Egg bound or not?

[molliedogspabottom]

Hi all, it has been a long time since I last visited the site but it is nice to know that you are all there when needed.

I have a cream leg bar who for some reason laid tiny eggs last season many smaller than my quail, she had produced normal sized eggs the season before.

This season she laid a few small and then a pullet size egg and now nothing, she looks very well, good feathers and comb but very swollen back end and it is hanging low,it is very red and sore looking, she walks a little strange but is eating ok.

Have tried holding her over steam bath,applied olive oil to the opening and gently massage the area, she is now segregated from the others to see if that helps.

Any advice would be really helpful as I don't want to lose another girl, lost one last week to egg impaction and one the week before that with unrelated illness.

Hope you can help.
Heather

 

[chrismahon]

Is she trying to lay Heather? We have a CL who developed a very swollen abdomen which was also sore and red. It was some kind of internal infection which was treated successfully with a course of Baytril. Any swelling will obstruct the oviduct, as will fat, so laying stops. We did have one develop an abdominal tumour -nothing one week, size of a golf ball the next. She didn't respond to treatment.

 

[Marigold]

Hi Heather, sorry to hear about your girl, she does sound uncomfortable. You've obviously been doing all the right home remedy things for suspected egg binding, but as this is her third season, it does sound as if she's coming to the end of her egglaying days, doesn't it, and her irregular laying habits may be resulting in internal problems. There's the possibility of egg peritonitis, where a semi- formed egg goes down the wrong way and ends up in the gut, resulting in infection.
As she is a much- loved pet that you don't want to lose, you might consider a trip to the vet at this stage. Although you say she is eating, she may actually be more unwell than she outwardly appears - hens camouflage illness as much as they can, but then they often go down quickly when things get worse. If caught early enough, there's more likelihood of being able to sort it out.

 

[molliedogspabottom]

Hi all,
I will try her on batrill it can't do any harm, however she has laid two marble size eggs this morning one with shell one without ( well very soft )

There is always grit and oyster shell on hand and they have a huge run in the field so I don't think grit is a problem.

I placed n egg in her nest box thinking that may encourage her but she promptly ate it yesterday.

I have spoken to the vet who thinks she could be egg bound .

I will keep you informed

Thanks Heather

 

[foxy]

She does sound egg bound..however, because she is laying odd, small and shell-less eggs I would suspect maybe there is something else going on with her egg laying machinery, some possibilities which the vet could investigate would be malabsorption of calcium, or or more likely infection/ and or tumours.

 

[Tim]

Yes, I'd have to agree with Foxy. The fact she is laying small eggs (which are usually little bits coming down the oviduct, that then get coated in albumen and shell as an egg would) would make me think she's not egg bound. You can often feel it too or see it stuck. If she has laid internally or is overweight or has a tumour - that can stop laying, so I would be thinking along those lines too.

An x-ray can usually determine what is going on with the oviduct.

Good luck Heather.