Hen keeps getting Egg-Bound! I though she was gone for good.

[dawg53]

You can put her in a container of warm water, just enough to cover her underside, gently massage her underside. The warmth should relax and expand her innards and the massage should help make the egg work its way towards the vent. You can lube her vent by wearing a plastic glove with olive oil on your finger, insert your finger in her vent to ensure there isnt any debris or obstructions,gently stretch just inside the vent, you can add more olive oil as necessary. Hopefully this will help her lay an egg more easily. I've done this and have been successful so far. NurseDr....make sure you have crushed oyster shell for them to eat. You can add crushed calcium tablets to their feed for a few days as well to help prevent soft shelled eggs.

 

[nanawendy]

I feel your pain. I have an EE that is constantly having problems laying. I also know how attached one gets to their babies. My heart says hang in there ,read all you can on egg bound chickens and do the water bath and message treatment. That is what I'm doing.
My head say ...you may need to cull her, put her out of her misery. It's a hard decision that I can't even make myself... BTW how old is she??

 

[WingingIt]

I've read on here several times that once they get egg bound, they are prone to it repeating. I'm sorry, but it sounds like it's probably going to keep happening. There are some great threads on here about helping egg bound hens, just type egg bound in the search box and some of the long ones will come up, I'm sure.

 

[BB Ranch]

Not a problem. Pour some molasses in her drinking water. The eggs are layed the same place that they pooh. So you want to keep the area lubricated. I would switch to a specially formulated laying chow that has calcium in it. We have never had hens eggbound ever. She will develop muscles and the cloaca will stretch out. Is there a possibility that she is sick and therefore too weak to lay an egg.

 

[iliamna]

Hi Chicklover 98: We have had this problem too; maybe this solution will work for you. Take the hen inside and let her sit in a sink of warm water for a few minutes then you'll have to have a pair of exam gloves, a small container of veg. oil and lots of rags. Put her head under your arm, with your gloved hand take your index finger that has been soaked in the oil, put it inside her rectum, very carefully move your finger around and try to move the egg out of her. If it breaks you'll have to very carefully clean it out of her. It's most important to be extremely careful so you don't tear anything inside. She won't like any of this but she won't fight you if you have her head under your arm and you have control of her body. Don't work too long on her at a stretch; if it doesn't come out soon, give her a rest then try again later. I think soaking her bottom in warm water helps to relax her and feels good to them too. Leave her in a box or some container by herself for a night/day (couple days should be good) so she can rest and be away from the rest of the flock. She might not lay any more eggs but that's preferable to being in pain. Good luck with this and I hope it works.

 

[NurseDr]

Quote:
Thanks for the recommendation about calcium. They have had oyster shell free choice since they started laying. I will add calcium to their feed for a couple of days.

 

[ChickLover98]

EEEEKKK!!! Whoever suggested to "cull" her, never in a million years!!! I will get her spayed (If its possible) before I will do that! Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

 

[ChickLover98]

She is only 4 1/2 months old!!! Please! I really don't wanna put her down!

 

[lacasitarojafarm]

I was the one that suggested culling. Sorry if I upset you.

You can try to work with her if that's what you want. Try the warm baths and lubricating her vent, etc. However, spaying will not prevent egglaying. Pick up a chicken raising book, a basic one with chicken anatomy in it and you'll see they'll have to take her ovaries out which, like in humans is what deposits the egg. Whether or not it's a fertilized egg only matters if you want to hatch the eggs. Again, I didn't mean to upset you. The way I see my role as a caretaker of animals is that I look at it less from my point of view as a person who loves the animal, than as a person reponsible for an animal that has a condition that is *painful* and dangerous. If it's going to keep happening and is unpreventable I am going to cull the animal because it's in pain and I can't reasonalby prevent the recurrence of pain.