IncognitoMode4723
In the Brooder
- May 1, 2022
- 59
- 13
- 43
Yesterday, 9/13/2023, my hen Mary went into the nesting box at around 7 o'clock am, and stayed for about an hour but did not lay her egg. For the rest of the day she acted as if she had no eggs to lay, but at around 7 in the evening, about thirty minutes before my three hens, Bertha, Percy, and Mary, were going to go to bed, she started my low clucking noises, as she does sometimes when she has an egg to lay. It sounds something like "urrrrr".
This morning I let them out of the coop, and I noticed that Mary was not coming out. When she did after several minutes, she was slow and not very active, she just sat down while the other two went and ate their breakfast and drank their water. I was worried she was egg bound. I quickly searched on the internet what the symptoms of egg binding were and saw on one website that you could put your hen into a dark place to see if she would lay her egg. I tried to, put she didn't lay, and just wanted to come out. Later at about 9:30 AM I crushed the shells of two eggs, and managed to make her eat about half of what I made. About an hour later I did see her poo, and it was rather runny, but most of their poo is now because of the heat. I had to go somewhere, so from lunchtime to about 1:30 PM I couldn't watch them. At 1:30 PM I went out to walk them, and their was an egg in the nesting box that I am certain was hers. As an explanation, my three hens almost always lay rather distinct eggs. Percy almost always lays eggs that are long and thin, and her eggs for the last month or so have been like this. Bertha, after having had an issue I brought up on this forum about a month ago, has been laying eggs that are smaller than the eggs of the other two, darker, and having a lot of speckles. Mary lays the biggest eggs of all three; they are rounded and fill your palm. The egg in the box at 1:30 PM today was large, rounded and looked the one of Mary's, although maybe very slightly smaller. I am sure she laid it. What makes me more sure of this is the fact that around 3 PM today, with the other two hens outside of the run, Percy was in the nesting box and laid an egg. Despite this, Mary was still lethargic.
At around 3:30 PM, I soaked Mary in a warm Epsom salt bath. She sat in it for about 15 to 20 minutes and then got out and pooed a large poo. It did not look unusual, bloody, or alarming, and was not especially wet either. Later at 5 PM, I had another person hold up Mary while I put on a blue nitrile glove, slathered the index finger with a massive amount of vaseline, and I stuck my finger in her vent gently to lubricate it and see if I could feel an egg. I stuck my finger in up to about the middle joint, and felt nothing, but I am not sure if i put my finger in far enough. At 6:30 PM I tried to soak her in an Epsom bath one more time for the day, and while she sat in it I walked off for a couple minutes to ready their bed. I heard her jump out with a bit of a squawk, and I came to see that she pooed in bath. It seemed like a medium sized poo. At 7:30 PM they went to bed.
In short, she was lethargic today, and spent the whole day sitting down, probably laid an egg around 1:30 PM, and pooed at least three times today that I know of. She also at little bit of chick food a couple times, and drank a bit of water. She is 3 years old, and was born around 8/6/2020. She is probably an Australorp. No other birds are showing symptoms.
This morning I let them out of the coop, and I noticed that Mary was not coming out. When she did after several minutes, she was slow and not very active, she just sat down while the other two went and ate their breakfast and drank their water. I was worried she was egg bound. I quickly searched on the internet what the symptoms of egg binding were and saw on one website that you could put your hen into a dark place to see if she would lay her egg. I tried to, put she didn't lay, and just wanted to come out. Later at about 9:30 AM I crushed the shells of two eggs, and managed to make her eat about half of what I made. About an hour later I did see her poo, and it was rather runny, but most of their poo is now because of the heat. I had to go somewhere, so from lunchtime to about 1:30 PM I couldn't watch them. At 1:30 PM I went out to walk them, and their was an egg in the nesting box that I am certain was hers. As an explanation, my three hens almost always lay rather distinct eggs. Percy almost always lays eggs that are long and thin, and her eggs for the last month or so have been like this. Bertha, after having had an issue I brought up on this forum about a month ago, has been laying eggs that are smaller than the eggs of the other two, darker, and having a lot of speckles. Mary lays the biggest eggs of all three; they are rounded and fill your palm. The egg in the box at 1:30 PM today was large, rounded and looked the one of Mary's, although maybe very slightly smaller. I am sure she laid it. What makes me more sure of this is the fact that around 3 PM today, with the other two hens outside of the run, Percy was in the nesting box and laid an egg. Despite this, Mary was still lethargic.
At around 3:30 PM, I soaked Mary in a warm Epsom salt bath. She sat in it for about 15 to 20 minutes and then got out and pooed a large poo. It did not look unusual, bloody, or alarming, and was not especially wet either. Later at 5 PM, I had another person hold up Mary while I put on a blue nitrile glove, slathered the index finger with a massive amount of vaseline, and I stuck my finger in her vent gently to lubricate it and see if I could feel an egg. I stuck my finger in up to about the middle joint, and felt nothing, but I am not sure if i put my finger in far enough. At 6:30 PM I tried to soak her in an Epsom bath one more time for the day, and while she sat in it I walked off for a couple minutes to ready their bed. I heard her jump out with a bit of a squawk, and I came to see that she pooed in bath. It seemed like a medium sized poo. At 7:30 PM they went to bed.
In short, she was lethargic today, and spent the whole day sitting down, probably laid an egg around 1:30 PM, and pooed at least three times today that I know of. She also at little bit of chick food a couple times, and drank a bit of water. She is 3 years old, and was born around 8/6/2020. She is probably an Australorp. No other birds are showing symptoms.
