Egg bound chicken?

[thatcrazychooklady]

Hi there,

It seems I have an egg bound chicken. She is a Plymouth Rock and about 7 months old. She started laying 3 weeks ago but is quite infrequent. She was in the cooping sitting down for a while today but instead of finding an egg there was just some wet shavings. Her last egg was 3 days ago and she has for the last week been laying every second day so I expected one today or yesterday. Tonight when I went to lock them all up she wasn't in the coop but had squished herself between an outdoor chair and the fence.
Her tail is down and her breathing seems a bit more laboured than usual. I think she is straining a bit and her tail is bobbing up and down with each breath slightly. I have brought her inside and given her a 20 minute bath in warm water (I don't have Epsom salts). She has had some oats and yoghurt (is particularly interested in the yoghurt) and has had a bit to drink so I think that's good. I have felt inside her vent and there is a hard egg like object not far in, although I can't see it from the outside. When I feel for it, all that comes out is very smelly diarrhoea. She did have a bit of diarrhoea stuck to her feathers too.

I'm pretty confident she is egg bound as the hard object feels smooth and very egg like. I've done a lot of googling (as I'm sure you can imagine) and some common things aside from the bath is calcium supplement. My issue is it is nearly 10pm (in Australia) and I don't have any human calcium tablets or anything else. I've tried giving her some crushed egg shells and she pecked at them once but hasn't been interested since. Are there any effective calcium alternatives that will help her? Any other tips from people? Anything is really appreciated!

 

[Eggcessive]

You can give a human calcium tablet, an antacid such as Tums that contains calcium, or you could try grinding the egg shell into some yogurt. Also get her drinking water in case she is dehydrated. Place her in a warm humid room such as the bathroom after running a hot shower with door closed. A heating pad on low under her can also work. Lubricate her vent inside and out with some vegetable oil. Let her relax. She may have a very large egg or possibly a lash egg, which can feel hard but it is actually a product of infection in the oviduct. Hopefully she will get the egg out.

 

[thatcrazychooklady]

You can give a human calcium tablet, an antacid such as Tums that contains calcium, or you could try grinding the egg shell into some yogurt. Also get her drinking water in case she is dehydrated. Place her in a warm humid room such as the bathroom after running a hot shower with door closed. A heating pad on low under her can also work. Lubricate her vent inside and out with some vegetable oil. Let her relax. She may have a very large egg or possibly a lash egg, which can feel hard but it is actually a product of infection in the oviduct. Hopefully she will get the egg out.

Thank you so much for replying! Unfortunately we don't have any calcium tablets for humans at all. I tried giving her some egg shell with yoghurt and she had a bit but is concentrating on pushing I think. The only antacid I have is liquid Gaviscon which does have 325mg of calcium carbonate/10 ml but it also has sodium alginate and sodium bicarbonate. Are these safe for chickens? If so how much do I need to give her? I tried giving her another warm bath but she started mouth breathing and looked very uncomfortable standing up and sitting back down over and over again, whereas she was very relaxed for the first bath. I took her out after 5-10 minutes because she looked so uncomfortable. The mouth breathing settled down after taking her out and she's taken to sitting with her eyes closed and straining a bit. I can see that her vent has widened but isn't open at all so I think (or rather hope this means) the egg (or lash egg) has gotten a bit closer to the opening. I'm thinking I just need to leave her to try to sort it out herself and check her again in the morning (it's nearly 1am now). I might move her to a bathroom - how long do you suggest leaving the hot shower running for it to be effective enough at increasing the humidity? Thank you again for getting back to me, I'm very worried!