Hi there guys, I have a little bantam hen who is a little over a year old who appears to be possibly egg bound. I have noticed over the pass few days she was acting a bit funny. At first I just thought it was the sudden weather change as it has been in the 70s dropping down to the 40s back up to the 70s. I kept a heat lamp in her coop during the colder days and she would sit under it. She still eats and drinks just fine, but she just looks sickly. She seems to have lost weight and she fluffs her feathers and kinda slowly walks around. She doesn't fly up with the other guys to roost. She just sits inside the nesting box to sleep. I have noticed tonight that right above her vent, it feels like an egg is off to side of her tummy. Overall it feels like just a hard mass in a round shape. So my questions are.. 1) Is she egg bound or is it something different? 2)If she is egg bound other than soaking in warm water and covering her up in a place by herself to pass the egg, is there anything else I can do to help her out? 3)Is there anything special I should feed her? 4)Speaking of feed. I did switch feeds from dumor layer crumbles to purina flock raiser. Could this be a factor? The change hasnt affected anyone else, but I am thinking she could be a bit more sensitive to change than the others. Thank you guys so much!
Have you read on egg bound and tried the warm bath, oiling of the insides at all? The egg should be on the underside of the hen below the vent. It is possible this is something else.
She could be an internal layer. Usually chickens that are egg bound wont last more then a week, if that, without passing the egg.
My Sussex was lethargic and bounced her back side up and down she did this for a couple of days I brought her in and sat her on a very warm towel one night and the next day she seemed to be fine she ate/drank well but she did stop laying. She has given 4-5 eggs total since April 2012 she was a year old in May 2012. I was told that an Epsom salt warm soak is good for them as it helps them to relax. I have done this and they seem to like the warm water. Just make sure you dry her really well with a blow dryer before putting her back out. Good luck.
I just got done letting her sit in some warm water and I put some mineral oil on her vent area. I am giving her some water with some extra vitamins in it and she is drinking it. I put her food down for her and she is eating it as well. Do you maybe have an idea of what else it could be? And thank you for your reply! Thank you. I will read up more on that. Thank you for your suggestions!
Update on the hen. She is much more perky and alert inside where its warm. Still eating and drinking. Her poops are normal but she hasn't laid an egg yet.
