Please Help! Eggbound & Possible Prolapsed Vent

[Tiffany Wikk]

We buried Leeli today in the backyard. We layed her in a little box and put a big stone above after we buried her.
Leeli was such a sweet hen. She would ask for hugs and would cuddle under my arm. This bright and cheery hen will certainly be missed.
July 19th 2023 to April 9th 2024

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

@azygous, @tlcmurphy, & @Starrponies
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of the help and support that y'all gave us. You have no idea how much the advice, information, encouragement, and kindness y'all showed means to my family. It was an incredible blessing to have y'all there when we were desperately trying to figure out what to do. I thank God that he brought you at just the right time for us.

It hurts a lot to lose our precious Leeli. She was so sweet and cheerful. She had the prettiest voice that always sounded like she was singing a beautiful song. And she laid the prettiest dark brown eggs. She enjoyed hugs and getting to sit with us. She bonded with our other Buff Orpington, Sadie. Sadie is the biggest and she was the smallest, but they always sat together. We will all miss her very much.

The help that y'all offered meant that she was able to sleep in peace in her last moments. Your kindness also brought tears to our eyes and helped us through this hard time. May God bless you all. Thank you.

-- Elspeth

 

[tlcmurphy]

We buried Leeli today in the backyard. We layed her in a little box and put a big stone above after we buried her.
Leeli was such a sweet hen. She would ask for hugs and would cuddle under my arm. This bright and cheery hen will certainly be missed.
July 19th 2023 to April 9th 2024

She’s a beauty, I’m so sorry you lost her. She will live in your memories forever

 

[Tiffany Wikk]

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.
View attachment 3797165

Hello again, @azygous!
I'm not noticing any symptoms in one of my hens except for her tail is a bit droopy. I want to give her the calcium citrate pill to be on the safe side. You had mentioned you were going to post your favorite tutorial about feeding chickens pills. I'm not sure if it's on my end if the link didn't go through or anything. I was wondering if you could re-post it so I can watch them before I give the pills. I've looked up other videos but I wanted to know your favorite so I can learn from it and follow it if it says how to do it.
She looks like she's hiding in the photo but she's just pecking the stump. She's acting fine but her tail was droopy as you can see in the photo.

Both her and Leeli would always make a lot of noise before they layed their egg and would seem confused. So I want to be extra careful with this hen since she shared that some attribute.

 

[tlcmurphy]

Hello again, @azygous!
I'm not noticing any symptoms in one of my hens except for her tail is a bit droopy. I want to give her the calcium citrate pill to be on the safe side. You had mentioned you were going to post your favorite tutorial about feeding chickens pills. I'm not sure if it's on my end if the link didn't go through or anything. I was wondering if you could re-post it so I can watch them before I give the pills. I've looked up other videos but I wanted to know your favorite so I can learn from it and follow it if it says how to do it.
She looks like she's hiding in the photo but she's just pecking the stump. She's acting fine but her tail was droopy as you can see in the photo.

Both her and Leeli would always make a lot of noise before they layed their egg and would seem confused. So I want to be extra careful with this hen since she shared that some attribute.

There was no link to giving pills, just a description in Azygous’ post. Basically, you pull down gently on her wattles to open her beak, then just slip the pill in! She’ll swallow automatically if you get it in past her tongue so she can’t spit it out

 

[Tiffany Wikk]

There was no link to giving pills, just a description in Azygous’ post. Basically, you pull down gently on her wattles to open her beak, then just slip the pill in! She’ll swallow automatically if you get it in past her tongue so she can’t spit it out

Alright!
I watched a video of a lady doing it and so I tried that. Mari (the hen) gave me a hard time but then I got the hang of it and successfully gave her two pills! I let her back outside now and I'm keeping an eye on her for a bit since she was panting inside.
My mom went back out to the store yesterday and got the same bottle of calcium citrate that azygous had in the article so we had those on hand. Mari got 630 mg of the calcium citrate.
After she calmed down a bit it was easy to give her the pill! After I put it in her mouth it was gone like nothing happened. I'm glad to have learned the better way to give a chicken a pill!
Thank you for the help! I'm pretty tired so I must have misunderstood.

 

[tlcmurphy]

Alright!
I watched a video of a lady doing it and so I tried that. Mari (the hen) gave me a hard time but then I got the hang of it and successfully gave her two pills! I let her back outside now and I'm keeping an eye on her for a bit since she was panting inside.
My mom went back out to the store yesterday and got the same bottle of calcium citrate that azygous had in the article so we had those on hand. Mari got 630 mg of the calcium citrate.
After she calmed down a bit it was easy to give her the pill! After I put it in her mouth it was gone like nothing happened. I'm glad to have learned the better way to give a chicken a pill!
Thank you for the help! I'm pretty tired so I must have misunderstood.

I’m glad it went well! I start gagging just looking at pills that size, it amazes me that chickens will just swallow them!

 

[azygous]

The tutorial about pills and chickens is in post #67. You can pull down on the wattles to get a chicken to open their beak, but that causes pain. I would rather slip a finger nail into the beak and pry it open and shove the pill inside.

Hens can move the tail in different positions. That alone is not cause for concern. It's the overall behavior you must look for. In fact, it's almost intuitive after you become accustomed to how your flock behaves to notice one that is not mingling and inteacting, moving around with purpose. A sick chicken stands still, often will isolate in a quiet corner away from the others. Their movement is often slow and aimless. They will have no appetite. Poop will probably be runny. If you haven't had an egg from the hen in a day or so, that's another clue.

 

[Tiffany Wikk]

The tutorial about pills and chickens is in post #67. You can pull down on the wattles to get a chicken to open their beak, but that causes pain. I would rather slip a finger nail into the beak and pry it open and shove the pill inside.

Hens can move the tail in different positions. That alone is not cause for concern. It's the overall behavior you must look for. In fact, it's almost intuitive after you become accustomed to how your flock behaves to notice one that is not mingling and inteacting, moving around with purpose. A sick chicken stands still, often will isolate in a quiet corner away from the others. Their movement is often slow and aimless. They will have no appetite. Poop will probably be runny. If you haven't had an egg from the hen in a day or so, that's another clue.

Mari layed an egg yesterday and her poo seems fine today so that's good!

She has always complained a lot when she needs to lay an egg or she's hot or she's not happy. She was kinda making her "crying" noise with her tail down. She lays thinner shells in her eggs to, so I think she struggles a bit. I'm glad to know that the tail drooping isn't necessarily a problem. When I went out to keep an eye on her I saw she drank water, ate food (even made a cute chuckle when she found something she liked) and was interacting with the other chickens. I think she's definitely fine but since I know she struggles with her eggs I thought it might help her to have an extra boost of the pills.

The post #67 was super helpful to me! I just misunderstood the first sentence because I'm tired.

I'll be careful about the wattles. I was able to kinda stick my finger in a little and pry her mouth open since she was panting.

Thanks again for the help! I'm sorry I'm confusing. It's just easy to freak out now when my hen seems a little down.

 

[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.