Hen Hasn't Laid an Egg in a Week

[SammyJoyMonte]

Recently, my a fox had broken into my coop and killed four of my six 8-month old chickens, and thankfully two were able to escape. Out of the two, one of them hasn't laid an egg since the accident. I know that this can happen if under stress, but I'm worried she may be egg bound because the other day she wouldn't leave the hen box, her butt constantly moves, and the other day she pooped liquid green. I'm currently sick with covid and can't go to the vet, so does anyone possibly know what this could be, and how I can help her? She refuses to go into the hen box sometimes and I just want her to feel better and live to another year.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

As far as egg bound, have you tried having her set out in the sun for a few minutes to see if that helps?

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @Swbertrand1

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you insert a clean or gloved finger 2 inches inside her vent to check for a stuck egg or other obstruction? Is she pooping today? A human calcium tablet with vitamin D given orally can be helpful if she is egg bound. I would make sure that she is drinking fluids and offer some watery chicken feed and a bit of cooked egg.

 

[SammyJoyMonte]

As far as egg bound, have you tried having her set out in the sun for a few minutes to see if that helps?

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @Swbertrand1

I have. I let her out for ten minutes in the sun the past two days, and thirty minutes today. She seems to actually be trying to lay the egg now by going in the hen box at night and screaming, but she's still not having any success.

 

[Ascholten]

aww poor girl. You might have to glove up and go up there and help. Some other people are better at how to do this and there are some youtube vids but maybe a bit of lubricant, not sure if vaseline is good being oil based, to help slick things up, and a warm bath to help relax her and get that egg out?

What do her poops look like now. Green is not good but if you just happened to catch a cecal poop, yah those can scare you...

Try a bit of lube, warm water bath, ie soaking, (you will probably have to hold her in the bath she is NOT going to do that on h er own) and see if she can pass it out or you can at least feel if there is one up there stuck.

Aaron

 

[SammyJoyMonte]

Can you insert a clean or gloved finger 2 inches inside her vent to check for a stuck egg or other obstruction? Is she pooping today? A human calcium tablet with vitamin D given orally can be helpful if she is egg bound. I would make sure that she is drinking fluids and offer some watery chicken feed and a bit of cooked egg.

I'll try, she's very jumpy and doesn't like being touched or held for too long, so I haven't tried doing so yet. And looking back, it seemed like before she bent down to take a poop but nothing came out. As for the calcium tablet, I have some of the brand Nature's Bounty, but the tablets are huge, so would it work if I crushed up the tablet into a cup of water and gave it to her to drink? And for the watery chicken feed, would I just simply add water to her regular food? Thank you so much for the help.

 

[SammyJoyMonte]

aww poor girl. You might have to glove up and go up there and help. Some other people are better at how to do this and there are some youtube vids but maybe a bit of lubricant, not sure if vaseline is good being oil based, to help slick things up, and a warm bath to help relax her and get that egg out?

What do her poops look like now. Green is not good but if you just happened to catch a cecal poop, yah those can scare you...

Try a bit of lube, warm water bath, ie soaking, (you will probably have to hold her in the bath she is NOT going to do that on h er own) and see if she can pass it out or you can at least feel if there is one up there stuck.

Aaron

I've tried giving her a warm Espon bath around a week ago, but after 10 minutes she was struggling too much and I couldn't hold her still anymore. As for her poops right now, I just sat with her for a bit and they seem to be normal again thankfully.

 

[RubelliteRose]

As for the calcium tablet, I have some of the brand Nature's Bounty, but the tablets are huge, so would it work if I crushed up the tablet into a cup of water and gave it to her to drink?

Chickens can swallow amazingly large objects. Sometimes they will just eat the tablets on their own. If not, you can gently pry her beak open and pop it in. If you put the tablet just past the midpoint of her beak, she should swallow it.
Glad her poop is looking more normal!

 

[Ascholten]

bust / cut the tablet in half.
on the food just add water to it, don't make it a runny soup but enough to make like soft squishy dough out of it. like oatmeal.

Aaron

 

[SammyJoyMonte]

I just wanted to thank everyone that commented and helped! She never let us check if one was stuck, but after giving her lots of sun and a calcium tablet, she finally laid an egg after 2 weeks!