# egg bound hen



## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

well my friends , with the new flock came some new problems. The previous owner had too many hens in too small a coop and run, this led way to some health issues we are working on currently, mostly just feather picking and some mites and lice. I treated the feather pickers with blukote, and noticed on of my new wyandottes is acting strange. After an afternoon of observance and a second look in the morning, This poor girl is egg bound. 
I feel it likely happened when we moved them, it was about an hours drive, they were cramped in my moving cage, and the move happened right around when the hens would have been trying to lay. I fear that caused this hen to have some complications. 
I am going to soak her little rump in some warm water, after which I will put her in her own cage and will go to town for some supplies. I am going to get some lube and really try to get the area moving. In the cage she will have some FF, some good clean water and some calcium. Any other suggestions to help get this girl out of her funk?
my plan is to oil her up, then give her a good soak, go down the hill and back(which will take an hour) then soak her again and really feel around in the vent, see if I cant gt anything to move.
I will also be treating my entire flock for worms, just to be on the safe side, as several of the new hens eat a ton of food but barely weigh anything... figure a good work and mite treatment will get them all on the same page I want them to be at.
fingers crossed this lil lady make it out of this funk


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Do you think she's a first time layer? That might be the problem. Sometimes they do have issues with that first egg but usually pass them.

Since you're probably already on the road this probably won't help, calci boost for goats and vitamin D3. The calcium will give energy to the muscles trying to push the egg out, the D3 will help boost the absorption of calcium.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

She is in her tub right now soaking for the first soak. definately an egg in there, I can feel it in her abdomen. I will grab some calciboost, and D3 while im at the supply store. She is large enough that I do not think she is a first time layer... 
Upon examination lots of runny discharge, no yolk... no blood. She is clearly very weak, but seems to be enjoying the soak.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Fingers crossed that you find an egg when you return. I get the impression you suspect her issues are due to the poor conditions they were kept in and now you're going to have to work your behind off reversing the damage done. Hopefully, she'll gain enough of what she needs to get that egg out.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

well I got back, she ate some food, drank a bunch of water.. Still very very weak. Also now that she is calmed and easier to hold I am seeing that she is very skinny.. While her previous owners though just feeding the organic pellets would be the best option, she clearly has more going on. I did notice that she also defecated, more solids then I saw from her outside. 
I gave her some vitamin boost which is all they had at the murdochs. It has high levels of calcium, and a bunch of vitamins and minerals. I also oiled her up, can definitely feel the egg when i put my finger in the vent.. hopefully things get moving along, if she has not improved by this evening.. I will cull her, as I would rather that then have her struggle to death.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

If you're feeling it, its got to be close. You can try gently massaging it from the front to see if that helps move it along. I do hesitate to recommend that because it can cause a break.

You're right, her poor condition is probably why she's struggling. I would give her one more day to see if she can pass it before doing anything too quickly. The extra might give her enough strength and energy to pass it along.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

she became so weak she would not even sit on her own power so I decided to call it. I am not one for watching animals suffer. When I did the autopsy she had an impacted crop, one egg was broken inside her, another had slid into the mess from the broken egg and seemed like it got stuck there. 
she had no breast meat, in fact she was literally skin and bone. I cut open the liver and some of the intestines and did not see any worms or anything abnormal..
very strange... as the rest of the birds are all plump and healthy.. who knows what happened to her before I acquired them


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Sorry, I know you didn't want to be forced to make that choice. 

There can be so many reasons for it, including if she was a hatchery bird and had genetic issues.


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

she was, the previous owner said they had gotten them all from mcmurray. I dont mind doing the deed, but would be lieing if I said i didn't care. We all want the best for our birds, I feel this bird came to me in ill shape and just never recovered. To end on a positive note, I have all the birds learning which coop to use, plenty of eggs, and plenty of future layers.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

It's so unfortunate when that happens. I got a whole breeding flock of polish who were the same way: thin, lousy, and just not thriving. I tried for 2-3 months to bring them along but they just didn't pan out like I'd hoped and winter was coming. Culled the lot of them. Would've been much easier I think this time of year with the warm weather coming. A thin hen isn't using calories to keep herself from freezing to death so more can go towards getting healthy and fat. Hopefully no one else has any issues and things can keep progressing nicely for you!


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## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

thanks, she was the only one in the bunch who was looking malnourished. event he silky weighed more then she did at the time of culling.
a silky should not weigh more then a full grown wyandotte


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

She definitely had underlying issues. Poor gal. Ah well, you tired and she's in a better place now and you can focus on the others.


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