg. She may also be moving less, standing up straighter, or wanting to sit down.
Chickens generally don't make much sound when they are in pain or are sick, though; it's because they are a prey animal and, in the wild, any sound would alert predators. She may just be upset over a cat or something like that. You may want to take a look around for tracks in the area. Another possibility is that she is getting ready to lay an egg and doesn't know what to think of it. Our girls acted a little weird a few days before they laid their first eggs.
Hope she's OK!

 

[johnnalei]

Yeah, I felt around and didn't feel anything. I gave her a warm soak and put her and her buddy into a kennel w/some yogurt. They've been making this noise now for at least a couple hours, a stressed out moaning noise. So you think it's not an egg bound issue?

 

[The Chickens' Maid]

Probably not, if they are making noise. They may just be nervous about something, or they were nervous and now they are annoyed at being in a kennel. To be safe, you may want to keep them in there overnight, just in case.
The noise that they're making, does it sound kind of long, drawn out, and guttural? Do they respond to you when reach into their kennel?

 

[johnnalei]

Well now she is making an almost growling noise when she's breathing, it sounds labored. The other one has quietted down and is just eating and acting pretty normal. I took the problematic one out again and checked to see if I could feel an egg. I'm not sure if what I'm feeling is an egg or bone, but there might be something there. It's not in her abdomen though, it kind of feels like there's something in between her hips (or whatever those bones are). I also noted some mites on her rear end. I'm assuming this isn't related?