Michigan

[LEEHAHA]

Quote:
WHEN I GOT UP THIS MORNING SHE HAD POOP ALL OVER HER BUTT....AND SHE IS WONDERING AWAY FROM THE GROUP WAS SITTING IN BUTTOM OF COOP AND THE NESTING BOX...SHE IS EATING WELL HER EYE R BRIGHT.COMB IS NICE AND RED...HER VENT IS PULSING ....BUT THEY ALL JUST TURNED 6 MONTHS FEW WEEKS AGO AND GOT 2 EGGS FRIST TIME YESTERDAY...SO I THOUGHT MAYBE SHE IS HAVING A HARD TIME PASSING HER FIRST EGG

THX FOR HELP

 

[M.sue]

I'd keep her in the mudroom and keep an eye on her. Sounds like it might be an egg from the pulsating vent description. Don't know what to tell you except maybe massage her a bit. Some with experience will help you.

 

[Olive Hill]

Personally, I'd put her back out in the coop. Unless there are signs of illness there's no reason to segregate her and a change in environment like this is distressing to a chicken. It's not uncommon for a hen to go off by herself for quite some time when the egg laying process begins to kick in for the first time. A pulsing vent, likewise, unless she is showing other signs of distress isn't anything I would be concerned with.

 

[LEEHAHA]

Quote:
THX OLIVE HILL...AS SOON AS HER BUTT IS ALL THE WAY DRY I WILL PUT HER BACK OUT NOW THAT I GOT OLIVE OIL IN THERE HOPE IS SLIDES OUT LOL...SHE IS EATING AND DRINKING FINE.....THX AGAIN .....SIGNED FREAKING OUT MAMA HEN LIZZZ

 

[M.sue]

Questions: How can you tell when a chicken is egg bound? Is it noticeable like an impacted crop? Do they ever get bound from eating to much binding foods such as bananas like humans? I have a tendency to give them oatmeal & bananas a lot.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Quote:
Not sure about it, trying it myself this year! I did straw last year, and it seemed their poo just stayed on the top layer and i had to manually turn it every day. I was going to do woodchips, but the leaves just smelled so nice when they were fresh that i threw them in. They compact by half, so you have to put twice as many down as the depth you want. They scuff around in them and i have not had to turn them at all. Plus, they love nesting down in them in the afternoons and warming their bellies. Plus, it was free! Can't beat that! If you could find some that were already ground up, i think the used leaves would make the perfect garden compost! I didn't think about that, so i am going to have to try to run them over with the mower a few times if their not too gross in the spring.

 

[Olive Hill]

Lizz -- Good luck. Keep us updated. If she comes up with more symptoms there might be cause for concern, but for now I'd just keep an eye out and see how she does. Sometimes that first egg really confuses them and it can take a while even for a seasoned hen to lay an egg. I used to have a hen that would lay in a particular boar's house every day. Every day he'd wait by the door for her to the lay the egg so he could eat it and some days she took much too long for his tastes and he'd go in and nuzzle her off the nest to check and then give her a lecture of low grunts about how she was taking too long. LOL!

M. Sue -- It's just a matter of eliminating other possibilities. An egg bound hen will often stand like she's kind of hunched over, with her tail either straight up or more often with it kind of fanned out and vent facing the ground, she'll tend to look constipated; she'll become lethargic, go off feed, be distressed, and keep straining, have a swollen vent, and the egg can often be felt in the abdomen. All symptoms will not necessarily be present in every hen, but a combination of several is usually good indication.

 

[Olive Hill]

There's one variety of Maple whose wilted leaves are toxic to pigs. Anybody know off the top of their head if chickens have any Maple sensitivities?

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Quote:
THX OLIVE HILL...AS SOON AS HER BUTT IS ALL THE WAY DRY I WILL PUT HER BACK OUT NOW THAT I GOT OLIVE OIL IN THERE HOPE IS SLIDES OUT LOL...SHE IS EATING AND DRINKING FINE.....THX AGAIN .....SIGNED FREAKING OUT MAMA HEN LIZZZ

Never had to deal with this, but if memory serves i think (this is graphic so the faint of heart should stop here) that people lubed up their finger and felt in there for an egg. Sometimes apparently you can help it out a little, plus the lube helps. Don't push on it if you are not sure because if it breaks in there it can injure her badly. Apparently this is a sure way to know if your hen is still laying, according to the old-timer's thread. Apparently the most accurate way, though i myself won't go there unless my girl is dying!!!

Also i think i remember there being obvious distress, like walking funny and not eating. Unless she is getting picked on, i'd just wait a little more. It is her first time, after all! If she gets distressed, then worry.

 

[Bianca67]

Thanks fuzzybutt love, my husband mows his mothers yard and she has lots of maple trees. He was hoping he could rake them up when they were dry, chop them up and use them in the coop as a money saving reason mostly. Thanks again.