Sick Silkie... Egg Bound or Something else?

[upmycreek]

This may not be an emergency but if it is egg bound, the prognosis seems grave if I don't get treatment... Can anyone help me?

I have a black silkie that acted very strange today. She would walk three steps and then lay down. I was throwing out treats to the flock (12 hens) and she was with them but she was laying down while she ate. Then tonight she couldn't get up the ramp to roost with the other hens. She barely got to the first step and just sat there flayling her wings as if she didn't know how to walk up the ramp. She's been walking up the ramp for months. She is just of age to lay eggs and her sister has been laying normal eggs for about a month. I checked her vent and it looks normal, but she is obviously not acting normal. I have only had chickens for about 7 months so I am new to any issues with hens when they begin laying for the first time. Any suggestions or maybe other problems that it could be. Thanks so much!

 

[tiki244]

Well I think you should s eparate her from the rest of the flock. Can you check her bellie and see how it feels?? Any other symptoms?

 

[upmycreek]

i did separated her and brought her inside tonight. I also soaked her bottom/vent in a warm bath. I am not an expert and just learned what and where the crop was last week... it felt semi-full tonight and she did drink a few sips of water while she was soaking and ate some freeze dried meal worms while she was drying. She doesn't seem to be able to walk well. She was walking just fine yesterday and had no problem running around. When she went up in the coop last night she was normal and didn't seem distressed in any way. She just sat in my lap on the couch while she was drying and just stared at the tv with me... we watched the Golden Girls.

I don't know what the vent is supposed to look like. here are two pictures that i tried to take after the bath.

 

[Elite Silkies]

Have you felt inside of her vent to see if you can feel an egg? If you can, get some mineral oil and put some inside of her vent. During the warm bath, you should massage her vent for about 20 minutes, then squirt the mineral oil inside, then put her in a dark closet.

 

[tiki244]

You can feed her a Tumms also. Just make it in small pieces and put in her mouth untill she swallows it. This calcium boost may help her lay egg.

eta Be very careful when feeling inside her vent.

 

[Chicken_Pauper]

Search Eggbound using the search here on BYC... you did right giving her a warm (tepid warm) bath for 20 to 30 minutes.. have oil (veg oil) handy.... I have used mineral, vegetable or olive oil.... Relax and warm her in the bath.. then, use your finger.. put your finger into the oil and then find her vent (it looks normal to me, from what I can see).... massage your oiled finger.. (little finger for small bird)... massage around her and on her vent... then, with oil stick your finger inside her vent to feel for the egg... if there is an egg... rub your finger around in there... it's like stimulating a constipated baby ... you do not want to break any egg in there.. but, once you stimulate this area, she will want to "go" to either poop or lay... you can repeat this until you get results -- if she is eggbound. And, it seems that new layers have the biggest problem with this, so even if she passes an egg... it may happen again... she may lay then not lay... lay soft or weird eggs for a while, etc...
Red Cider Vinegar in the drinking water helps chickens absorb the calcium they get. I put a "splash", probably about a teaspoon or so per gallon, 90% of the time.

Use the search here... it will help you a lot.

Good luck, I know it's scarey. (Tums are calcium... if you already feed layer food and give the flock oyster shell calcium... she is probably getting enough calcium already.)

 

[upmycreek]

ok, thank you everyone. Yes she gets Layena and I also mix in oyster shell and chicken grit as well as a coat/feather supplement. She also eats meal worms and a little bit of scratch feed as well as any bug or grass or what not that she encounters when I let her out in the yard. "Jemimah" is a little special and has never acted like the other chickens. She has 7 toes, a funky looking eye and she honks all the time. So I am wondering if this could be a part of her poor breeding and since she is a pet, I don't want her to be in pain. I'm not comfortable sticking my finger in her vent in case I break an egg. I would take her to a vet, but I don't know where to find one that works with pet chickens. So I'm comfortable with passive remedies, but when should I take her to a vet? If this continues for another day?

 

[stoopid]

You can do it. Better to try it now, than have her suffer another day. It's easy, unless you have long fingernails.
And the longer you wait, the worse she will get. Just put on some exam gloves if you don't feel right, and lube everything up.
Try not to break the egg inside of her, if that happens, you MUST take her to the vet.
It's probably just a little dry in there, similar to constipation. Lube her up, massage her to relax her tummy, maybe a heating pad.
Better to try now, than just wait.
Let us know how it goes.

 

[stoopid]

And swirl your finger around the sides, closer to where the egg is stuck to her insides.
Try not to poke in the middle, that is how you break the egg.

 

[stoopid]

And if you really want to pay the vet, try to find on that does parrots, cockatoos and cockatiels also have these issues, so they should be familiar with it.