# Red vent- egg bound?



## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

I found my year and 3 month old hen sitting up against the coop when I came to let my chickens out to freerange around. I checked her vent and this is what it looks like:








I also felt what I call the egg spot which is a chickens belly and it feels like there could be a egg stuck in there. There also is a bone there which the others have. Her name is Lila and she seems tired and sick. I'm worried she may be egg bound and I don't know what to do to help. 
Right now she's resting in a corner and some of the others are wondering what's wrong with her.







She was sitting but she stood up when I took the picture. Lila is the dark brown one, she is a production red. 
Lila seems like she has less energy then usual although she did jump of the laying box i put her on to check her and go over to sunbath. What's worn with her? What should I do?


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Should I give her a Epsom salt bath?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Watch to see if she's pushing, if she is then she might be having an egg issue.

There's nothing wrong with trying the warm bath.

You can also add calci boost (for goats) and vitamin D3. The D helps her absorb the calcium, the calcium helps strengthen the muscles to push the egg out.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Thank you,
Lila seems to be doing a little better. I gave her the warm Epsom salt bath for a while and a steam idea I saw on the Internet where you boil water and put her vent over so the steam helps loosin her mussels.
After I did that about 10 minutes later I found this near Lila...























What does it look like to you? A egg?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

She is starting to have egg laying issues. You might want to consider making sure there is extra calcium available for her. It probably won't stop the problems she's going to have but it might hold them off for a while.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

I keep calcium out for them when they need it and it seems like Lila is the one who stays meet it for a while pecking at it until she's eaten a lot.
I will keep extra out for her.
What do you think the name of her problem is and do you think that strange egg thing was a egg? Thanks.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

I gave Lila another warm bath an the steam and she seems better, she is drinking and eating alittle food.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

We see this most often with hatchery birds


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Okay,
What do you think is wrong with her? Calcium deficiency? Thank you for your help.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I think it's because the hatchery focus on egg laying it ends up hurting them as they get older


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Oh okay, so this can happen to a chicken a young as a year old? Thanks


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Yes, a year is unusual. Most of the time you see it starting at about two years. One of mine started having issues by the time she was a year and a half. That doesn't mean it happens to all of them or that it can't happen to birds not bred by hatcheries. It just appears to happen more often to hatchery birds.

An example are my Hamburgs. The two sisters are out of show stock, are seven years old and began laying again after a lay off of nearly a year. Never heard of anything like it. Yet, I lost both of my hatchery egg layers, one by the time she was two, the other at three. Both had egg laying issues.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

I found this coming out of my hens vent...















...I think it's a lash egg


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Yep, she's starting to have problems already. If you want to experiment you could add the calci boost for goats and D3 to see if that helps her any.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Where can I get that?


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Do you think they would sell that at a tractor supply?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

The calci boost is at TSC, the D3 comes from any pharmacy aisle. The calci boost is in the large animal drug aisle, comes in a small, white opaque bottle.

I don't even know if this will help but its something to try. If it does work it would be something to let people know.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Thankyou,
I gave Lila another hot bath and put some oil on her vent to help the egg com out.
A couple of times I could tell a egg was about to come out but before it did Lila jerked and Reyes to fly away... She's being uncooperative with me. When I let her back down it looked like she was trying to push an egg out.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Going to give her come calcium, will this do?


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

I can feel the egg in Lila... I'm going to massage it out.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Yeah, I guess it will. You'll have to crush it and mix it in to something moist she'll eat. Add the D3 when you can get some. You don't have to worry over much about the unit level of the D, it takes quite a while to become toxic. I think they have it in lower than a 1000 IUs.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Okay thanks, the Calcium I gave her has D3 added to it... I can feel the egg in Lila should I massage it out?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Very, very carefully if you do. You don't want to rupture it or she'll be in a much worse place.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

I'm so happy right now!
I gave her another bath and about 20 minutes later I found a deformed egg under her!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Hopefully, that's the last you'll see for a while. Sounds has though she's having issues getting them down the reproductive tract.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

How can I help her with that? The egg she laid was soft and covered in wrinkles, could she have a calcium problem?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Its more complex than that. And I just don't know enough about what is going wrong to be able to say what or why its happening and if there is anything at all you can do to help her.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

She seems fine today,
She is drinking water, dust bathing, eating, sunbathing and being normal. She is acting like she is broody though, but although she's acting broody she's not in the laying boxes she just gets fluffy and peeps at the others. I think she's half broody!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Once they get all of what is in their body that shouldn't be they do rally. But probability is very high this is going to repeat. Enjoy her while she's enjoying all the normal chicken things.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Why would this repeat? Is there anyway i can prevent it from happening again? I've heard that vets can give her a medication (sorry I forgot what it's called) so she will be normaler.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

They can be spayed or I have heard of calcium injections. I don't know how effective the shots are if there is another problem causing her laying issues. Like I said before, I don't know enough about the mechanics of all the different reproductive issues that can happen to them. The calcium with D should provide her with what she needs if its more along the lines of having an absorption issue of the calcium. But if there is something else causing her problems the calcium will not be enough.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Okay thank you,
I will see if I can Get the shots or get her spayed. Would I just use a human calcium injection or could I just give her a human calcium pill with vitamin D in it. Sorry for all of the questions.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I have never heard of anyone but a vet doing them. I also think there is something that they can do that would stop her from ovulating with an injection but would be something that had to be done on a regular basis.

You giving her the oral calcium would be fine. Just remember too much can also cause harm, it can be hard on the kidneys and heart when too much is given.

Its one of those things that we have to feel around in the dark for the right thing to do. There's not a whole lot out there to guide us in the any of this kind of thing.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

I leave a lot of calcium out for them to eat when they need or want it all the time.
Would them eating to much cause problems for their hearts or kidneys, I leave calcium out all the time.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Chickens know what they need instinctively. We have to depend on that because trying to micro manage their intake could also lead to more egg laying issues. Mine have always received free choice, as long as they were healthy I never found any issues with doing that.

Your girl is suffering from a physical issue. Is she suffering from not being able to absorb calcium efficiently or does she have other problems at work in her reproductive system? We don't know. Until someone decides its time to do some studies to figure out why this happens so often with hatchery birds we may never have an answer.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Thanks,
I think I have another reason why Lila might have laid that strange egg.
I have a lamp in my coop which is on all the Time, even at night. I read that constant light... Especially at night can cause egg laying problems. After I read that I turned of that lamp and I'm hoping that will solve the problem.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

That first "egg" you posted looks like a lash egg. Those are not a good sign. Unfortunately production hens do get problems with their internal organs frequently and early in life, and it usually gets worse as they age


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Is there any way I can prevent the problem such as giving her the shot which stops her from laying eggs? Or get her spayed?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You'll have to talk to a vet about that. Most don't do anything except put them out of their misery once this starts. I know of one person who had hers spayed, one other said she had an injection done but I don't remember if it was to stop ovulation or additional calcium.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

I'll ask my avian vet and see how Lila is doing. 
Her vent and belly area are not at all slowlen or red anymore and she's eating chicken food drinking and enjoying the moleberrys.
I think she's okay but I'll ask my avian vet to make sure.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That's really about the only option you have. They all feel better once they are able to pass the abnormal masses but that is just temporary because it will happen again and nothing that we can do will prevent it.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Okay, thanks. I think I'll get the calcium supplements and see if it helps.


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