Potentially egg bound?

[Kleonaptra]

Howdy all,

My beautiful little Austrolorp seems egg bound. Saturday afternoon when I was at work, my partner said she didnt want to go to bed, he had to shoo her. My two chickens and five ducks all get locked up in a big shed at night but have free range of our front yard - bout a quarter acre - all day. Yesterday she didnt want to get off her nest at bedtime - she likes to lay in a garden up near the horse paddock - but had been pecking about with the other birds all day. I had to pick her up to take her to bed. She usually wont tolerate being handled. I made her walk the last part to check her out and she trotted in to bed fine. Came out this morning and ran around for food and water initially but then went to the nest at about 9am and hasnt moved since.

I sat with her 3 times throughout the day, always feeling around for an egg, which I havnt yet found and massaging her pelvis a bit. She's flicking her tail and flexing her vent a lot. She seems tired but still bright. Ive given her water twice with a few drops of honey. Ive started thinking that because she doesnt like being handled maybe Im disturbing her and should leave her alone for a bit. Im happy to leave her out a little longer because I will be out late with the horses anyway, but she cant stay out forever.

She only just started laying eggs about the 2nd week of december, and was about 18 weeks old then, I got her as a chick from the markets. She usually lays one or two very small but very wide eggs every second day.

Any ideas on what I can do for my girl? Ive felt her up well and truly today and I cant feel an egg, but her muscles are definitely contracting. Im hoping because she's still just starting she is just sorting herself out.



There she is my little Shiela. Any ideas would be most welcome, Thankyou.

 

[hollys chooks]

i've had a couple of chooks eggbound lately. they get really uncomfortable looking, feathers puffed out, don't want to move much, don't eat much and their poop is watery and not formed.
to help them relax i bathe them, bucket of warmish water about body temp. hold the hen in the water for half and hour, support her, keep her head out of the water, keep her calm, the idea is to let her relax all her muscles and pass the egg.
one of my chooks laid her egg about an hour after i did this, and went back to normal laying. the other didn't lay an egg but returned to more normal behaviour and looked more comfortable. i've heard they sometimes reabsorb eggs (but haven't researched if this is true) and if this is the case i think she did. a month later she has just started laying again flattish eggs which have a thin spot on the shell that cracks in a small circle which suggests to me her uterus wall is damaged in one spot.
anyway the soaking seems to have helped my girls.
i see you are in australia like me so shouldn't have probs with the girl getting too cold, do it in the warm part of the day and towel dry her after, she'll preen herself dry.
hope all goes well.

 

[Sandstorm495]

Hi
She seems eggbound, but if you can't feel an egg, then maybe it's not. Keep giving her water, and if she won't take solids then give her plain, natural yoghurt mixed in with some milk in a syringe. How is she now, and are there any more symptoms you can give me?

 

[Kleonaptra]

Howdy All,

Thanks so much for your responses! She was definitely constipated. I got her out, felt her all over and put her down to see if she could walk. She trotted a few steps, flapped, and did the biggest poop Ive ever seen come out of a bird. Then she ran about squaking and pecking at the food in a hurry cos the ducks were quaking and wanting to go to bed. I put out a bit of bread and cake crumbs yesterday and I think she gorged on it, she is a bit of a bully to the other birds.

She ended up going back to her favourite nest and still had to be taken to bed, so I assume she's got an egg to lay, but she has done in the night time shed before. Im still keeping an eye on her but I think she's much better now.