Lethargic hen with white runny poop

[casportpony]

Try warm bath and calcium.

-Kathy

 

[hen madame]

How is the hen doing? Did the egg come out?

 

[mayer chickens]

We actually have a vet on our school chicken team (how lucky are we??) so we brought Millie in and after an x-ray it was confirmed that she had one big egg inside of her. Her first one. After a soak in warm water and compresses on her vent with no results, it was decided to puncture the egg, extract the yolk and remove the shell. This should really only be performed in a controlled environment by a vet. We tried K-Y around the oviduct but the opening was just not getting any bigger and we believe the poor girl has been trying to lay her first egg for a few days now. We were fearful and just wanted the egg out. She was lethargic and looked miserable. She is doing much better and is eating and drinking. We are keeping her separated from the other hens for the next couple of days until she is fully recovered. Fingers crossed that the next egg is smaller.

Here is a video of her trying to push the egg out. I hope this helps people see what a bound egg looks like.

 

[mayer chickens]

How is the hen doing? Did the egg come out?

We had to extract the egg but it's out and Millie is doing so much better!! Thank goodness.

 

[casportpony]

I'm glad you got the egg out, but I'm also curious as to why the vet didn't give calcium?

-Kathy

 

[hen madame]

I'm so glad Millie is doing so much better, I've been worrying about her (geez, I worry enough about my own hens...now I'm worrying about everyone's hens

...go figure).

That video reminded me of giving birth to my daughter...ugh!

By the way, a school chicken team?

 

[mayer chickens]

I'm so glad Millie is doing so much better, I've been worrying about her (geez, I worry enough about my own hens...now I'm worrying about everyone's hens

...go figure).

That video reminded me of giving birth to my daughter...ugh!

By the way, a school chicken team?

Watching Millie try to push this egg out totally reminded me of giving birth....she actually closed her eyes and gave an audible grunt. It's just fascinating to me.

Yeah, we actually formed a chicken committee made up of four parents here at our Chicago Public elementary school. We were all interested in chickens but we really knew nothing about raising them. As we all know, the internet is a wealth of information (ESPECIALLY this site) so with the okay from our principal, we built a custom coop in front of the school and purchased 6 chicks. We have over 600 students who all witnessed the chicks growing up in the hallway and we held an actually Chicken Pep Rally when we moved the hens into their new coop......we walked the halls of the school with each chicken as our gym coach announced over the loud speaker each name (we had a school-wide naming contest - 17 kids won) as the students stood by clapping and fist pumping. It was truly an amazing moment as I realized that the chickens had really touched each and every student and teacher. Fast forward four months and here we are....the hens are about to start laying and the entire neighborhood has embraced this project. We thought it would be cool to teach the kids where our food comes from and how the cycle of chicken poop + compost + garden soil = wonderful plants that the chickens can eat (repeat) but we really did not realize what an AMAZING community builder the chickens would become. Neighbors have altered their dog walking routes so that they can stop by the coop twice a day to visit the girls. People stop and talk to each other (wow!) while standing in front of the coop. We feel really, really fortunate to have this opportunity and it's our goal to help other Chicago Public Schools start their own chicken projects.

Here is a photo of our coop during a recent garden walk (those are my kids selling lemonade to raise money for chicken food). We've added a solar panel for the auto-coop door and a rain barrel to further demonstrate to the students sustainability. We think it's a pretty amazing coop!



6 a.m. report: Millie is up and eating and acting great! Thank goodness!!

~Anastasia

 

[mayer chickens]

I'm glad you got the egg out, but I'm also curious as to why the vet didn't give calcium?

-Kathy

Dr. Lynn wanted to learn first hand from an exotic bird vet exactly what to do in this situation in case we are faced with a bound egg again. I do believe that they administered calcium and fluids at some point before they extracted the egg. I think that Millie was in pretty bad shape by the time we actually got her to the exotic bird vet so there wasn't a whole lot of time. We have added extra calcium and oyster shells to their food. Thank you for your help Kathy.....really appreciate it!

~Anastasia

 

[MelissaTXRn]

So glad she is better.
That is an awesome coop and story.

 

[hen madame]

Anastasia,

That really is a fantastic story...wonderful idea having all those kids participate and become so invested. I have noticed, on a much smaller scale, The Chicken Effect as well. My backyard has a road directly behind it and so many people stop by to say hello to the chickens, especially the kids. I have met and gotten to know so many people since I built the coop. It really is quite amazing and a fantastic byproduct of having my girls!