Matilda - update - Rest In Peace :(

[dlhunicorn]

in one of the articles a vet describes the proper placing of your hands and such to try and move the egg down

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Hm, could you possibly point me to which article that is?? I've read them all, I thought, and doublechecked just now, and did not see anything like that. (I did see the description of how a vet can manually encouraging an egg along while the chicken is lying on its back under general anesthesia with muscle relaxants on board, but that doesn't help in my situation, trust me, I've tried.)

The egg that I can feel inside Matilda is too high up (like, too close to the spine and roof of pelvis) to be able to massage along from the outside (I can't even really FEEL it from the outside), and the best I've been able to achieve from the inside is removing some small blobs of congealed yolky stuff.

FWIW, she is perkier and eating better today, tho I don't know why, maybe the vitamins helped.

THanks for all your help,

Pat

 

[dlhunicorn]

did you give the calcium gluconate (or TUM) ???

 

[patandchickens]

oops, yes, forgot to mention... did the tums thing too, check.

(Remember, I'm in Canada, so can't order calcium gluconate from US companies (well, I could but much too much expense time and hassle), and owing to having a small baby and active 3 yr old and a whole bunch of things that need doing, I have not yet gotten a chance to look for canadian sources, so tums will have to do for now.)

Pat

 

[patandchickens]

Sadly, I found Matilda this morning in her nest box cold and stiff

Honestly she'd seemed in really good shape for the past couple weeks, although her abdomen was still somewhat distended and sometimes the feathers around her vent were kinda poopy. But she was happy and frisking around, and I'd even been letting her go out in the daytime with her two 'sisters', although keeping her in a separate adjacent pen at night so she didn't get picked on. Yesterday morning she was huddled and 'not right', though. Poor thing.

Anyhow I am posting this for anyone who finds this thread on a search for this type of problem, just to give some idea of how it turned out.

On the bright side, she DID have another month or six weeks of happy life despite the internal laying.

I buried her among the honeysuckle bushes in the back fencerow, hopefully far enough away from our well

, in a nice sunny spot with a good view in case it matters to her

Pat

 

[dlhunicorn]

Thank you for the update and so very sorry you lost her (it does get them in the end unless you have surgery to remove the ovary effectively sterilizing the bird and preventing any more yolks being formed and removing the backed up ones in the bird...quite extensive and not cheap)

 

[SpottedCrow]

I'm so sorry you lost Matilda.

 

[hsm5grls]

I am soo sorry to hear about matilda. I hope you are o.k. I know it can be hard to loose a loved animal friend. My thoughts are with you.

 

[IHeartChickens]

Patandchickens, Thank you for updating us on Matilda. I am so sorry you lost her. She was such a sweet hen.

This thread has been very educational and I am sure Matilda's story will help others in the future. You gave her a good and comfortable home. Hugs!

 

[bantymum]

Oh Dear, Im very sorry you lost her.
Very hard to help them sometimes.
I love that you thought to place her in a nice spot in case it mattered as I do the same thing, I pick their fave spot too.
She is at peace now sweet little hen.
Hugs