Preventing laying?

[Keen]

Hello everyone!

I have a hen who has been eggbound twice in the last two months, and had difficulty passing them on a number of occasions within that time as well. The first time a nice bath before bed did the trick, but this morning she had one break inside her, and I had to do the horrible task of helping her with that. I don't know what has been causing it, all 3 hens appear otherwise very healthy. Her egg frequency and quality has dropped as well - always a deformed shell, and very large. The other 2 hens are normal layers.

We keep them as pets, not for the eggs, so I'm wondering if there is something I can do to STOP this hen laying? I would hate for this to be a lifelong problem that eventually kills her if I'm not around to 'help'

Any thoughts?

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Keep her in the dark. Don't allow her to get the necessary sunlight for egg production, that's really the only thing I can think of. I think you can get a shot to halt egg laying, but that would involve a vet. If that doesn't bother you, you could try to find an avian vet in you area and ask about it. Otherwise, she needs to be kept in a dark place.
Some hens just seem more prone to getting egg bound. I had a white Leghorn who had binding issues. I would lube her vent once a week with some olive oil and it really seemed to help her alot. I still ended up loosing her to a stuck egg, but I blame my husband for that. How could he not be willing to stick his finger up a chicken butt and lube it up with some olive oil? Ah well, the things we do! Good luck, I hope you get her sorted out!

 

[sumi]

The only thing way you can stop her laying without harming her is by reducing her daily light hours. The average hen needs around 14 hours of light per day to keep her in production, but I've found a few breeds and hens don't seem to be affected by this. Also it would be a pain, especially if you can't be around everyday. The simplest solution if you want her to stop laying completely, would be to find a vet that works with birds and have her spayed. But before you go that route here's some info in this thread on egg bound hens, treatments etc that you can try:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/762242/update-advice-needed-eggbound-prolapsed-hen

 

[Keen]

Thank you both! The reduced lighting isn't really an option, they all love their free ranging and I don't think I have the heart to take it away from them! I thought I had seen mention of both the surgery and the shot before (maybe in an EYP thread?). Do you know of any side effects?

I have tried to do a lot of reading on it, and can't pin down a cause other than an issue with genetics / predisposition. Lighting is natural, always on layer pellets with meal worms for treats and grit available. I'd really rather give her a prevention than constantly trying to fix it (olive oil and all!) and I'm not sure what else to try!

Any other suggestions or advice or something I've missed is always welcome! Thank you again!

 

[sumi]

Apparently there is also an implant (not licensed for poultry). See here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...tops-hens-with-egg-peritonitis-laying-anymore

Post 1 & 5 (I see the member who posted about her experience is also based in Australia.)

 

[Keen]

That is fantastic! Thank you so much! Gives me real hope for her

I will try to up the calcium again, and I think give her one more try. I don't want to go down a medical road if I don't have to. Twice is unlucky... 3 times I think will be too much of a pattern to ignore.

Do you agree or is it just best to not risk it and look into something more permanent now?

Also, sorry for asking about something that is already in another thread! I tried to look, I guess I just did a poor job of it perhaps 1am I should stop reading about chicken butts and go to bed!

 

[sumi]

It is a rather expensive option, that's for sure! Though it does seem to work. See if you can find a vet that knows about poultry and discuss your options with him/her. There are some things a vet can do, including surgery, or maybe another treatment you haven't tried yet. Get some sleep and do a search here tomorrow to see what treatments people have tried. I typed "egg bound hen" into the search bar earlier and got loads of threads on the topic. Maybe there is something out there that will work for your hen.