*UPDATE* Advice Needed! Eggbound/ Prolapsed Hen???

[MamaManda]

Yes, he says he felt an intact shell. He was able to sweep his lubed finger under the egg, almost to the other tip. She's in the bath now. 1000mg of calcium. We were going to try to get more lube in there after her bath.

 

[casportpony]

Sounds like you're doing all the right stuff!

 

[casportpony]

I've also been successful filling bathrooms with steam and leaving hens in a steam bath.

 

[MamaManda]

How long is it supposed to take for the calcium to work? I actually gave 1 cc, which is the same as 1000mg, according to a web conversion. Is that right? We've taken her out, he coated her insides and around the egg with more lube, and was able to gently work it toward him, but she was bearing down so much, that I thought he should leave her for awhile in the dark, warm laundry room and see if she can pass it.
Maybe if she hasn't by the AM, we'll try to break the end and get it to pass that way, but I really hope she just passes it. Thanks again for your help.

(I am sitting on the floor on the other side of the laundry room door, and I can hear her bearing down in there...c'mon Belle!!)

 

[casportpony]

What does your calcium bottle say on it? One cc doesn't seem like it would have 1000mg in it.

 

[MamaManda]

It's measured in Milliliters. My syringe is in cc's. This is the page I found that referenced mg, ml, and cc's: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/1cc_equals_how_many_milligrams

 

[casportpony]

The bottle should say how many milligrams (mg) per milliliter (ml), usually seen like this mg/ml.

Fenbendazole is 100mg/ml, so 1cc of it has 100mg of medicine
Tylan 50 is 50mg/ml, so 1cc of it has 50mg of medicine
Tylan 200 is 200mg/ml, so 1cc of it has 200mg of medicine

I've never seen a liquid medicine that's 1000mg/ml, that's all I was trying to say. The quick search I did for human liquid calcium has 1000mg in 15ml's (16ounce bottle).

 

[casportpony]

Just had a thought... If it's human calcium, the label should say serving size, so the serving size is what you need to give her. The bottle I just saw online says this:

Serving Size: 1 Tablespoon (15 mL)
Servings Per Container: 31

Amount Per Serving % Daily Value*

Calories 15
Total Carbohydrates 3.5 g 1%*
Vitamin B-5 (from D-Calcium Pantothenate) 10 mg 100%
Vitamin B-6 (as Pyridoxine HCl) 2 mg 100%
Potassium 3.5 mg <1%
L-Carnitine (Carnipure

) (Free-Form Base) 1.0 g (1,000 mg) †
Stevia rebaudiana Extract (Leaf) (min. 80% Rebaudioside A) 16 mg †

* Percent Daily Values are based on 2,000 calorie diet.
† Daily Value not established.

Other Ingredients: Purified Water, Vegetable Glycerin, Malic Acid, Citric Acid, Natural Fruit Extracts and Flavors, Potassium Sorbate (as preservative) and Lemon (Citrus limon) Oil. Vegetarian/Vegan Product.

Contains no: sugar, salt, starch, yeast, wheat, gluten, corn, soy, milk, egg, shellfish or artificial colors/flavors.
- See more at: http://www.pureformulas.com/liquid-...HMjLSGs7YCFaF_QgodSFwA6Q#sthash.66IfVgs6.dpuf

 

[MamaManda]

Ah! Got it. I see that on the bottle - I was just trying to convert it from mg to cc's when I didn't need to. It is human calcium that was suggested on the Chickenchatter website, so that makes sense. I'll give her more now then. Thanks!

 

[MamaManda]

Another Update - Belle has not passed her egg. We spent most of today with warm baths, more calcium, and finally one big attempt at manual removal. My husband could get the egg almost to the end, but the prolapse seems to be causing big problems, since he says it seems the path to the outside is quite messed up, and he just can't tell what way he should be directing the egg to get it out. We are frustrated and feel like breaking the egg will only cause her demise sooner. It just doesn't seem like she's going to be able to pass everything if the egg breaks....then we'll just have a prolapsed/infected/eggbound hen on our hands.

I keep remembering how weird I thought it was that she sat broody for SOOO long on an empty nest. Could this problem have started way back then? (She came off her broody stage when I gave her chicks about 5 weeks ago.) I know they supposedly die pretty quickly when eggbound - but she is still alert, and trying to push the darn thing out. And we're on AT LEAST Day 4 since I noticed the prolapse.

The other thing is, my husband says it really feels like something fibrous is attached to a part of the egg, because he can't completely encircle it with his finger, and if he doesn't hold it in place on the outside as he tries to move it down on the inside, that Belle 'sucks it back up' at the end of her push.

Does it sound like this situation is going to require vet care or being put down?
I'm heartbroken. We've tried everything I can find or read to do for eggbound hens, except breaking it, and we're just not making any progress.