It's been one bad thing after another- I really need help!

[Synaster]

First time poster, mainly out of desperation.

On Dec 26th, one of my Easter Eggers, "Princess Leia", tried to lay her first egg. When I mean "try", she wasn't able to because the shell had a couple hard lumps stuck to it. I took her inside, greased up her heinie with vegetable oil and eventually got it to shoot out.

I thought that the cold weather that we have could have been a reason she was having trouble, so I put hay in a bathtub, along with Princess and her two sisters, and let them stay there overnight and for part of the morning (in case they ALL were starting to lay).

The next day, I noticed that Princess' egg tract was prolapsed. I looked around online to see how I could help, tried it, and it wouldn't work. I took her to the vet, and she had gotten a partial purse-string suture. I thought all was finally well, but no, it wasn't.

Today, she's trying to lay another egg, but her vent just won't open enough for me to even see part of the shell, and she's been straining so much to try to push it out. I used vegetable oil again, and from the advice of a vet my dad knows, Vaseline. No luck.

The vet clinic that gave her the suture (and me a $116.55 bill) isn't open today, so demanding that they fix this isn't a solution right now. Another vet place that IS open is half-an-hour drive away and they charge an $80 examination bill

This string of "unfortunate events" is all on MY shoulders; my parents left to go visit relatives the day Princess tried to lay her first egg. My mom says that she could have an anatomical problem, but I think it's due to the "suture" she had gotten. I don't know which is correct, but I really don't want her to die or have to be put down.

I don't know what to do, and I don't want her in pain. I'm worrying myself sick about what I should have done to prevent this, and what I should do. Can someone please help me on what to do?

 

[Imp]

I'm sorry that I cannot help more. Hopefully someone else with more knowledge can come on and help. It sounds like you don't have much of a choice except another vet visit. Good Luck!
Imp/Russ

 

[snowydiamonds]

Take that suture out and get the egg out. If you have to, sew her up again but not as tight so eggs can still come out. Otherwise, I'd put her out of her misery and that's a personal decision, a hard decision to make but those seem to be the choices. Big Hugs to you, whatever your decision, I know its a hard time for you...and her.

 

[ranchhand]

I know nothing about these issues, but I sent a call for help to one whom I consider to be a master. But, yes, you may well be in for another vet visit, start making preparations now.

 

[silkiechicken]

If she is point of lay... sounds like it was genetic or she has grown up on a rich diet caushing a build up of fat around the reproductive tract thus making eggs hard to pass.

Often, once there is a prolapse, it will just happen again and again. Not much you can really do about it short of a hysterectomy.

Point of lay is another point in life where birds can be lost due to their reproductive tract kicking in, and if it's not perfect...

Good luck.

 

[Chicken Woman]

can you see the purse string stich enough that you could clip it so she can lay this egg ? It may be stopping her from laying.
Poor baby hows she doing ?

 

[Chicken Woman]

When you say put her out of her misery how would you go about that ? Dumb question but I really don't know.

 

[silkiechicken]

Putting out of misery = cull.

Cull in this case = put her down = axe = dinner or burial.

 

[ranchhand]

As I said, I haven't had experience with these issues. I would however, try cutting the stitch and leave her be for 30 minutes. If that didn't work, use the Vaseline and wait another bit. If either one works, okay, but get her to the vet tomorrow if she's a pet and you're willing to spend a large amount of money. If she's a working hen, not a family pet, cull. That's the hard reality of raising chickens.
Good luck making tough decisions.

 

[Mahonri]

Agreed, if you can't pull out the suture so that the egg can come out, the next best option unfortunately is to cull... this problem won't end well either way.

I've seen a few miracles with some hens, but very few.