Possible Egg Bound?

[LeChick]

Hello, I have a Rhode Island Red hen who is acting "off" for the last week. Her comb is laying over and is not its usual bright red. She is eating, I do not know if she's drinking and it's 100 here in SC. I have read the good article on egg bond hens and suspect that is what I might be dealing with. She had a messy bum which I throughly cleaned on Tuesday in the warm bath...produced no egg. I watched her Wed, still no egg. She did not come out of the coop yesterday, so I gave her another warm salt bath last night, no egg again today. Also noting no droppings where I know she perches ( I have only 2 hens). She is swollen and I can feel the egg from the outside and have been able to feel it since Tuesday. Do I attempt to remove the egg myself? If so, what is the best way to attempt that? She's in the bath now...

 

[azygous]

First, give her a calcium tablet, at least 400mg of calcium citrate or gluconate. Oyster shell isn't enough. Place the hen in a crate in a cool place so she isn't stressed additionally by the heat.

Be sure she is hydrated and has immediate access to water during this ordeal. This will help with contractions and she may expel the egg without your doing anything else.

You may also want to glove up and do a rectal to locate the position of the egg. Also, lubricate her vent, inside and out with coconut oil or castor oil.

She may stand up and strain to push out the egg. If you see the egg being held in place by the thin membrane wall of the rectum, you may need to assist in maneuvering the egg free of the membrane.