NEED help ASAP!! Egg BOUND????

[kattitude45]

I have a Easter Egger hen. She's a little over a year old. For SEVERAL weeks she's been laying thin or soft shell eggs. I noticed her laying quietly yesterday, under a bush. That is not characteristic for her because she's my most active hen. This morning, she did not come out of the coop and LET me catch her. I noticed part of a soft egg hanging out of her vent and I pulled it out. It smelled awful!

She's in a tub of warm water now. Could another egg be stuck? What else do I do? I have never had a sick chicken before! I have 11 adult (or nearly) my other 7 laying hens are all doing well. They eat countryside organic layer feed and free range everyday.

 

[mrsdszoo]

I'm not familiar with the issue you describe; all I can suggest is that you make sure she gets water (maybe with chick-saver electrolytes and probiotics), and some chick starter for a nutrition boost. The soft/thin shells may indicate a calcium deficiency, so offer her some oyster shell. Good luck!

 

[LTygress]

*EDITED*
*posted in the other thread about it*

 

[kattitude45]

I have oyster shell out for the hens and I feed their shells back to them . I also occasionally give them yogert. My kids love to feed the chickens and frequently give them these healthy snacks! I will go to TS and get some antibiotics today. I read the blog from thechickenchick.com about egg binding, but her egg was soft, so I didn't know how that may be different.

 

[kattitude45]

So my hen, Iris, took a hot bath and has been in a crate all day! She drank some water and went poo. It was pretty runny. Is there a chance that there is a second egg in her? Other than antibiotics, anything else I can do?

 

[mrsdszoo]

Just checking in on your sick girl -how is she doing this evening? I can't think of anything else besides the supportive care and antibiotics -except maybe wormer -but that's a shot in the dark. Also, if she has something else going on, worming her might be stressful? I hope she pulls through; I know how hard it is to want to do the right thing but not know how to help .

 

[Eggcessive]

You can always take a rubber glove, lubricate a finger, and insert it into the vent for a pelvic exam for an egg. Sometimes you can feel other things like a mass or tumor. Reproductive problems like cancer, egg yolk peritonitis, internal laying, and ascites are very common in many chickens. When I find a hen who has a soft shell hanging out of the vent, I give a little white vinegar mix with water to flush out the vent with a syringe after pulling out the shell. Mix a TB vinegar in a cup of water, and use a 5 or 10 cc syringe.

 

[kattitude45]

Just checking in on your sick girl -how is she doing this evening? I can't think of anything else besides the supportive care and antibiotics -except maybe wormer -but that's a shot in the dark. Also, if she has something else going on, worming her might be stressful? I hope she pulls through; I know how hard it is to want to do the right thing but not know how to help .

She is doing "OK". I'm not sure what is up with her. She is no longer a part of the flock, I've even seen my roo peck at her and run her off of the food. She runs out of the coop first thing and gets away from the flock. I have started giving her feed in our shop, alone so she gets enough. I thing that her lack of eating was/is causing her soft eggs. They now seem more thin shelled than soft. BUT why is she not a part of the flock? They were all wormed back in late fall.She was not a part of the flock before all this happened. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that she was attacked by a dog back in the Fall. She' not been right in the head since then. The dog took all of her saddle feathers off! It was horrible!


that's her in the middle a month or more ago



this is her while she was sick

 

[casportpony]

If she were mine I would do a thorough exam which would include checking the inside of her vent. Then I would dust her for mites/lice with a proper poultry dust or 5% Sevin, DE doesn't work. Then I'd weigh her and worm her with either Safeguard (fenbendazole) or Valbazen (albendazole), *not* Wazine (piperazine). I'd also put her in a crate for 24 hours to see what her poop looked like.

Since she's laying thin shelled eggs, I would start giving her some Calcium Gluconate orally, that should fix that problem. You can get that in the cattle section at Tractor Supply.

Then weigh her every few days.

-Kathy