Please help!! egg bound hen

[reneeeWA]

Hello,
Past couple of days noticed she's been listless and not eating much. Picked her up and her abdomen was very swollen. She is a bantam (not sure what kind, I forget got her from a feed store couple years back) and has always layed small eggs just fine. I felt her tummy and I can feel what I THINK are pointed things that feel just like eggs, like maybe there's two in there. Stuck a lubed pinky finger in up to first knuckle but didn't feel an egg. They seem to be way up there. She has stopped eating.
*I have given warm bathes, had her inside with heat lamp to stay warm, given food/water which she hasn't touched, lubed with mineral oil, gave saline/mineral oil enema's. Tried to gently move them as she strained to get down her "chute". Nothing. I read that you can give calcium gluconate as a last resort and helps. I however live in a small town with little resources and everything is very far and I am broke. I have one last resort to call a vet and a smaller feed store to see if they have the liquid calcium but it's not looking good so far.
***MY QUESTIONS: Has anyone tried this method with success?

**and CAN I MAKE MY OWN LIQUID CALCIUM OUT OF SOMETHING EASY TO FIND?**

I was also reading to give pedialyte for sugar and electrolytes to help get her strength back up. She is my favorite bird (!) and I hate that she is suffering like this. Please, any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Oh and I have two vets in this town that do NOT deal with poultry so no help there. Thank you.

 

[Naunnie]

Sounds like you are doing all the right things. While researching "egg-bound" I found this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/741648/egg-bound-pullet Unfortunately....this hen did not survive, but this thread has a lot of good advice and info about the calcium.

I also read the warm baths, need to be deep, but also where she can stand and push. The temp needs to be warmer than you think. Post #5 and #21. Post #7 also has a good link for advice.

I sure hope she recovers soon. Best of luck.

 

[Eggcessive]

You can give her a Tums crushed up in some food or yogurt. It is calcium.

 

[BantamLover21]

Sounds like you've tried everything that I would have if I were in your situation. My suggestions are:

Keep giving her baths and keeping her warm and comfortable. Continue giving vitamins/electrolytes, and possibly probiotics in her water to build up strength. Entice her to eat by giving scrambled eggs, applesauce, wet layer feed, mealworms, etc. Just try to get her to eat! If she isn't drinking, drip water on the side of her beak and see if she swallows. Do not try to force water/food down her throat, as that can lead to liquid in the lungs. If you absolutely can not get her to eat normally, you could: A) Crumble some layer feed into a spoon. Mix it with vitamin water and/or applesauce/some other liquidy food. In this way, create a kind of "liquidated feed." Hold the spoon of liquid to your bird's beak and shove inward slightly. At least in my case (I've had to feed a sick bird for several days like this), this will usually cause them to swallow the feed mixture. Just keep dissolving feed and giving it to your hen this way several times a day. B) Try tube feeding. I have no experience with this, but others on this forum do.

Do you by any chance have access to crushed oyster shell, which is a calcium supplement given to laying hens? See if she'll eat any of that (probably not, but doesn't hurt to try). If she doesn't, as a possible fast calcium situation (not as good as straight calcium gluconate, but its a start), soak some oyster shell in water for a couple of hours. The calcium might leach out of the oyster shell, and into the water. After a few hours of soaking the shell, get your hen to drink some of the water.

Also, do you know when your hen last laid an egg? If she hasn't been laying for a while, it is possible that she is now an internal layer. That condition can cause egg bound symptoms, including a swollen abdomen, a penguin-like walk, and lethargy.

Well, I'm not sure how helpful I've been. It really seems as though you are trying everything. Something should work! I really hope that your hen recovers.

 

[reneeeWA]

Hey guys, thanks for replying here. I ended up losing her she was just suffering too much so I put her down. I tried the tums/yoghurt, pretty much everything. I just don't think I caught it in time. That or it was just too big to pass, or shoot could have been something completely different I couldn't get her into a vet. This was a really tough lesson for me to learn. I am adjusting their diet and making some changes for them. I feel horrible, she was such a sweet beautiful little hen full of personality. This is my first flock though so still learning, of course I blame myself that it was something I did :/ or didn't do. Anyway I am in love with chickens and will just keep learning about them and about preventative measure/medicine. Thank you for all your support.

 

[BantamLover21]

I'm sorry for your loss.