Transient ataxia and egg-laying

[cate1124]

Occasionally, one of my hens will suddenly start walking oddly -- almost as if she has a hitch in her gait -- and become uncoordinated in a kind of scary, seemingly neurological manner, with no apparent cause. Then, it passes as quickly as it came. This happened this morning with my young cream legbar; an hour later, she was perambulating normally and has remained normal. She was due to lay, and subsequently got on the nest. Is it possible that, as an egg makes its way down the oviduct, it impinges a nerve that affects locomotion until the egg moves on? This is not a disease nor injury process, and I have no other ideas. And it self-resolves, so it's not really a problem, more a curiosity. Anyone else observed this in their girls?

 

[Chicken lover1980]

so im not 100% sure but yes, limping is sometimes caused by a bound egg.

normally this shouldn't be happening, and I'm guessing that's because the egg should be making its was down quick enough to not press on any nerves.

if its a common occurrence maybe try adding some more calcium and protein to your hens diet, and a vitamin and mineral supplement in case its not a calcium and protein deficiency going on.

(ps, not a vet its a nickname)

 

[Cold-Blood]

That happed to one of our chickens once, a sapphire gem. She actually did it several times that day, and WAS egg bound. She later passed it and it was an extremely lumpy egg, looked like two eggshells kinda crushed into one, with weird lumpy rings.

 

[cate1124]

so im not 100% sure but yes, limping is sometimes caused by a bound egg.

normally this shouldn't be happening, and I'm guessing that's because the egg should be making its was down quick enough to not press on any nerves.

if its a common occurrence maybe try adding some more calcium and protein to your hens diet, and a vitamin and mineral supplement in case its not a calcium and protein deficiency going on.

(ps, not a vet its a nickname)

Thanks! She did indeed have an egg today. The ataxia before was just an oddity, I guess. I reviewed my (admittedly limited) understanding of egg-laying physiology and see that the egg is in the shell gland -- the uterus -- for some 20 hours of the approximately 25-hour journey. That's near the end of the oviduct, and you wouldn't think it would bind before the shell is formed. But perhaps the hardening/hardened egg occasionally gets sideways in the shell gland-- sort of like a breach birth -- and can impinge a nerve before turning in the proper position for laying. Or not. I'm just speculating, because I haven't a better explanation. I'm glad the situation resolved quickly, in any case and that my active little cream leg bar again seems fine.

 

[cate1124]

That happed to one of our chickens once, a sapphire gem. She actually did it several times that day, and WAS egg bound. She later passed it and it was an extremely lumpy egg, looked like two eggshells kinda crushed into one, with weird lumpy rings.

Glad she was OK!

 

[aart]

and can impinge a nerve before turning in the proper position for laying.

It does turn before being laid.
I think it's shown in this excellent video, which is worth watching regardless:

 

[cate1124]

It does turn before being laid.
I think it's shown in this excellent video, which is worth watching regardless:

Wow! Fascinating. Thanks so much for sharing. Now I understand where blood spots originate. One error, I think: My understanding is that hens have two ovaries, but the right atrophies while the left continues to function. So it's not technically correct to say she has only one. What a great video, though!

 

[aart]

One error, I think: My understanding is that hens have two ovaries, but the right atrophies while the left continues to function. So it's not technically correct to say she has only one.

I guess they should have said 'one functioning ovary'.

 

[cate1124]

Exactly. Still, it's a cool video, and I learned a lot. Truly, what amazing animals!

 

[Chicken lover1980]

Thanks! She did indeed have an egg today. The ataxia before was just an oddity, I guess. I reviewed my (admittedly limited) understanding of egg-laying physiology and see that the egg is in the shell gland -- the uterus -- for some 20 hours of the approximately 25-hour journey. That's near the end of the oviduct, and you wouldn't think it would bind before the shell is formed. But perhaps the hardening/hardened egg occasionally gets sideways in the shell gland-- sort of like a breach birth -- and can impinge a nerve before turning in the proper position for laying. Or not. I'm just speculating, because I haven't a better explanation. I'm glad the situation resolved quickly, in any case and that my active little cream leg bar again seems fine.

no, that explanation sounds pretty much like what goes on, when I did research for my egg binding article i found out that the egg gets turned around in the oviduct so it could have gotten stuck in that phase. just happy to hear shes better. maybe because shes smaller it affects her more compared to a bigger hen?