Please Help! Eggbound & Possible Prolapsed Vent

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

I have an eight and a half month old Buff Orpington (her name is Leeli) that is egg bound. She is panting and can barely stay awake. She can't stand up and doesn't have any balance. She is exhausted.
I brought her inside and she passed some egg yolk. That confirmed my fears.
We soaked her in epsom salt and gave her some tums.
I followed some instructions I found on other threads and reached inside to try and help anything stuck come out. I think she has an egg that is soft-shelled. The egg won't come out. She pushed several times but to no avail. Little bits of egg yolk come out every once in a while. It seems like it may be prolapsed? But I don't even know exactly what that is.
We even tried using a syringe to inject a solution into her vent (1 TBs white vinegar to 1 qt of water).
My mom is running out to the store to get some other supplies.
My whole family is frantically searching for what to do to help her. I'm honestly at my wits end and completely exhausted. Is there anything I can do or will she die? Does anyone have advice for me to try? I love my chickie so much.

 

[Tiffany Wikk]

Unfortunately Leeli passed away a couple minutes ago. She was fast asleep and suddenly woke up and began to throw up a lot. I think she may have choked on something when she threw up. I'm not exactly sure what happened or why. We tried everything we could.
She was such a sweet chicken and I'm going to miss her so much.
Thank you all for the help! Hopefully now we are prepared for the next time. Thankfully she was very comfortable.
Thank you all again for being there for the help and comfort.

 

[azygous]

I'm going to post two of my favorite tutorials - why chickens can handle swallowing a whole pill and how to properly syringe fluds into a chicken.

Here's my tutorial on why chickens have an easier time swallowing a bulky pill than humans do.

We think chickens must have a problem swallowing a large pill just because we do. But their digestive process is different from ours. We begin the digestive process by chewing first, then swallowing. We aren't meant to swallow large chunks. We naturally choke.

Chickens don't have teeth for a good reason. They don't need them. Their digestive process begins after they swallow. The food goes directly into their crop without passing "Go", and then it trickles down into their gizzard where the "chewing" action goes into full swing.

Therefore, chickens can amaze us by swallowing things that we think would choke them, large pills included. But they actually have no problem. Slip the pill into the beak and you'll see it disappear like magic. Unless you don't get it far enough back on the tongue. Chickens can rival dogs and cats at firing a pill across the room like a guided missile, but it's not because they aren't able to swallow it easily.

Below is a depiction on how to insert a syringe into the esophagus, thus avoiding the airway in the center of the throat behind the tongue.

 

[azygous]

@tlcmurphy is correct. Never inject fluids into the vent of poultry. They are not like horses and dogs and people. Fluids injected into the vent can carry bacteria up into the reproductive tract.

The patient should be placed in a crate on absorbent towels and put somewhere with dim lighting and very quiet. Give calcium citrate with D3. Also, give sugar water to head off shock and to revive her by elevating her glucose.

Then leave her alone. Yes, two eggs back to back are often involved in egg binding. If the yolk has broken inside her she will require an antibiotic to stop bacteria infection from the yolk.

Leave her in the dim, quiet, warm place over night with the sugar water to drink. She may also have her regular crumbles, as well. In the morning, give another calcium tablet if she hasn't passed the egg(s). You will know when she's finished passing the egg(s) when she starts behaving like she feels better.

 

[azygous]

Since she had a shell-less egg, she should have a calcium citrate once a day for the next several days until she's laying eggs with a normal shell. She may not lay another egg for a while. In that case, do the calcium for five days and then stop.

If you ever see a hen standing still, not moving around much, acting like she's got something on her mind and not knowing what to do, her tail may be low, and her shoulders hunched, give a calcium citrate immediately. I keep a bottle in my run at all times so I can treat a hen that may be egg bound right away. Often, the calcium works in about one hour. Sometimes, it takes two days and more calcium.

 

[tlcmurphy]

Also, I wouldn’t put any solutions up the vent (unless someone more knowledgeable than me advises it), I don’t think that will help her any. Can you keep her inside where it’s warm and dark for the night so she’ll be more comfortable?

 

[Tiffany Wikk]

SHE LAYED AN EGG!!!!!!!!
Thank the Lord!!

 

[azygous]

Leave her in the crate in the warm quiet place over night with the sugar water. You may add the Poultry Booster to it.

Leaving her in the crate will allow you to monitor her behavior and her poop. If there is no more egg for her to expel, her poop will be normal. If there is still a blockage, whether from another egg or pieces of an egg, her poop will be watery. If there is no more yellow in her poop or discharge from the vent, an antibiotic may not be necessary.

Unfortunately, if she needs an antibiotic, you will need to go through a vet to get one that will treat a reproductive infection such as amoxicillin. The only antibiotics still allowed over the counter are for respiratory diseases. All others now require a vet's prescription. Or you can use any left over people antibiotics.

 

[azygous]

Chickens are not vocal when they don't feel well. Unlike us humans when sick who complain to everyone who will listen, sick or injured chickens go mute because they have an instinct not to call attention to themselves both because the others will pick on them while vulnerable and to protect the flock from opportunistic predators.

A normal hen getting ready to lay an egg will loudly advertise to everyone to prepare for a spectacular event never before seen in all the long history of egg laying. They then go into the nest where they settle in quietly. The egg is laid and then the real show begins when the hen bursts out of the nest loudly proclaiming her majestic feat. Often the other hens will join in the loud celebration.

The louder a chicken is, the better they are feeling.

 

[Tiffany Wikk]

I'm sorry about your little chicken.

Thank you.

I don't know if I missed it in this thread but when my ducks have egg-bound problems I give them calcium gluconate. It's a liquid that you can buy at Tractor Supply which is much easier to give than a pill and in my experience it works fast.

I'll definitely have to look in to that! We're headed to Tractor Supply later this week for some cattle panels. I'll look into it to have on hand.

Also, you can buy calcium citrate in powder form that you can sprinkle on their food when you begin to see thin-shelled eggs from your flock. I keep that in a spice shaker and put on the food as needed.

That's a really smart idea! I have a pill crusher that might work to crush the calcium citrate pill that has the vitamin D3 in it. That would be nice to feed them occasionally preventatively! We can also try to find the powder too. I'll still try to feed a specific hen the two pills when there is a problem, but I like the idea of feeding all of them some of the powder when I notice something slightly off.