Would you like egg pictures on the Peafowl Image Database?

[casportpony]

How many peahens do people lose to repro issues? Just curious... I've lost quite a few chickens and a duck, and now I have a couple of peas looking not quite right, so just want people to be aware.

If they have a stuck egg, one can feel it at about 1/2" in the vent. One can also tell if it's soft or shelled. Knowing this would give one the option to keep an eye on it or treat with fluids, calcium, vitamins, minerals, NSAIDS, etc. If they can poop, they should be okay for a little while, though not sure how long that is. Problem is that when the egg is stuck, I think yolks keep coming down the pipe, or worse, into the abdominal cavity, but that's just a guess based on the necropsies I have done and seen pictures of.

-Kathy

 

[DylansMom]

I don't like the idea of creating a panic either, and they can retain the egg for quite some time and be okay. Guess I'm kind of sensitive to the subject right now because I have one that has lad three softies, then a normal one that had only 1/2 normal shell thickness (yes, I measured it, lol), followed by another softie. Each time she looks like she's gonna die, and I don't mean looks like the normal "egg stance", it's more like the picture that @new 2 pfowl posted of her hen in February of 2014.

-Kathy

Yeah, catching a hen that looks so miserable and then going through the vent check and all that, gives me the willies every time. I am just certain we will end up causing the egg to break inside the hen, and killing her. And I'm not a novice, so I can imagine what this would be like for a beginner, honestly 10 years ago, I wouldn't have done it. I've had no softies yet, but I had one so thin shelled that when I tried to pick it up my fingers punched right through the shell, that was that hens first and she's laid 2 good ones since. This crackle thing is just new to me, I've seen softies, but not these. Several of my girls seem to be struggling more than normal this year, but then several others are just going gang-busters and not missing a beat, so who knows. That pic I posted was the worst I've seen one looking this year, and that was the night she laid the crackle egg.

 

[casportpony]

Gotta find a way to teach people how to do the exam safely. It used to scare me, but now the thought of not doing one and missing something treatable scares me more. Mine are pretty tame, so I catch them, and while they are still standing, I gently insert me index finger about the length of my very short fingernail and check. Definitely have to be gentle, 'cause there is a chance one could break the egg, though it's more likely to break being expelled if is a softie or thin shelled.

-Kathy

 

[MinxFox]

I tried to post this photo the other day, but the site ads were making everything lag so much I couldn't upload my photo so I got frustrated and gave up. Today the ads are much better so here is my photo:

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Thanks MinxFox, that's an excellent photo!

Kathy, if I post your eggtopsy pictures (https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/978545/peachick-eggtopsy-warning-graphic-pictures), do you think they need some explanatory commentary?

 

[KsKingBee]

Here is that pic of the rough egg I got yesterday.











Here is an egg from a hen that showed some distress this morning, she laid it this afternoon. The rings on the shell indicate to me that the egg was somewhat stuck and probably should have been laid the night before.

 

[Birdrain92]

Usually the shell will be wave like were it's built up in one spot if it gets stuck or at least for chickens. I would say if the peahen is egg bound they can't really move. Before peahens lay they get terrible balance. Right before the egg is out they kind of become paralyzed. If they are egg bound they remain paralyzed for a long time and you can tell because they can't move that well. I have a picture of my hen when she was egg bound. I will send that when I get home. Then I have the pic of that egg which had no shell. I have a few candling pics but they are terrible pictures. My hen is suppose to lay tonight so when I candle the egg I will take pics with my good camera. Should I put arrows and anatomy of the egg when candling to show what's what?

 

[DylansMom]

Usually the shell will be wave like were it's built up in one spot if it gets stuck or at least for chickens. I would say if the peahen is egg bound they can't really move. Before peahens lay they get terrible balance. Right before the egg is out they kind of become paralyzed. If they are egg bound they remain paralyzed for a long time and you can tell because they can't move that well. I have a picture of my hen when she was egg bound. I will send that when I get home. Then I have the pic of that egg which had no shell. I have a few candling pics but they are terrible pictures. My hen is suppose to lay tonight so when I candle the egg I will take pics with my good camera. Should I put arrows and anatomy of the egg when candling to show what's what?

Again Birdrain, don't make blanket statements based on your one experience with egg binding. I have had hens who became paralyzed from it just like your's did, and I have had hens who were egg bound but never became paralyzed and could move just fine. In my opinion it probably depends on where that egg is located when it gets stuck. If it is close enough to a major nerve that runs to the legs it makes sense that it might put pressure on that nerve and cause the paralysis we sometimes see. New2 lost a hen that became egg bound and never passed the egg, she eventually died, but from what I remember of the pictures she never became paralyzed.
Making it sound like all egg bound hens become paralyzed could cause some people to miss the fact that their unparalyzed hen is in fact egg bound and needs help. If you want to share your experiences that is great, just make it clear that yours' is just one example and not all will be the same way.

 

[Birdrain92]

Ok. I'm just saying that if those signs show up the hen is egg bound. Just as you said there are other signs of egg bound.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Usually the shell will be wave like were it's built up in one spot if it gets stuck or at least for chickens. I would say if the peahen is egg bound they can't really move. Before peahens lay they get terrible balance. Right before the egg is out they kind of become paralyzed. If they are egg bound they remain paralyzed for a long time and you can tell because they can't move that well. I have a picture of my hen when she was egg bound. I will send that when I get home. Then I have the pic of that egg which had no shell. I have a few candling pics but they are terrible pictures. My hen is suppose to lay tonight so when I candle the egg I will take pics with my good camera. Should I put arrows and anatomy of the egg when candling to show what's what?

I have witnessed a peahen laying an egg standing up and was 100% mobile during the process. Maybe your assessment of peahens being paralyzed is true with new first year laying hens,or hens passing an unusually large egg but several times when I collect eggs in the evening i've actually seen peahens walking, stop, and drop an egg then fly on a perch, as if they just casually took a poop and moved on.