Egg Bound?

[Whittehitt]

Howdy guys! I have a maybe 2 year old Copper Maran with a hard abdomen. It feels like possibly two eggs? One on the side, closer to her leg and one closer to the middle. Her appetite is great, but crop is full in the mornings and she has diarrhea, specifically green colored.

I've taken her inside, given her Nutri Drench, egg shell (for calcium), she has oyster shell as well. She's been getting epsom salt baths for about 20 mins each time, yesterday was 3x/day. I've given her mineral and olive oil orally and cloaca-lly and that usually stimulates her to poo, once again, diarrhea.

From what I can tell the "egg" may be interfering with her being able to scratch her face, she tries to lift her leg up to scratch but can't. She walks fine though. You wouldn't be able to tell anything is wrong unless you felt her abdomen! The only thing that made me think she might be sick is she's usually a little flighty, but she let me pick her up easily a few days ago.

The mass/es are hard, so I'm not thinking water belly. Maybe egg yolk peritonitis? But I wasn't able to find online if that feels firm or not, the masses feel just like eggs. I've tried massaging her gently as well to try and move the egg out, but no luck there. She doesn't try to lay or stay in her nesting box. Super alert and eats and drinks fine. Penguin stance sometimes, but nothing major, she does keep her tail slightly down though.

Any ideas or recommendations? It's been 2 days now and I don't want to keep doing what I'm doing if it's not working or something else is wrong with her

 

[Eggcessive]

If she is egg bound she needs to get a human calcium tablet with D 3 orally into her beak to swallow. The egg shells wouldn’t be enough.place her on a warm towel near food and water. With her symptoms, her penguin stance, not being able to scratch her face well, and sitting around, she may have salpingitis with solid egg masses inside her belly. If she does have that she may live for awhile, a year or two, but hard to know. Let us know if she passes an egg, and you can post pictures of her poop. Is her crop emptying overnight? It looks a bit enlarged in the picture.

 

[Whittehitt]

If she is egg bound she needs to get a human calcium tablet with D 3 orally into her beak to swallow. The egg shells wouldn’t be enough.place her on a warm towel near food and water. With her symptoms, her penguin stance, not being able to scratch her face well, and sitting around, she may have salpingitis with solid egg masses inside her belly. If she does have that she may live for awhile, a year or two, but hard to know. Let us know if she passes an egg, and you can post pictures of her poop. Is her crop emptying overnight? It looks a bit enlarged in the picture.

Gave her a calcium pill today, no improvement yet. Eats and drinks fine, crop is not empty in the mornings, diarrhea. Drinks her vitamin water thankfully. Hobbling more today when she walks but just as active as usual, same slight penguin stance/tail is down. No egg or attempt to lay that I could tell (I've got a camera on her). I did glove up with mineral oil to feel inside her and felt an egg shaped thing, but it felt like it was behind skin if that makes sense? I didn't feel the shell of an egg, but something egg shaped, just as firm, but it's definitely not near the opening. I'm leaning EYP at this point since baths aren't helping and she's not trying to lay. This would be day 4 that she's been like this - doesn't egg bound kill them after 48 hrs?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

hard abdomen. It feels like possibly two eggs? One on the side, closer to her leg and one closer to the middle. Her appetite is great, but crop is full in the mornings and she has diarrhea, specifically green colored.

I've taken her inside, given her Nutri Drench, egg shell (for calcium), she has oyster shell as well. She's been getting epsom salt baths for about 20 mins each time, yesterday was 3x/day. I've given her mineral and olive oil orally and cloaca-lly and that usually stimulates her to poo, once again, diarrhea.

The mass/es are hard, so I'm not thinking water belly. Maybe egg yolk peritonitis? But I wasn't able to find online if that feels firm or not, the masses feel just like eggs.

Super alert and eats and drinks fine. Penguin stance sometimes, but nothing major

I did glove up with mineral oil to feel inside her and felt an egg shaped thing, but it felt like it was behind skin if that makes sense? I didn't feel the shell of an egg, but something egg shaped, just as firm, but it's definitely not near the opening. I'm leaning EYP at this point since baths aren't helping and she's not trying to lay.

I agree, it sounds like she may have laid internally or she has some type of mass or other reproductive disorder. (EYP, Salpingitis, Cancer, etc.).

