Lethargic hen, possibly eggbound. I'm running out of things to try!

[Squishypuff]

I've read up on older threads here on this topic, but I'm still at a bit of a loss.

I got this hen as a freebie, she has a history of small prolapse. I have no clue how old she is, she is a Silkie, but the former owner said she lays every day and never goes broody. She laid an egg the first night I got her (which would have been last Thursday), and has not laid again since. I figured the stress of a new home and a new flock could be causing her to not lay, but every time I looked in on her, she was just lying on the ground like she was maybe trying to lay. When taken out to free range, she just lies there and has no interest in anything else. She is not eating much at all, and she's only pooped one to two times in the last 2 days. I am not sure about what happened before that, I had her in the coop and was not really monitoring her output.

I put her into the sick pen yesterday morning, and have been carefully watching for poo. Yesterday I soaked her in a warm bath and massaged around her abdomen, but did not feel anything that screamed "egg" to me. I gave her some crushed up tums in water, and syringed it into her. She was not impressed. I also gave her a small dose of liquid vitamin B. She refused crushed up boiled egg today, which is not normal, and might have munched on a small amount of food. I also fed her a little vegetable oil, which did produce a gooey poo.

I am guessing she is eggbound, but I'm just not sure. It seems to make sense that a hen with a history of prolapse might have issues passing eggs- that does not especially surprise me. But I am not sure that I know what to look for. I don't have any other hens her age/size to compare how their bellies feel, and I don't know whether I'm feeling a end of an egg way up high nearly under her ribcage, or if that's something else entirely.

Any suggestions? I knew this hen had issues when I took her, but it seemed fair enough to give her a chance. She was free, and at worst I'll have to put her down myself- which I am prepared to do if it appears that she's in pain. Right now she's just "off" and drowsy.

 

[CochinBantams]

God I am beginning to think my favorite girl maybe having a problem as she is acting similar...

I am new so I am not sure "where exactly" the egg would be if in fact she was egg bound... I checked the cloaca area and it was not hard. I felt to the left and right. One side seems different, but I wasn't sure if it was because she was moving around so much. She is acting like she is broody and stays in her lay box most of the day...I have to coax her out by giving the other girls treats! She won't eat from my hand and doesn't seem to happy when I approach her.

Can someone please explain what Squishypuff means by a prolaspe...and how can you tell if that is a problem?
My hen is a Bantam and is about 9 months+/- old.
I noticed she is laying with her fact toward the back of the laying box and her tail feathers seems ruffled in an upward direction. She is not making any noises.
It is hard to tell what her poop looks like because I hardly see her move out of her box. (She must be sneaking out when I am not looking because she would be dead from lack of water by now).
I read the other thread and now I am nervous and I am afraid to stick my finger inside of her...what if I break an egg that is stuck!

 

[Squishypuff]

Bump for both of us.

 

[teach1rusl]

Cochinbantam - your girl sounds broody to me. It doesn't matter whether there are eggs under her or not - a hen can go broody on a wooden egg, a real egg, or no eggs at all.
Squishy - not sure on yours. With her being new, change can upset a lot. I'd give her another two days or so of indoor rest (so you can monitor food/water/poo). First I'd give her a warm bath and massage around her vent area and abdomen, since this is supposed to relax them and help expel the egg if she IS eggbound. If she's still not eating after another day or two, I'd probably put her down, because I hate the thought of something starving to death.

 

[Squishypuff]

Thank you. I've been doing the warm soaks (she lounges like she's in a jacuzzi) and massage, and also lubed up her vent. I'm going to give her 24 hours to either start pooping normally, eat, pass an egg.. or whatever is going on. If she is still like this tomorrow morning, I will put her down. I knew that getting her would be a 50/50 shot of issues, and I took her with the understanding that putting her down may be unavoidable. Poor gal. She pooped again last night, a runny brown/green with some yellow yolk-like stuff in it. She looks like crap. I may put her down sooner than tomorrow if she doesn't perk up a tiny bit. I bring her in to soak, and them until she is dry, but my house is kept at 66* and I think it's too chilly for her in here. She's right outside the kitchen door on the carport, in a big dog crate. I've got her cage covered with a towel, and she has food, water, and oyster shell in there.

This is life, I guess. My little Wry Neck baby in my other thread has recovered enough to be back out with the others in the coop- as soon as the sick pen emptied, I had a new occupant. I just felt like I had to try and save this hen. She is a beautiful white Silkie hen, and would have contributed a lot in terms of improving my flock.

 

[CochinBantams]

Quote:
Do the hens go broody after hatching chicks as early as 8-12wks later and in such heat!?!

 

[CochinBantams]

BTW the one hen I have has not laid in 2 days and I did find some yolk in the box next to her over the top of an unbroken egg. She then moved back to her box - still no egg; but acting broody.