What are the signs of an egg-bound hen?

[Lucylou]

Not sure if this is a general or health question!

How do you tell if a chook is egg-bound? I have one hybrid chook who has seemed under the weather for 2 days. She's always the quiet one, keeps back when the others crowd round for treats, always hides behind her friend the bossy one, that sort of thing. So saturday it didn't occur to me that she might have a problem, she just seemed her shy self but more so.

Yesterday she was OK in the morning but for the first time ever I was brave enough (main road, foxes etc etc) to let them free range in the garden & she didn't follow. She spent the whole time sitting either under the coup, in the coup or just in the run. She went to bed in the nesting box & this morning is still there & hasn't come out. She's very subdued when I pick her up which is very unusual (she was a late addition to my flock & hadn't been used to being handled)

Her general appearance is normal in every way, no runny eyes, nostrils, breathing normal etc. The only thing I noticed yesterday was a slightly runny vent, not badly but a bit.

I have scoured my books & only one has treatment for egg-bound, but doesn't describe the symptoms. The only other thing they suggest it could be is broodiness.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have read (VP's or GR's can't remember!) tip on the warm water bottle so if its this I will do this but obviously got to establish its this first.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Davidd]

Hello, sounds like she is broody! Take her off the nest box and put her in the run- if she goes back to the nest after a little while she is broody.
regards, David

 

[snifter]

I'd lean toward being broody. Especially if you take her off and she goes and sits back in the same nest box.

You can gently feel round the vent and often a stuck egg can actually be felt. You can massage, bathe in warm water and all that to help if so.

Hard to know until you can have a good look and gently feel. Don't apply direct pressure in case an egg is just there. Might crack or break. But defo worth checking her over.

 

[Lucylou]

Sadly & to my absolute shock poor little Doris died
During the morning I went to see how she was & things were not good, in the previous couple of hours she had deteriorated badly.

Anyway I got her to my vet & he said she was giving up the fight there & then so we decided to help her on her way, it was the best thing.

He did a post mortem, which showed a severly infected oviduct but obviously without further (expensive)analysis he can't say what the infection was.

He's a wonderful vet, good with chickens but not a poultry expert. He could only suggest peritonitus, ecoli, salmonella, that sort of infection, does anyone have any experience of this?

I thought I'd got to know the signs of a poorly chook, she just didn't look ill at all, just quieter, & from my books definately more along the lines of egg-bound or broody as you've suggested.
Oh well, another experience in my chook keeping. :?

 

[snifter]

Sorry to hear this about Doris.

Even a chook when really ill can appear just to be off colour. Its very hard to read sometimes and call it right. Often we don't know till they drop off their perches so to speak.