Options for egg bound bantam pullet

[HeatherKellyB]

No, Enroflaxin isn't safe for chickens, I'm sorry to say. When a hen has a broken egg inside her, it causes a whole new set of problems like Egg Peritonitis (when the matter can't escape and causes internal infection). I know that you said you can't see a vet, but without one she will most likely not survive. Can you feel any broken pieces inside her, or possible try pulling them out gently?

I don't feel anything inside of her. She fights me so much anytime I try to check her internally. I need to check a little further in, I believe. I'm not able to get very far with her fighting

 

[azygous]

Those blood clots are not a good sign. It reduces the odds that this is something the pullet can survive.

At four months, is this her first egg? Or has she laid others? The blood clots indicated injury somewhere in the reproductive canal. Yes, she needs an antibiotic. You can find amoxicillin as "fish mox" online. I suggest you order some ASAP.

She needs calcium to strengthen her contractions to expel all this egg material. It's never easy to pry open a chicken's beak, but that you absolutely must do. Tums will do, but calcium citrate with D3 is more easily absorbed. You can put any size pill into a chicken's moth and they will have no trouble swallowing it.

If you're close to town, hop into Walmart and grab some calcium citrate from the vitamin aisle. While you're there, slip over to the women's hygeine products and grab a tube of miconazole seven day yeast treatment.

Back to the crisis at hand. Fill an oral syringe with oil, mineral or olive, and insert the tip just inside the cloaca and lubricate the inside so the egg material will slip past more easily.

Provide her with fresh cool water as she should be very thirsty losing fluids due to the blockage. If she gets dehydrated, she won't be able to pass the egg.

Hang onto the miconazole until we see if she can resolve this blockage. It's normal for the crop to back up when there's a blockage downstream. If the crop hasn't gone yeasty yet, you may not need the miconazole, but it will be good to have it on hand anyway.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I have amoxicillin on hand. Let me grab it so I can tell you the mg. I'll be right back. I can't leave to get to store until I finish work, but I am getting these dogs groomed as quickly and safely as possible. I have Tums, will that be OK for right now, until I can get to store?

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I have Amtyl which is amoxicillin trihydrate 150mg/g & Tylosin tartrate 100mg/g. I also have amoxicillin in the house. I'll run inside and grab that in case it's better

 

[HeatherKellyB]

She started laying about 2.5 week ago. Her eggs have been normal in size and shape, just not on a regular basis

 

[HeatherKellyB]

The amoxicillin is 500mg capsules

 

[HeatherKellyB]

She was still damp but I weighed her. She's 1.2lbs. Not sure how much of that is water but I imagine some extra wouldn't hurt especially as the initial dose

 

[azygous]

Give her a 500mg capsule of amoxicillin as an initial dose, and then 250mg per day after for a total of ten days.

The Tums will do for now. Keep her on calcium, a tablet once a day, until she returns to normal, meaning normal poop, the halt to the fluid loss, and resumption of appetite and normal behavior. Look for her to start passing cecal poop again. That will indicate the blockage has cleared. She will also start behaving normally again after that.

What does her vent look like? Is there any indication her vent is starting to prolapse? You would see a shiny "cherry" protruding from the vent. This is common when a hen is trying to clear a blockage, and she needs to be kept away from the other chickens if it's present to keep it from being pecked and injured.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Do you think she'll be able to swallow an antibiotic capsule in full? I'll give her Tums for now, but get something better this afternoon. Her vent looks OK. The area below her vent looks swollen, but not red or anything. I have her inside my dog grooming shop, in a crate with a towel covering it, for her privacy and trying to keep her calm.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry about your girl!
Those clots sure don't look to good

Not sure if you have received the pm yet or not, but you can also give her Calcium Gluconate for a couple of days. This is from the pm: You can give her liquid calcium. Tractor Supply carries Calcium Gluconate (found in the cattle section I think). Dose is 0.2 ml per pound of weight.

How much does she weigh? Amoxicillin dosage is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 5 days.

If it's really painful to feel inside the vent, then I wouldn't try for a good while. Let her rest and try to get her hydrated - I know her crop was full of liquid last time we talked, so you may not be able to get any fluids into her without her choking, so caution with that.

Baytril is banned for use in poultry, but often vets do prescribe it for various reasons. It would be up to you to do the research to determine if you want to use it or not.