Is egg binding as common as it seems?

[RosemaryDuck]

Hey all! No emergency, just a question. Since I've been on the site (and many years before making an account) I've seen frequent posts about egg bound hens. I'm not sure if it's just because the site has a lot of people, so therefore there's a lot of chickens, but is it a common ailment?

I only saw it twice during my years raising chickens and ducks, so I'm just curious.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I've only seen it once in my flock, but it progressed to EYP and the hen didn't survive - she was a hatchery Rhode Island Red, an excellent layer, but clearly had reproductive issues.

 

[Show Sebright]

Had to deal with is 4 times but I have bird with reproductive issues. It seem common to me.

 

[SegiDream]

Hey all! No emergency, just a question. Since I've been on the site (and many years before making an account) I've seen frequent posts about egg bound hens. I'm not sure if it's just because the site has a lot of people, so therefore there's a lot of chickens, but is it a common ailment?

I only saw it twice during my years raising chickens and ducks, so I'm just curious.

I saw it a few times in my first flock about 20yrs ago. I think it was a dietary/feed issue, perhaps not enough protein and other nutrients. Once we fixed the feed issue it cleared up. They were RIR, silky, dominecker and mixes of the three. If I remember correctly it did seem to happen with the RIR or mixes of the RIR. They laid pretty big eggs...

 

[RosemaryDuck]

I saw it a few times in my first flock about 20yrs ago. I think it was a dietary/feed issue, perhaps not enough protein and other nutrients. Once we fixed the feed issue it cleared up. They were RIR, silky, dominecker and mixes of the three. If I remember correctly it did seem to happen with the RIR or mixes of the RIR. They laid pretty big eggs...

The 1 out of the 2 cases I saw in my old flock was a RIR. Curious .

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Anecdotally, I've noticed RIR seem to be mentioned a lot in relation to egg binding or EYP. It leads me to believe that production reds may have genetic reproductive issues.

 

[aart]

I'm not sure if it's just because the site has a lot of people, so therefore there's a lot of chickens, but is it a common ailment?

Well, and people come here when they have problems, so you don't hear about the thousands of birds that never get egg bound(along with other ailments/issues).
I've never had an egg bound bird.

 

[neo71665]

I've only seen it once in my flock, but it progressed to EYP and the hen didn't survive - she was a hatchery Rhode Island Red, an excellent layer, but clearly had reproductive issues.

Same here but was a ISA brown

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

To @aart's point, I am relying on anecdotal information that suggests a wider problem. I've noticed a similar trend with Pekin ducks and bumblefoot (and have personally experienced that with a drake), too. Worth considering, I'd say, but hardly a scientific approach.

 

[SLOChick]

Hey all! No emergency, just a question. Since I've been on the site (and many years before making an account) I've seen frequent posts about egg bound hens. I'm not sure if it's just because the site has a lot of people, so therefore there's a lot of chickens, but is it a common ailment?

I only saw it twice during my years raising chickens and ducks, so I'm just curious.

I have 1 soft (no shell) egg every few weeks in my coop, and figure it's the same chicken. All 9 have the same layer pellet and oyster shell diet, and forage on 5 acres for bugs. Not sure why this happens.