What are the symptoms of being egg bound?

[FingerLakesChick]

I have to admit I've taken the healthiness of my hens for granted. I will have the appropriate "first aid kit" on hand from here on out.

So I went to the store just a little while ago and the pharmacy GAVE me 3 syringes of varying sizes. So nice of them. Also picked up Pedialyte and baby formula. I thought maybe I could mix the baby formula with oatmeal or something? Anyway - I went home and cut up a few grapes and strips of fresh spinach and another little piece of cheese curd - AND SHE ATE ALL THE GRAPES AND A BIT OF THE SPINACH! Isn't that a great sign? I am so relieved she ate just a little bit. I feel like I have hope again.

I'll keep you posted.
Thanks!

 

[Wynette]

Oh, that's so good to hear! I think at this point, making sure she's eating anything is good. They seem to like moist, clumpy stuff; so maybe some feed combined with the baby food to moisten & make it a bit globby would attract her?

 

[FingerLakesChick]

Maybe even a touch of canned cat food? We're having French toast for supper tonight - maybe she'd like that too and even scambled egg? I'm just glad she's showing some improvement. I would give her almost anything if she showed interest in it.

Do you think I should bathe her again?

I did read about "prolapse" and even though she DID have that on Monday a.m. she no longer does. Maybe she is trying to recover from it?

Or worry of worries, there is an egg stuck in there. If she is egg bound - we're in trouble I think.

 

[Wynette]

I hope that's not the case (eggbound). I would try to not stress her in any way. Eggs are really good for them - mine love them! I scramble in the microwave for 30 seconds and chop them up in small pieces, then wait a few mins. so they're not hot before feeding. I usually just put them right on top of crumble, and they are often tempted to keep eating when the egg is gone.

 

[bjh]

this is very interesting. i, too, thought i had an egg bound hen. she was squatting. so i brought her in the house where she enjoyed meandering around in my tiny kitchen, pecking at the compost and basically making herself right at home. i put her in a box when i had to leave the room and she stayed in there without attempting to escape because apparently she cannot hoist herself into the air very well. when bedtime came she decided to sleep under my dining room table, so i put her in the box again, closed the flaps and put her in the dark. this went on for a wkend, but then i had to go to work. so i put her in the barn with the other chickens during the day and put her to bed in the box at night because she huddles on the floor of the barn instead of roosting. i pondered whether her feet might have frozen as we have had severe temps, down to zero, and she also seems to have lost her voice! i joined this group in an attempt to find out IF she is egg bound, and if so what do i DO about it? an herbal i have says to use a syringe to put olive oil in the vent and then try to remove the egg. i explored her innards as best i could and frankly i couldn't tell what was in there (even though i have butchered a chicken before). so i am baffled and she is in the box every night.

 

[FingerLakesChick]

Well wonder of wonders! When I got home from work yesterday she had completely ransacked her hospital room. Water was tipped over, food was all over the place. So I took her out of the cage and proceeded to clean everything up, new bedding etc., fresh water. While I was cleaning up her mess, she walked around the basement, tried to go up the stairs into the house and generally got her attitude back. I put her back in to the cage and she was having nothing to do with that. In no uncertain terms she told me she wanted out of that hospital room and she wanted out NOW! Well I figured if she was raising this much of a ruckus she must be feeling better so I gathered her up and took her back to the coop. Once in the coop she took a huge drink of water and announced to the rest of the flock that she was back! She dug around in the bedding for bit, then jumped up on a perch, tucked her head under her wing and proceeded to go to sleep.

This morning she was eating and digging around with the rest of the flock. She's not 100% recovered, but I feel very hopeful that she's making a recovery. Whatever was wrong with her (recovering from prolapse possibly) is getting better.

bjh,
I don't know what to tell you about your hen. How is she doing today?

 

[Wynette]

OH! THis is SUCH good news, FingerLakesChick!!! SO happy for you, and thanks so much for posting the update!

bjh; sorry to hear about your girl. Sounds like you're doing the right things.

 

[bjh]

hi everyone, i forgot to tell you my name is Joy, but "Joy" was taken by another chicken lover, so i used initials, bjh, to sign on. well, my little girl seems to be much better, but if she's still not roosting when i go up to the barn tonight i'll bring her down to the house. i have a batch of new chickens, about 55, that i got in may. one of them was so extremely small that i thought she was a bantam (RIR). she got a respiratory infection, which we treated, and made a fabulous recovery. we called her Patty. it's hard to keep track of who's who with over 65 chickens altogether, but this may be Patty because she's smaller than the other RIslands. anyway, i'm glad to hear that things are looking up all around, and i'm so happy to have found this group. i never knew there were so many people who loved chickens as much as i do!!!

 

[Wynette]

Good morning, Joy! Glad to hear YOUR girl is also feeling better!

Yes, BYC is an excellent forum for learning about chickens as well as meeting others and getting ideas on things, too. Hope to see you here a good, long time!

 

[FingerLakesChick]

This is a great forum all around. I've gotten a lot of great advice and help here.

June is still not 100%, she still seems sluggish to me. She is usually so obnoxious and animated. She's eating and drinking - so that's good.

bjh - You have A LOT of chickens! I only have 16. Hope this finds them all well this a.m.