- Jan 30, 2019
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I have this 2 year old silkie hen that, until now, I was pretty sure she was egg bound. She has never had a problem laying eggs until recently when the cold weather really hit. I figured it was stress from the cold and set up the heat lamps for the pens.
Well, 2 days ago at about 7:15, I went out to check on the chickens and everything was fine. The only thing that seemed anywhere out of place was that she was not sitting on the roost with the other hens like she usually does. I noticed her standing in one of the corners with her feathers fluffed. I picked her up and placed her under the lamp, figuring she was just cold. She jumped out of my arms and made herself comfortable under the light. I didn't think much of it, since I needed to start heading to school, and left the pens.
That afternoon when I got home, I went back out to feed the chickens. I noticed that she was hiding back in the corner with her eyes closed. That's when I got concerned. I instantly picked her up and brought her inside. Examining her, I came to conclusion that she was egg bound. She was lethargic, had no appetite, refused water, and just laid around with her head tucked in her wing. I am also pretty sure I felt an egg in her vent. She also had this yellow diarreah that smelled absolutely rancid. I checked her for symptoms regarding other ailments, such as a swollen comb, red spots, mites, ect. I found none of the above.
I have had an egg bound hen before (about a year and a half ago), so I already knew what to do. I cut up a tums and fed it to her piece by piece, got her to eat some grain, and made sure she drank plenty of water. I also crushed up a tums and put it in her food in case she felt like eating. Next I ran her a warm bath with some epsom salt and let her lay in that for about 20 minutes. After drying her off, I took some vegetable oil (I didn't have vaseline, but I read that it works the same) and put it on and in her vent. I waited a few hours and nothing happened, so I lifted her over some steam for a bit, fed her a little bit more, and waited over night.
Yesterday came around and she was still not better, but she was a little more active. I felt around again and, pretty sure I still felt an egg, repeated the process from the day before. I checked her for other symptoms again and, once again, found nothing. I kept a constant watch on her, hoping that she would She had not pooped that day so I began to get really concerned. I was afraid of losing her.
Today is now the third day she has been like this, and I am starting to doubt if she is actually egg bound. I read that egg bound hens cannot poop, but she's been pooping a lot all day. It's not unusual poop, either. It's the ordinary brown chicken poop. However, she is still acting sick. I wonder if there's something I'm missing?
I don't know if this is important information but, she's been living in a pretty roomy pen with 3 other hens. All 3 of them are her grown up chicks and she is really close with them. The pen is connected to an open top dog house with nesting boxes located inside. I usually feed my chickens a diet of whole corn, scratch grain, oyster shell, and scraps. I don't give them the scraps unless I am 100% sure that everything is safe for my chickens. Recently, though, I ran out of oyster shell and have been planning to get more. Until then, I've been trying to find other calcium foods to give them.
I am really concerned about her and I don't want to lose her, so if anybody knows what's going on, please help!
Well, 2 days ago at about 7:15, I went out to check on the chickens and everything was fine. The only thing that seemed anywhere out of place was that she was not sitting on the roost with the other hens like she usually does. I noticed her standing in one of the corners with her feathers fluffed. I picked her up and placed her under the lamp, figuring she was just cold. She jumped out of my arms and made herself comfortable under the light. I didn't think much of it, since I needed to start heading to school, and left the pens.
That afternoon when I got home, I went back out to feed the chickens. I noticed that she was hiding back in the corner with her eyes closed. That's when I got concerned. I instantly picked her up and brought her inside. Examining her, I came to conclusion that she was egg bound. She was lethargic, had no appetite, refused water, and just laid around with her head tucked in her wing. I am also pretty sure I felt an egg in her vent. She also had this yellow diarreah that smelled absolutely rancid. I checked her for symptoms regarding other ailments, such as a swollen comb, red spots, mites, ect. I found none of the above.
I have had an egg bound hen before (about a year and a half ago), so I already knew what to do. I cut up a tums and fed it to her piece by piece, got her to eat some grain, and made sure she drank plenty of water. I also crushed up a tums and put it in her food in case she felt like eating. Next I ran her a warm bath with some epsom salt and let her lay in that for about 20 minutes. After drying her off, I took some vegetable oil (I didn't have vaseline, but I read that it works the same) and put it on and in her vent. I waited a few hours and nothing happened, so I lifted her over some steam for a bit, fed her a little bit more, and waited over night.
Yesterday came around and she was still not better, but she was a little more active. I felt around again and, pretty sure I still felt an egg, repeated the process from the day before. I checked her for other symptoms again and, once again, found nothing. I kept a constant watch on her, hoping that she would She had not pooped that day so I began to get really concerned. I was afraid of losing her.
Today is now the third day she has been like this, and I am starting to doubt if she is actually egg bound. I read that egg bound hens cannot poop, but she's been pooping a lot all day. It's not unusual poop, either. It's the ordinary brown chicken poop. However, she is still acting sick. I wonder if there's something I'm missing?
I don't know if this is important information but, she's been living in a pretty roomy pen with 3 other hens. All 3 of them are her grown up chicks and she is really close with them. The pen is connected to an open top dog house with nesting boxes located inside. I usually feed my chickens a diet of whole corn, scratch grain, oyster shell, and scraps. I don't give them the scraps unless I am 100% sure that everything is safe for my chickens. Recently, though, I ran out of oyster shell and have been planning to get more. Until then, I've been trying to find other calcium foods to give them.
I am really concerned about her and I don't want to lose her, so if anybody knows what's going on, please help!
