Panicked chicken broke egg inside her?

[EggQueen]

Hi all.

I'm not sure if this is an emergency or not... not sure what to think. Due to ongoing chicken politics and bedtime disasters, I had to pick up a hen who panicks at being handled. She got very flappy, and the contents of an egg gushed out all over me - no sign of a shell. So I'm guessing she got so flustered she broke it inside her and the shell is still in there. Is this bad? Do I need to do anything?

Thanks all,

EggQueen

 

[BantamLover21]

Hi all.

I'm not sure if this is an emergency or not... not sure what to think. Due to ongoing chicken politics and bedtime disasters, I had to pick up a hen who panicks at being handled. She got very flappy, and the contents of an egg gushed out all over me - no sign of a shell. So I'm guessing she got so flustered she broke it inside her and the shell is still in there. Is this bad? Do I need to do anything?

Thanks all,

EggQueen

Could be bad, or it might not be. In the good case, she'll be able to push out the shell fragments (if there was indeed a broken egg) with no problems. If its bad, then the egg shells will get stuck or end up tearing the oviduct. If I were you, I would isolate your hen in her own area. Give her feed and water, keep her warm and clean, and see if she passes the egg shells overnight. In the morning, if you don't see any egg shells, and she appears to be in pain, soak her lower half in some warm (90-95 degree) water for 15-20 minutes. This will help her relax, and hopefully will allow her to pass the egg shells.

If in the morning, there are no egg shells, but your hen is acting normal, she'll probably be fine. It is possible that she could have just had a soft shelled egg, not a hard-shelled one. Soft shelled eggs are more easily passed out of the hen's body, and there is no chance of them puncturing the oviduct. As long as your hen acts normal, I'd just release her to the rest of the flock, but keep an eye on her for a few days.

 

[EggQueen]

Thank you - that's encouraging. I will separate her now and see how things look in the morning.

 

[EggQueen]

Well, she seems fine today - has been out with her friends all day and no sign that anything is wrong. Will keep a check on her for the next few days though.

 

[EggQueen]

Update - 6 days later, no problems at all, so I guess I was worrying over nothing. Phew!