Possibly Eggbound Silkie

[siobhan118]

Hi,

I noticed my smallest silkie seemed to be in distress tonight.
She had been sitting in her nesting box for several hours, I checked her earlier this afternoon and she was in the box and got puffy when I opened the hatch. When I went to tuck them in for the night I did not see her sitting on the roost with my other hens. She is always in the middle of them at night so I knew something was up.
I checked the nesting boxes and she was still in the same spot that she had been before. She again was very puffy but seemed lethergic and in distress. Pushing her head forward a bit. I gently picked her up and brought her in the house.
I checked around her vent but honestly wasn't sure what I was feeling for. It did seem that her vent was pulsating/pushing.
I soaked her in some warm water for about 15 minutes and then dried her off and again massage around her vent.
I made her a nice bed in a secure carrier, as soon as I put her in the carrier she passed a LARGE poop. Not lose at all, pretty firm.
I'm keeping her in the house tonight so I can keep an eye on her. Right now she's in the carrier and is pretty much just sitting there.
Her comb and wattles are good red color, she isn't eating or drinking at the moment but she was yesterday. She was active yesterday and layed a egg fine.
There was an egg in the box with her tonight but all of my hens lay in the same box (even though they have 4) so I don't know if it was hers or not.
Does this sound like egg bound? Could she just be broody and I'm overreacting? What else should I do? Check?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Wyandottes7]

In my opinion, this sounds more like being broody than being egg bound. Often, when my birds go broody, they aren't very interested in eating and are rather lethargic (if you take them out of the nest box, they just sit on the ground clucking and puffing themselves up). Does her abdomen feel hard? If it does, she could be egg bound. But, I really think that she is just going broody. Silkies are very broody birds.

 

[siobhan118]

In my opinion, this sounds more like being broody than being egg bound. Often, when my birds go broody, they aren't very interested in eating and are rather lethargic (if you take them out of the nest box, they just sit on the ground clucking and puffing themselves up). Does her abdomen feel hard? If it does, she could be egg bound. But, I really think that she is just going broody. Silkies are very broody birds.

No her abdomen doesn't feel hard at all. Would she stay on the nest all night if she's broody? There are our first chickens so we are learning as we go.

 

[Suzie]

Agreed... she sounds broody and the fact that she only poops infrequently and it is usually a LARGE amount... all indicates that she is wanting to hatch babies.... so late in the year too... I have stopped my Silkie girls from laying on their eggs now as it is about to get very cold here....

 

[siobhan118]

Agreed... she sounds broody and the fact that she only poops infrequently and it is usually a LARGE amount... all indicates that she is wanting to hatch babies.... so late in the year too... I have stopped my Silkie girls from laying on their eggs now as it is about to get very cold here....

lol well considering we don't have roosters she's going to be sitting for a very long time! Now what do I do?

 

[Suzie]

A broody will sit on the nest all night... normally only leaving the nest to eat and drink.

If you remove any eggs from under her she will get fed up and give up her broodiness in due course... it may take some time! It is a good idea to take her from the nest and put her outside with her female companions.. stimulate her to move around too, she will likely to be reluctant to move much when taken from her nesting box initially.

 

[siobhan118]

A broody will sit on the nest all night... normally only leaving the nest to eat and drink.

If you remove any eggs from under her she will get fed up and give up her broodiness in due course... it may take some time! It is a good idea to take her from the nest and put her outside with her female companions.. stimulate her to move around too, she will likely to be reluctant to move much when taken from her nesting box initially.

Thanks for all of the advice. She's in the house for the night so she is off of the egg box. I'll keep an eye on her tomorrow and hopefully she will be back to her non-broody self tomorrow.