Is this possible? Or am I missing something?

[sweetleaf]

Yesterday I was given 2 red shavers. The lady who had them said they had gotten in to her garden about 1 year ago, eaten her rhubarb and gone off the lay. She had consulted a vet who told her they would never lay again. I took them off her hands as pets for my boy as they have been raised from eggs and are much friendlier than our flock of free rangers.
Anyway, she brought them round yesterday and one had a very messy bottom. I enquired about it and was told that she had spoken to the vet and he was not concerned at all & sometimes chooks just have messy bums....
So this morning we've gotten up to find her off her food, not a lot of poo (that I can tell), doing a lot of sitting, hard abdomen - all the symptoms of being egg bound. I gave her a warm bath and gave her bottom a thorough wiping to remove all the crud but nothing's changed. I've got her in a cat cage inside in the warm with food and water but she's not showing any interest. She's just standing there and sometimes lying on her side and appears to be straining, her vent also appears to be moving.
Is it possible she is egg bound after all this time? I'm planning on giving her another bath and maybe some calcium. If she is NOT egg bound, will giving her calcium have any ill effect?

 

[zinkie]

I had one that was egg bound and she was walking funny and her tail was kind of crooked. I had no real idea if it was that, so I gave her the bath and then blew dried her and let her be and sure enough she layed 2 eggs...

Does she seem to walk funny?

I don't think that calcium could help her, but I am no expert at all.

 

[Frankie Ruiz]

well if she is egg bound you should try rubbing olive oil on and around her vent and putting it in her food. ive heard that helps. but about the calcium thing i have no idea

 

[sweetleaf]

Thanks for the replies.
I was thinking calcium because I did a few searches on here and a few members recommend calcium to get those muscles working to help push out the egg. I think I might very gently have a feel around to see if I can actually feel an egg, all I can feel from massaging her on the outside is a general hardness.

 

[sweetleaf]

Just had a feel about inside her vent, no sign of an egg in there (as far as my finger would go) but her bottom has started weeping slightly, a kind of clear mucous colour. Any ideas as to what my next move should be?

 

[Frankie Ruiz]

uh, honestly i got nothing else! i thought for sure she was egg bound. sorry.

 

[hrhta812]

Vent gleet maybe? It's hard to say...could be any number of things. Does her crop feel hard? Could she have something stuck in her crop or somewhere in her system that could be causing a digestive blockage? This is my "can't hurt, might help" collection of ideas:

I'd give her soaks in warm water with Epsom salt, and make her take some drops of olive oil, as well as making her eat some plain yogurt. I'd massage her crop, as well, just in case. You can dip her beak into a very small cup that has yogurt, to try to get her to eat some of it. Just be careful not to dip her beak so far into it that it gets in her nostrils. I've given olive oil the same way.

If you have some of the vitamin/electrolyte powder for poultry, that you can mix in water, give her some of that to drink; dip her beak if she won't drink willingly. PolyViSol liquid baby vitamins can be used [the version without added iron]; Vit. B is also available in a liquid and that can perk up a critter who is feeling puny and maybe make her feel more like eating and drinking.

Offer her some scrambled eggs to eat [skip the salt and pepper of course], and even mix some with her chicken food to try and tempt her. I hope she gets better!

 

[casportpony]

Just had a feel about inside her vent, no sign of an egg in there (as far as my finger would go) but her bottom has started weeping slightly, a kind of clear mucous colour. Any ideas as to what my next move should be?

If she had an egg calcium would help her get it out, but I think you've ruled that out, so no need to give calcium. Does her belly feel like it's full of fluid?
-Kathy

 

[sweetleaf]

It's night time here at the moment so I don't want to wake her to give her abdomen another feel / massage but I will in the morning.
Her tail is pointing down, she appears to have been to the toilet and just a normal amount, she still appears to be straining - like twitching or pulses of her back half.
I'll give her another bath in the morning and dose her up. I definitely have olive oil and I'll purchase some other things for her, there's a vet not far from here. See what he thinks too. She seems reasonably bright and alert.
Thanks for the help, I'll update tomorrow.

 

[sweetleaf]

So this morning I've taken her out of her cage, her bottom is a bit bald like she's moulting and has obviously been weeping a little overnight as there is a little dried up crud on there but it's stopped now. She's been to the toilet a few times in her cage, small amounts. I gave her a scrambled egg with a ground up egg shell, olive oil and a small amount of sunflower seeds and she had a good nibble on that. Didn't eat it all but definitely showed interest and ate some. Her tail is back up and things look better but I'm still concerned that she's not 100%. I've left her to get some fresh air and stretch her wings but I'll keep a good eye on her throughout the day.