Eggbound?

[Tweetypie]

Hi all

Please help, as I am unsure whether or not to assume Barbie is eggbound, I have been looking at youtube videos to try to find out.

Yesterday, I noticed she wasn't in the run or dustbath so assumed she was in the nestbox - she was. The odd thing is that she was in there for a couple of hours. When I looked out later in the afternoon, she seemed to be immobile, in that she was just standing around or sat down. Usually, when they see me or hear anything, they are straight to the run door, but she didn't bother, so I knew she wasn't well. She went back into the nestbox before 6.30pm and never came back out. The others went to bed after 8.30pm.

This morning, she didn't lay an egg.She didn't lay one yesterday either, but a she's an old girl, that might not be an issue.

Today she has been standing around, not sitting. Her comb is red, not pale, I can't hear laboured breathing or smell anything. Her eyes are closed a lot. She is puffed up like a ball, as if she has gained a stone overnight! She hasn't been in the nest box today.

I can't check her poo as it would mean me hanging around for ages and the same goes for drinking,but to check she is eating I made her scrambled egg and she gobbled it up. Other than that she is not interested in moving or doing anything.

She lost a lot of her front feathers leaning through the wooden trellis fencing which I have since put additional meshing over, so looks terrible from the front view.

Can anyone think of anything else it could be and would you recommend immersing her vent in warm water for 15 minutes?

 

[Marigold]

Am I right in thinking she is a fairly old rescue hybrid, Tweetipie? I know you have 2 generations of hens. If so, personally I would assume, sadly, that it’s probable her time has come and that she possibly has peritonitis and may be in pain. In an older hybrid the symptoms you describe are very common and almost always fatal, I’m sorry to say.
If she isn’t straining to lay it’s not very likely to be eggbinding, And even if it was, this might indicate another underlying condition.
So you need to consider what to do next to help her. At one end of the spectrum, in normal times, you could take her on an expensive trip to the vet and you might be given antibiotics, which would be unlikely to work long-term. Or the vet would put her to sleep for you if there was little hope of recovery. Or you could try the warm bath treatment if you were pretty sure she was egg bound, although if this wasn’t the problem she wouldn’t want to be handled. Or you could just make her comfortable, feed her whatever she will eat, check she’s drinking, and see how she gets on. Hens do sometimes make remarkable and unexpected recoveries if just left quietly in peace to rest undisturbed. Or she may die naturally in the comfort of the nest box.
Or if course if you can see she’s in pain, you may feel it would be best to give her a quicker death. Not ever an easy decision, or an easy thing to do, but I do feel that as poultry keepers we all need to know how to cull a bird as quickly and painlessly as possible when the need arises.

 

[Tweetypie]

Hi Marigold, yes I "rescued" Barbie exactly 2 years ago today, oddly. She was from a battery farm. Im not sure what age she would be?
She is literally just standing with her head often under her wing, not sitting. She opens her eyes if she sees me at the window. She doesn't appear to be in pain, but what would I know, because she has always been the tough one. I will keep an eye on her today, but if she appears to be going down hill, then she will need to be put out of her misery, I won't have her suffering. :-( It's so sad, thank you for replying Marigold.

 

[Marigold]

If she was from a battery farm she would have been 18-24 months when you rescued her so she’s probably now coming to what would be her 4th egglaying season if she had been allowed to take a break over her first winter instead of being kept in lay under artificial light. That’s what wears them out. She’s done very well indeed with you, had more than double the life she would have had if you hadn’t taken her on, and has been a real character as well.

When they just stand around with their eyes closed, not moving, it’s not a good sign, I’m afraid. Would she like it if you put her back in the nest box, do you think? Maybe she doesn’t feel up to getting there by herself but would benefit from the privacy and comfort.

 

[Tweetypie]

Good morning Marigold. I was awake at 5.30am, so got up to check on Barbie, expecting the worst. She is still alive. She is still puffed up like a ball, but has walked around a very short distance this morning, although still mainly standing around. She came to me with the others when I went to the coop. I am not sure I did the right thing, but scrambled 1 egg and had baked the shell and crushed it into the mix. She ate 2/3 of it. I seperated her from the others whilst she ate it. I saw her take a drink, too. Mabel was in the nestbox this morning and I noticed Barbie was standing in front of the door way of the coop, looking out. When I looked again 20 minutes later, she was back outside again.
She doesn't "walk like a penguin" as I have read about eggbound hens, nor did she attempt to be in the nestbox at all yesterday. I put her in there, but she came back out. Once the morning egg laying is done, I might try her in there again, but she seems to prefer to be with the others. Poor girl, I hope she survives. She's my favourite.

