# Egg bound hen



## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Lila my 1.5 year old production red has been egg bound 2 times and now this is the 3rd time she has been egg bound.

I noticed that she's straining in her adnominal area and I can feel an egg present 
Near her vent.

I gave her a warm bath for about 20 minutes and gave her some oyster shell in some wet chicken good and she ate some and i gave her a little water too. I put her in the coop and locked her in there for about 30 minutes so far and still no egg. 

Shoud I wait a little longer and see and if not give her another bath or what? Thanks.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

See if you can get a little bit of warm olive oil up her vent... To grease the way.

Other than that.. It sounds like you are doing a great job. 

And yes, maybe another nice warm bath at the same time that you try the oil.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Thanks,
I just gave her a warm bath again about an hour ago and a few minutes ago a soft shelled egg came out of her when she was in the roosting area! 

Do you know why she keeps becoming egg bound? I think she has a calcium problem. Thanks again!


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

You might want to try giving her some calcium orally. The dose I give is ~50mg per pound and I do this about every other day until they are laying normally.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

I would suggest culling the bird.. sad truth is if she has bound this much it will continue and eventually kill her anyways. I would rather a quick easy passing for my critters, having watched a bird suffer from this its not an easy death.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

Culling is always an option, but I think I would want to rule out worms, bacterial infections, hypocalcemia (insufficient calcium) and dehydration before culling.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

She may have just been dehydrated each time because each time she was egg bound it was pretty hot out here, hotter than what they're used too.

My hens also do have worms, I worked them but I guess it didn't work. I noticed they still have worms cause I saw some in the roosting area in some droppings. I'm going to work them again soon. I think she may also have a calcium problem though cause the stuck eggs have all been soft shelled eggs.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Which one sounds the most likely?


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

To quote my vet "dehydration is a leading cause of egg binding" and "passing soft shelled eggs is much more difficult". That said, if she were mine I would de-worm with Safeguard for goats for five days and may start giving oral calcuim. Do you have a way to weigh her?


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Yes I will weigh her


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

chickenhen said:


> Yes I will weigh her


 Let me know about how much she weighs and I can tell you what I would give her is she were mine.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

She weighs 7.7 pounds.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Kathy, is there any way to give them tums with success? 
Do you think electrolytes would help with the dehydration? I know mine look forward to fresh cold water in the afternoon, I think they wait for it.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

chickenhen said:


> She weighs 7.7 pounds.


Wow, she's the size of my larger peahens! Can you buy a bottle of Valbazen dewormer? If so, you could give her 0.7ml once and repeat in ten days. Safeguard for goats will also work, but you would have to give quite a bit more for several days. The Safeguard dose I use on birds her size is 1.75ml for 5 consecutive days.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

seminolewind said:


> Kathy, is there any way to give them tums with success?
> Do you think electrolytes would help with the dehydration? I know mine look forward to fresh cold water in the afternoon, I think they wait for it.


Some people have used tums.

Mine also enjoy fresh, cool water. As for electrolytes, not sure, but one could try?


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

chickenhen said:


> She weighs 7.7 pounds.


Had another thought... I noticed that some egg bound hens were too fat, so i put them on a diet and that helped with the binding issues.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

casportpony said:


> Had another thought... I noticed that some egg bound hens were too fat, so i put them on a diet and that helped with the binding issues.


I don't think she's fat although I expected her to be 5 or 6 pounds like most of my other hens.

She actually seems like a thin hen but she has a lot of mussels.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

casportpony said:


> Wow, she's the size of my larger peahens! Can you buy a bottle of Valbazen dewormer? If so, you could give her 0.7ml once and repeat in ten days. Safeguard for goats will also work, but you would have to give quite a bit more for several days. The Safeguard dose I use on birds her size is 1.75ml for 5 consecutive days.


One of my BOs weigh almost 9 pounds.

Should I work all my hens or just her? Would the Valbazen be sold at TSC?


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

chickenhen said:


> I don't think she's fat although I expected her to be 5 or 6 pounds like most of my other hens.
> 
> She actually seems like a thin hen but she has a lot of mussels.


Worming should help her put weight back on. I forgot to ask what you're feeding her, and I ask because another important part of egg laying is a proper calcium to phosphorus ratio. Most lay feeds are formulated with the correct amounts, but I think that it can get out of balance if they're also getting scratch grains. I still have lots to learn on the subject, so you might want to google for more info on it.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

I'm giving them purina layer feed but I also leave out oyster shell for them to eat when they need it.

I sometimes give her wet chicken food with calcium flacks in it to help her with the soft eggs.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

chickenhen said:


> One of my BOs weigh almost 9 pounds.
> 
> Should I work all my hens or just her? Would the Valbazen be sold at TSC?


You would have to order the Valbazen because I don't think TSC sells it. If I were worming a nine pounder I would give it 2ml Safeguard for five days or 0.75ml of Valbazen once and repeat in 10 days.

The 125ml bottle of Safeguard won't treat nearly as many birds as the 500ml bottle of Valbazen will.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

If I were you I would deworm all hens. Have any started molting? If so, get the Valbazen because Safeguard it not supposed to be used during molt since it can cause the feathers to grow in oddly.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Valbazen is the easiest and cheapest in the long run. I cut up cubes of bread, put in a flat dish and add 1/2 cc per cube to the dish and let it soak it up. No one refuses bread cubes. And bigger chickens can get 2 or how many they need. Got to do that today.

How often do people worm? I'm not sure 4-6 months is sufficient. Is it?


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

That's a good idea I think I will do the valbazen.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

chickenhen said:


> Some have started molting and some are already done. I'll get the Valbazen.


Worming with it will be so much easier and like Seminolewind said, much less expensive in the long run.


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Is this it?...







It seems expensive, do they sell it in smaller sizes? If not, can I use Verm-x


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

I think Jeffers sells a 500ml bottle.


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## casportpony (Aug 22, 2015)

http://www.jefferspet.com/products/valbazen-broad-spectrum-dewormer


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## chickenhen (Apr 22, 2015)

Thanks, I'll order that.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

You can't go wrong. If I had to worm 5 days in a row I would go insane. I wormed today. Nobody likes me right now.


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