My girl is egg bound!

[Dotty Chick]

Hello to all you chicken lovers
Hope all your girls (and boys) and all in fine feather and fettle.
One of my girls I fear, is egg bound. She sits a lot and is 'waddling'.
I've heard of a few remedies and I have done the finger in the vent 'thing'
Has anyone tried the warm water trick? Please advise on how to do it and not get her too distressed.
Is there anything else anyone of you have tried?
Red mite is also a problem at the moment too. On the case for that thanks to someone's thread and your help.
Hope you can help
Dotty

[lainey lou]

What's egg bound? Does that mean it's stuck?

[Dotty Chick]

Hi there
Yes, it does mean that it is stuck and it refuses to come out.
I think she is egg bound as she is displaying all the symptoms.
Dotty

[lainey lou]

poor girl! Sounds might uncomfortable. Gonna do some searching see what I can find out.....

[Dotty Chick]

Hiya
Thanks for that. I've had a good look too but sometimes other peoples experiences are far better than what you read about in a book.
I have done the Vasaline trick... that was an experience. But I'll do anything to make her more comfortable.
Cod liver oil is good and gave her a good dose of that, then read that it is better given the other end
Thanks again
Dotty

[lainey lou]

I found this info Dotty, I hope you're able to help your poor girl, let us know....

Egg bound hens
A hen is said to be egg bound when she fails to lay her egg
This is a common condition, and may result from inflammation of the oviduct, malformed or double yolker egg, or a too large egg in a young pullet

The bird seems very restless
She will drink little and eat little
She will tend to stand all hunched up
She visits the nest regularly in an attempt to lay her egg
Hew oviduct may end up protrude due to excessive pushing by her to eject the egg; internal haemorrhage or exhaustion may occur and the fowl may die
She may smell badly
Her vent will look quite red and protrude
She may have faecal matter that has built up behind the egg, if you see white liquid that will be her urates trying to pass (urine in chickens)

Sit her in a tub of warm soapy water
Make sure the vent is submerged for about 30 minutes, this may seem like a long time, but you have to relax the vent area and make is subtle for the egg to pass through, it really does help the hen, 85% of the time this will be all that you will need to do for her and the egg will pass out with a little push from her
You can rub some lubricant around the vent area if you think that may help too, KY jelly, petroleum jelly, Vaseline or Olive Oil all work fine.
Make sure you isolate her from the other hens, or they will peck at her vent causing more damage

Put her into an isolation cage, put plenty of news paper down first and then put heated towels down they will act like a heat pad for her, no drafts when she is wet or she will catch a chill
You can heat up towels in your microwave, works a treat
If you have a heat pad that would be even better, put plenty of towels over it or it will get messy
Leave her for a little while to see if she passes the egg, if not, repeat the warm water and soap again

Some people just use the heating pads, this sometimes seems to relax the muscles and allow the egg to slip out

If this doesn�t work, you may have to resort to removing the egg manually, not a nice task, and she will complain about what you are doing bitterly, you will need two people to do this task

Using KY jelly, Petroleum jelly or Vaseline, insert your finger in the vent
With your other hand you can press gently on her abdomen moving the egg down the oviduct towards the cloaca
Once you can see the egg, if it won�t pass, then rupture the egg and gently remove all the shell
Some have suggested you use a sharp instrument, I would not recommend this at all it could result in causing the hen internal injuries
The shell of the egg will be very sharp when broken and could also damage the chicken internally
Once you have broken the shell, make sure you remove every particle carefully

VERY IMPORTANT
The cloaca should then be washed with a weak warm water/salt solution, this is to make sure all the egg contents and shell has been removed from inside the hen, if it isn�t it could cause bacteria to start growing inside her, and then you�ve got an even bigger problem to solve

Once the egg has ejected you will want to keep an eye on her for a while
There may be another egg backed up in her oviduct system, especially if she lays an egg every day or every other day.

Sometimes they absorb the egg, but this is very unlikely and very unusual
If you can�t find the egg and it has gone from the hen, more than likely she has eaten it shell and all

If it has ruptured inside her, you should look for small pieces of shell, or evidence of any cuts around the vent area.
Just remember while your looking and sticking your finger in places she would prefer you didn�t, the egg shells can be quite sharp and may cut you and her.
If you do find any cuts around her cloaca, rinse with hydrogen peroxide
Watch her for listlessness, dull eyes, and signs of fever
Infection can come on pretty quick.
Keep a close eye on her, this could happen again to her and she will need immediate action to fix the problem

[Dotty Chick]

WOW!
Thanks for all of that
I hope that I don't have to break the egg whilst inside of Gloria
I'm hoping to try the warm water trick tomorrow if the Vasiline didn't work.
I must admit, not having inserted my finger into a chickens vent, I didn't feel an egg there. Maybe I didn't go deep enough?
But many thanks lainey lou
I'll keep you posted.
Dotty

[Snadger]

I have a chook that seems to look 'fatter' around the bot area and was scared she was egg bound? Does your's look any fatter in that area dotty?

[Storm]

we used to firce feed the egg bound hens with small doses of castor oil (using an eye dropper) and that always seemed to do the trick. several doses over a couple of hours.

[lainey lou]

Hope Gloria is OK today. I'll probs not be on line for 4 or 5 days now but will be thinking of her.

[Dotty Chick]

Hi All
Thanks for all your threads
Yes, Snadger she is fatter around the 'area'
Still no joy, but I am going to try more cod liver oil and a warm bath.... and maybe I'll do it to Gloria too.
Many thanks
Dotty

[Dotty Chick]

Update on my lovely Gloria

Hi Everyone
Thanks for all your threads.
Gloria has had a visit from a very well informed and experienced 'hen man'.
He informed me that all is not good for our lovely Gloria. But as she is not suffering and she is running around, eating, drinking and looking very healthy she may last for a little while yet. But soon nature may take it's course or we may have to give her a little help if Gloria takes a turn for the worse.
Not something we will be looking forward too.
We are still treating her to cod liver oil and lots of little chicken treats.
He was quite surprised how well she looked as he believes she has an inflamed liver that has a lot of fluid behind it, hence the waddling and the swelling.
We gave her the nice warm bath and treated her to lots of cuddles yesterday and seemed to enjoy the warm water she nearly fell asleep.
I will keep you up to date and thanks so very much for all your help so far.
It make me feel very confident in that I am doing the right things for my girls.
Dotty