 

[Marigold]

I’m glad she’s still with you, Tweetypie. You don’t need to give up hope so long as she’s still able to stand up and walk around, and eat and drink. It’s when they can’t get up on their feet and just want to rest, that often things are getting really serious.
You do have to remember, though, that chickens always put the bravest face on things that they can manage, because to show any weakness can invite bullying from the rest of the flock.

 

[Tweetypie]

I'm just updating again, as I have been tryimg to google all the symptoms.

Late morning I decided to check her crop. It seemed like it had a large hard lump, golf ball size, so I did what the google mania said and massaged it for a few minutes, then left her in peace. An hour later my OH did the same. After that, she went straight to the water and drank quite a lot. She then just sat around like a ball of fluff, closing her eyes. If the others went to a different area, she followed them. She does not want to be alone.

I have just applied a vinyl glove and put some olive oil on it, (that's all I had), to check inside her vent. I put my finger in about 2 inches. I did not feel an egg, but did feel a petit-pea size lump, on the right hand side, unless it was poop, but the lump seemed to be "behind" the internal wall. I could feel her "gripping" my finger on and off..I guess that would be a normal reaction for some weirdo with their finger up your bottom, poor Barbie.

Just after that, I checked her crop and it seemed to feel like a water sac with seed in there, hard to describe really.

So at 6pm ish, I will leave her in peace and pray for a miracle tomorrow.

 

[Shadrach]

It won't be poop that far in. The end of the intestinal tract is quite close to the vent and is above the oviduct.
You did well for the egg binding check. If you can't feel an egg in the first couple of centimeters she isn't egg bound.
I would not be bathing, or sitting her in water.
A poop check would be a great help here. A picture of it even better.
The times to do crop checks is first thing in the morning and last thing before she goes to roost. The water sack with seeds in it sounds normal. Given her provenance I would be thinking Egg Yolk Peritonitis or some other reproductive tract disorder. My eldest hen died earlier this year from this at 12 years old.
Do you know how to tube feed? If you find she has crop problems then crop flushing with water by tube can be very effective. I give them cold coconut oil (it comes in lumps when cold) and do a crop massage after.
Depending on diet, in general bright greens and/or yellows are not a good sign.
Hoping for the best for you and your hen.

 

[Tweetypie]

Hi Shadrach and Marigold, I am now updating.
This morning, Barbie was still with us I am pleased to say. I called a vet, but they told me they could not see her until tomorow at 6pm!! I then recalled that at the top of our lane is a lady with a noah's ark of different farm animals, ducks, geese and hens, so I decided to send her a message on facebook. I mentioned the symptoms and she told her one of her older hens has recently had lice and had similar symptoms. She told me what to look out for, so I set about investigating.
I decided in my head I would put Barbie in a few inches of water to soak her dirty vent, as there was a piece of poop lodged there, which was rock hard. I checked her whilst she sat and was horrified to see that underneath her fluffed up appearance, she was actually quite bald!!! So many feathers missing, with just the stumps. Her vent was red and looked so painful. I did see a couple of brownish grey "things" about 1mm long, moving, so assumed these must be lice or mites.
After I dried her off, I dusted her carefully with diatom under her wings, back of her head, her vent area, all over really. I then did the same with the other 3, although on checking them, they seemed OK.
I completely emptied the whole coop, vacuumed it with hubbies sawdust extractor, sprayed with redmite stuff, then put diatom all around the crevices and perches. I bought new hay and sawdust (can't get their lavender horse bedding stuff yet).
I gave Barbie some fishy catfood as she wasn't eating. She had a small amount.
A few hours later, Barbie seemed to have perked up a little. I actually saw her lying on her side in the sunshine with the others. She can't sit as her vent is painful with the feather spikes coming out, but can sit on the logs and perches, with her bottom hanging over.
By 7pm, she did look much better in herself, not just standing around. Last 2 nights she had gone into bed at 6.30pm, tonight it was 8pm.

I am not taking anything for granted here. It might be lice, but it still might be lice and something else....
I am shocked she has lice, but there are so many wild birds around here, they come for the food, despite me giving them food in places away from the coop and run. I think they liked where it was located under the coop, scoot in and out, but my husband has relocated it now, so its in full view, the wild birds can't steal it in secret.

It's odd, you never expect lice and always assume that dirty animals get them. Our coop is cleaned every day, poop picked and the slabs hosed down, the water changed. I never expected this.

I hope tomorrow I can say she is alive and much better and if anyone can suggest something to ease the pain where her vent is, please let me know, or anything else I can have "in stock" for these unexpected emergencies.