Hello. I've been nursing my one and a half-year-old hen for over two months now. It first started out with her laying an egg with no shell. Just came right out of her in the yard when she and the other hens were out free-ranging for the evening. Following that she started acting lethargically and walking with her butt down. Her stools were white and yellowy.
Long story short, I took her to the vet back in late May thinking her crop was impacted (I did not feel an egg when I checked her vent). He said he could see that she ate something denser than her bones (it was in her crop) and he suspected it was metal and that she was sick with lead poisoning. We treated her for lead poisoning for 4 weeks and she seemed to be doing better. But then in early July, she started acting lethargic again and walking around with her butt down, like last time.
So I took her back about two weeks ago. This time he could see about a dozen small objects (in her stomach) that were again denser than her bones. This time he also saw that she might have an egg stuck back in or near her ovaries (?). (She hasn't laid an egg since May.) So he gave us more meds for the lead poisoning, an anti-biotic and a steroid that I cannot get her to swallow.
Now almost two weeks later, she's even more lethargic and spends almost the whole day laying or standing around. I kept her in the house yesterday and all she did was drink water and stand around. Her crop feels like a hot water balloon and her stools are primarily water, sometimes with a milky white substance. And oddly she is constantly smacking her lips, if you know what I mean. (Do you?) I'm worried that an egg is still stuck inside her and she's having issues passing it. I have referenced egg binding sites (Thank you AidKD), I've checked her vent, did not feel anything, and I checked her belly, still didn't feel anything (compared to my other hens). Wondering if it is something else.
Just in case it is an egg binding, this morning I gave her a bath with Epson salts and mixed some crushed up Tums into her food. So far she still does not seem very interested in food and she still won't sit. And no new stools. I am keeping an eye on her and waiting to see if there is any improvement. (I set her up in the spare bedroom.)
Our vet is amazing, but short in his emails. (Not complaining, he's been VERY GENEROUS with his time, and I can't thank him enough.) Today I am hoping to gather some more perspectives as to what other possibilities I should be exploring (other than egg binding), things I should keep an eye out for, or other steps I should be taking. A BIG THANK YOU to all the informative posts and articles on this site that have gotten me this far. I really appreciate how caring and giving this community is.
Long story short, I took her to the vet back in late May thinking her crop was impacted (I did not feel an egg when I checked her vent). He said he could see that she ate something denser than her bones (it was in her crop) and he suspected it was metal and that she was sick with lead poisoning. We treated her for lead poisoning for 4 weeks and she seemed to be doing better. But then in early July, she started acting lethargic again and walking around with her butt down, like last time.
So I took her back about two weeks ago. This time he could see about a dozen small objects (in her stomach) that were again denser than her bones. This time he also saw that she might have an egg stuck back in or near her ovaries (?). (She hasn't laid an egg since May.) So he gave us more meds for the lead poisoning, an anti-biotic and a steroid that I cannot get her to swallow.
Now almost two weeks later, she's even more lethargic and spends almost the whole day laying or standing around. I kept her in the house yesterday and all she did was drink water and stand around. Her crop feels like a hot water balloon and her stools are primarily water, sometimes with a milky white substance. And oddly she is constantly smacking her lips, if you know what I mean. (Do you?) I'm worried that an egg is still stuck inside her and she's having issues passing it. I have referenced egg binding sites (Thank you AidKD), I've checked her vent, did not feel anything, and I checked her belly, still didn't feel anything (compared to my other hens). Wondering if it is something else.
Just in case it is an egg binding, this morning I gave her a bath with Epson salts and mixed some crushed up Tums into her food. So far she still does not seem very interested in food and she still won't sit. And no new stools. I am keeping an eye on her and waiting to see if there is any improvement. (I set her up in the spare bedroom.)
Our vet is amazing, but short in his emails. (Not complaining, he's been VERY GENEROUS with his time, and I can't thank him enough.) Today I am hoping to gather some more perspectives as to what other possibilities I should be exploring (other than egg binding), things I should keep an eye out for, or other steps I should be taking. A BIG THANK YOU to all the informative posts and articles on this site that have gotten me this far. I really appreciate how caring and giving this community is.
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