Thursday evening ..I noticed one of my sweet Sicilian buttercups, a smaller sized Mediterranean egg laying breed, she had a little bit of a dirty butt ...and there was some skin showing. She also was not running around for food like all the others. I checked her out and ...hm yes, there seemed to be an egg inside. I let her roost to give her a chance to lay early in the morning ...then I hit the internet - egg binding causes, treatment and - ...... I hardly slept that night ---- worried.
Egg binding is apparently a fairly common condition in egg laying chickens. It can strike at all ages. Here are some supposedly predisposing factors:
- obesity
- malnutrition
- lack of calcium
- egg too big or malformed
- egg retention for some other reason
- infection
- overbreeding
- early laying
Funny walking, standing around, not eating, suddenly showing dirty butt or visible skin around vent area are all things to get you to investigate.
Calcium is supposed to help. Did I have any liquid calcium on hand? Yes, someone in the house had some liquid calcium supplements. I gave her some on scrambled eggs, later I dropper fed her some since she got smart real quick. Does giving calcium orally make a difference - no idea, but i figured it would not hurt and might possibly help once it got absorbed. The thing is - if the egg is very big and the muscles get stretched to thin - they won't be able to contract. The fibers just won't work any more.
I gave her a warm sitz-bath, gently massaging her belly, put her in a dog crate afterwards. It was warm enough so I did have to worry about blow drying her. While I was hoping the bath helped - I knew she hadn't passed this thing all day yesterday at least, but - sometimes the baths help. You are supposed to repeat ...but others say if it didn't work in an hour or 2, you need to extract it.
I was wondering, in case I would have to manually help her, what is on top, the oviduct or the intestines?...so off to the internet again, looking for chicken anatomy pics.
- Location of the reproductive tract in a female chicken. Source: Public domain
- Reproductive tract of a female chicken. Source: Jacquie Jacob, University of Kentucky
Ok, so the egg comes out on top....so when palpating into the vent ...the opening for the egg will be up....and it was.
Some
folks also mention a liberal use of a lubricant - I had nothing but
coconut or olive oil, I chose the coconut oil in case she didn't pass
it. I was not gonna hang her upside down just yet, presumably so the
lubricant would go all around the egg?. I did end up putting it right on
the egg that was showing and on the vent skin.
After a couple of hours, no egg and she was standing forlorn inside the dog crate.
I
went to work to
I felt inside her - through the vent and could feel the egg, felt the bones on the outside, the abdomen and then - all the while sweet talking to her ...went about to gently work on pushing - periodically applying more coconut oil into the vent opening.
- set up another bath and extra warm and cold water on the side,
- the coconut oil and
- gloves, though after cleaning her, I ended up not using them because
I felt inside her - through the vent and could feel the egg, felt the bones on the outside, the abdomen and then - all the while sweet talking to her ...went about to gently work on pushing - periodically applying more coconut oil into the vent opening.
--->>>>> I had previously practiced on an already laid egg how much pressure I could apply and how and have the egg not break.
This I found very helpful later!!!!. While I was massaging, stretching and
pushing, the sweet girl even tried to push a couple of times during the
process. I stretched the vent gently, pushing some more and eventually
...with a scream from her and a small tear and a little bleeding - this
egg came out. I showed it to her, she relaxed in my lap and we stayed
like that a few minutes. She knew exactly that I had helped her. This
is a tiny hen and the egg was large, or very large, and sort of
misshapen. I will crack it at at some point to see what is inside.
- The big, slightly odd shaped egg was hers
Mucus
membranes got swollen during this process ....I cleaned up the blood
and put some more coconut oil on the outside. I can only hope nothing of
the intestinal tract or genital tract got torn inside during all that
stretching. She rested, standing up drying her feathers most of the
afternoon, and I gave her soft foods in the evening.
She
came to the front of the brooder/hospital cage the next morning, ate
some more soft foods (boiled egg yolk, kefir and starter crumbles)
...but no poop. The back still looked "odd" possibly in part because of
the coconut oil.
- The next morning
Later
I let her out for about an hour while most of the other chickens where
elsewhere...and there was a normal poo --oh good, never thought I'd love
to see a chicken poop. She walked carefully. Things looked a little
swollen still in the back, I didn't feel another egg, but unless she
stops laying...there will be more - and with the swelling and tear, we
are not out of the woods yet...
- Shaking something off ...
I
sat on the coop floor for a while and - as is her habit, she flew on my
shoulder and then i took her into my lap, preening her ...she fell
asleep for a little bit. She ate a little more soft food, but pretty
much I kept her inside here box covered for the rest of the day and she
settled in a "nest" in the brooder/hospital cage.
Why
did she lay such a huge egg? Not sure, maybe it was the big rooster
that may have mated with her? The thing about having different sized
chicken breeds - it can be hard on the hens if you also have roosters in
the mixed flock. I do not know however if that has anything to do the
larger egg size.
If
I had not been able to pass it - the next step would have been to get
someone to help and use a needle and syringe to suck the inside of the
egg out, gently collapse the egg hoping no shell fragment pierces
anything and hopefully remove it of let it pass. I was praying we didn't
have to go there and also that the egg would not break.
She
does not have much meat on her. I can feel the breastbone for sure.
Most of my chickens are kind of skinny - and buttercups are considered
"light" chickens. It seems I do give them enough food for the fact that
they and they free range all day long - but they are skinny - and egg
binding is supposed to be, if anything, a thing of obese chickens. There
is NOTHING obese in this one. Could be I need to feed them more, but if
there had been any fat there at all, not sure this egg would have
passed.
Layer
feed should provide enough calcium plus they also get all their egg
shells as part of the kitchen scraps. The thing is, when muscles are
stretched beyond a certain limit...they loose the ability to contract,
no matter how much calcium you have. That egg was too big for her.
I
read that sometimes - or maybe often, it will be a recurring problem.
If taking your chicken to a vet is an option, there are things to
consider
- Calcium shots - to help the egg shell harden, help with muscles allowing the hen to hopefully pass the egg
- Lupron shots to stop hens from ovulating
- Spaying your hen as a permanent solution
I did Karma Burn runs for her (the only orb I use form the urthgame site), which works like a prayer for me and also called in spirit guides to help with a chant taught to me by a shaman a long long time ago - and after that, when a vet is not an option - do your best and then it is: let go let god.
I looked into her eyes often enough, and told her I loved her. No matter what - that always stays.
So grateful the egg came out and grateful it didn't break.
I am glad she is eating, though carefully. She has pooped - YAY. I didn't see any redness around her vent - good. Hopefully she won't have to lay another egg till at least another day...
You can read of the further outcome on this page here: at chicks and weeds - actually - she recovered and ..thought not many, is still laying.
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