Yesterday I went to let the hens out to their larger run and noticed that Edie wasn’t up and about. She was sitting on her nest box, but I could tell that something was wrong. She was listless, silent and her bottom was kind of tucked under. When I picked her up to go out in the yard (something they love), she didn’t move from where I set her. In fact when I first put her down, her toes were curled under and she was resting on her knuckles until I straightened them out.
The rest of the morning was spent trying to figure out what was wrong with Edie, my favorite hen. It was also spent in trying to find a vet that would take chickens. They will see any kind of parrot, cockatiel, etc. but chickens are considered exotic here. Go figure.
I finally found a vet and took her last night. She found out that she was egg bound, but wasn’t able to reach the egg. They gave her some iv fluids, antibiotics, pain killer and gave me a calcium supplement for her water. $300 later, I still have an egg bound hen. I know that any chicken farmer reading this has probably fallen off their chair at this point. Either with shock or laughter.
It’s hard to find a neighbor that knows how to probe a chicken’s cloaca to help guide an egg out, so I have to resort to a vet.
Today Edie was up and about, which was a vast improvement over yesterday. She didn’t pass the egg, so she’s kind of waddling around. I had to give her antibiotics, which I was told taste really bad. Now that she’s more feisty, that was a huge challenge. I did a lot of reading about egg binding on the Backyard Chicken forums. It seems as though a warm sitz bath can help relax the muscles. I tried that but I’m not sure if it was relaxing or irritating to Edie.
I’m afraid that I’m going to have to bring her back to the vet to have the egg imploded. Wish us luck!
Oh, no!! Good luck, I hope it turns out okay for poor Edie, without much more expense to you! I was afraid I had the same problem when one of my regular layers didn’t lay for 3 days. My husband spelled out the rules before we got chickens: The chickens will NEVER go to the vet! He knows me all too well. My dogs go to the vet fairly frequently when I’m worried about them. I’ve come to rely on the Backyard Chickens Forum and the wealth of knowledge there.
Yeah, I understand your husband’s point of view. Edie is my sweetest hen, which makes things more complicated. Plus I feel that when I adopt an animal I sign on for it’s care and well-being. I’ll never be a farmer at this rate. Too tender-hearted.
Hope Edie lets loose soon. It must be like extreme constipation.
I was in labor w/ Lindsay for 34 hours. I’m feeling Edie’s pain.
Hi, I was wonderng how your hen did with her egg. I have been dealing with what I believe to be the same problem except that it has been goning on for almost a week. Did the vet x-ray her to see the egg?
Hi Tara,
The vet didn’t do an x-ray for my hen. She just felt the egg through her abdomen. Can you feel the egg? It took over a week for the egg to pass and that was with a lot of probing inside of the poor girl. But then almost immediately all of my hens have gone into a molt and have stopped laying altogether. Are you sure you aren’t having molting issues?