I wouldn't feel inside the vent anymore. If she enjoys the soaks, you can do those just for feel good.

I'd still give her Extra Calcium once daily as suggested. Sounds like she's eating/drinking o.k.
The crop not emptying overnight can be a symptom seen in hens with reproductive issues. Inflammation/swelling, a mass in the abdomen, etc. can restrict the digestive system and slow it down remarkably. You may find that you need to treat as Sour Crop since it's relatively slow. Give bits of coconut oil a couple of times a day. An anti-fungal/yeast medication can be given to help as well. All of this is in the article below.

I'd monitor her closely and check for lice/mites frequently as well. When a hen is not well, they don't preen and dust bath as much so external parasites can really take hold quickly.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Whittehitt]

I agree, it sounds like she may have laid internally or she has some type of mass or other reproductive disorder. (EYP, Salpingitis, Cancer, etc.).

I wouldn't feel inside the vent anymore. If she enjoys the soaks, you can do those just for feel good.

I'd still give her Extra Calcium once daily as suggested. Sounds like she's eating/drinking o.k.
The crop not emptying overnight can be a symptom seen in hens with reproductive issues. Inflammation/swelling, a mass in the abdomen, etc. can restrict the digestive system and slow it down remarkably. You may find that you need to treat as Sour Crop since it's relatively slow. Give bits of coconut oil a couple of times a day. An anti-fungal/yeast medication can be given to help as well. All of this is in the article below.

I'd monitor her closely and check for lice/mites frequently as well. When a hen is not well, they don't preen and dust bath as much so external parasites can really take hold quickly.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Thank you for the help! You helped me with the Buff Brahma in the pic a few years ago too! Gretchen got attacked by a dog and was limping/not eating. Doing awesome now, she made a full recovery

I'll give her some more calcium today, I crushed up a tablet yesterday and mixed it with a little egg and she ate it all no problem! Same symptoms today, but she is eating and drinking and moving around (albeit slowly).

 

[Whittehitt]

So no improvements, not sure what to do next. Her appetite is awesome but her walk is worse.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So no improvements, not sure what to do next. Her appetite is awesome but her walk is worse.

I'm not sure what else you can do except make her as comfortable as you can.
I would assume she's not roosting, if that's the case, wherever she likes to bed down, freshen up her bedding and make it comfy with a thick layer of straw or shavings. Keep the parasites under control.

Then I'd let her do her thing until she no longer can. With the walking getting worse, she may be on her way out soon, I'm sorry.

 

[Whittehitt]

I'm not sure what else you can do except make her as comfortable as you can.
I would assume she's not roosting, if that's the case, wherever she likes to bed down, freshen up her bedding and make it comfy with a thick layer of straw or shavings. Keep the parasites under control.

Then I'd let her do her thing until she no longer can. With the walking getting worse, she may be on her way out soon, I'm sorry.

Thank you! Feels good to hear that from someone else since I feel like I'm not doing everything I can do, but I don't believe there's anything left to do at the same time. She does roost somehow! (I made a ramp so they can walk to the roost a long time ago for Gretchen, since the dog attack causes her to walk with a slight limp, so it is easier for everyone to roost). Still super alert and eating/drinking, I'll just keep an eye on her overall well-being and go from there. I pick up some baby chicks this weekend and next week, so hopefully that'll take my mind off of the bad part of chicken keeping

 

[Eggcessive]

I have lost a lot of hens over the years, one every now and then to the common reproductive problems. It is always good to make sure they are not ever getting picked on by the others, because shortly before they die, that can happen. I just offer favorite foods, scrambled egg and mushy wet chicken feed, and let them hang out with the flock. Some have crop blockages or sour crop, or starve themselves, so checking that the crop is emptying overnight is good. I usually do a home necropsy on my hens when they die, to see if anything looks obvious. Most state vets will also perform a necropsy that is much more thorough.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you! Feels good to hear that from someone else since I feel like I'm not doing everything I can do, but I don't believe there's anything left to do at the same time. She does roost somehow! (I made a ramp so they can walk to the roost a long time ago for Gretchen, since the dog attack causes her to walk with a slight limp, so it is easier for everyone to roost). Still super alert and eating/drinking, I'll just keep an eye on her overall well-being and go from there. I pick up some baby chicks this weekend and next week, so hopefully that'll take my mind off of the bad part of chicken keeping