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  • Egg bound hen

    Our favourite hen - and our best layer - suddenly became egg bound on Thursday evening. Her vent looked terrible, and she was bleeding. We suspected that she was egg bound, but weren't sure. We called the vet and he advised us that if she came to him he would need to operate, and she would probably die.

    We washed her, separated her, and kept her warm. The next day she wasn't looking good, but then an egg without a shell semi-came out. We helped it out, and after that she looked loads better. We washed her vent, which was dirty again, but not bloody. A bit of the vent, possibly a tear, sort of pulses, but the rest looks fine now. Twice since all round her tail has been drippy and yellow - presumably with egg.

    She is eating and drinking, and although clearly not very happy is strong and reasonably bright eyed.

    Is there anything we can do to help her to get over this? She has been a super layer since she came onto lay in November. Her eggs have always been large with a good shell, and this came completely out of the blue. Her food hasn't changed in any way, and consists mainly of layers pellets, with some treats of corn or porridge or veg scraps most days (about a handful between 2 hens). She has (or had, before we separated her - just thought of that!) access to grit.

    My husband has pointed out that we can't leave her in this condition indefinitely, and wanted to give her until Friday. I've begged for more time, and he's agreed but asked me to ask here for an indication of how much time we should give her. I badly want to give her every possible chance, I really love that hen!

    We have 9 rescue hens who are thriving and healthy, with no problems at all, but our 3 pet pedigree hens are a different story. It's only a month or 2 since Speckle died for no apparent reason, leaving us with 2, and now I'm so worried that Ballery won't pull through. I really hope that someone can advise me.

  • #2
    Caroline, I can't help, coz I don't know about hen health, but I just wanted to send a virtual (((hug))) and my firmly crossed fingers that Ballery pulls through.

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    • #3
      She might have had a prolapse. Some hens apparently do this when they lay large eggs. (I've no experience of it but have read about it. )I've just looked it up in one of my books and they suggest you stop layers pellets for a couple of weeks to stop her laying and give the vent a chance to heal. You also need to keep checking for any protruding tissue and gently push it back inside. Its unusual in such a young hen but worth considering.
      My thought is that a course of antibiotic will help. My vet prescribes Baytril half a ml twice a day for at least 5 days.

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      • #4
        What a worry for you, hope she's on the mend soon.Afraid I can't offer advice on this problem,still a newby to this hen keeping lark,but hugs over the airwaysxx
        Gardening forever- housework whenever

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        • #5
          oh dear! Poor thing! Sorry - not experienced to help, but sending you our very best hen wishes!

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          • #6
            My vet prescribes Baytril half a ml twice a day for at least 5 days.

            Could you tell me why that is, please? Is being egg bound a bacterial thing? That would certainly change the way I'm treating her. We've stopped feeding her layers pellets now, and have switched to corn, based on your advice. Also the odd treat of porridge, which is her favourite.

            She's still very strong looking, so I really, really hope she'll pull through!

            Thanks for your good wishes and support, everyone.

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            • #7
              If the egg has broken inside her it can set up infections. That's why the baytril will be prescribed. It's just so that if any broken eggshell or bits of egg are still inside she won't get infection from them. I do hope she pulls through. It's a worry isn't it?
              Whoever plants a garden believes in the future.

              www.vegheaven.blogspot.com Updated March 9th - Spring

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              • #8
                Originally posted by CarolineW View Post
                My vet prescribes Baytril half a ml twice a day for at least 5 days.

                Could you tell me why that is, please? Is being egg bound a bacterial thing? That would certainly change the way I'm treating her. We've stopped feeding her layers pellets now, and have switched to corn, based on your advice. Also the odd treat of porridge, which is her favourite.

                She's still very strong looking, so I really, really hope she'll pull through!

                Thanks for your good wishes and support, everyone.
                I was thinking that if she did have a prolapse as it sounded from your description then there could be a bacterial infection set up. As Flummery has said if the egg breaks then that can cause an infection / peritonitis. If she seems ok then don't worry but a couple of mine have laid soft eggs and they've broken, then a couple of days later they start to look ill - hence the Baytril.
                The idea of stopping the layers pellets is to put her off lay by unbalancing her diet so the vent can heal if damaged.
                Really hope she's ok for you - sounding good so far anyway. Keep posting with progress!

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by CarolineW View Post
                  My husband has pointed out that we can't leave her in this condition indefinitely, and wanted to give her until Friday. I've begged for more time, and he's agreed but asked me to ask here for an indication of how much time we should give her. I badly want to give her every possible chance, I really love that hen!
                  One of mine was egg bound a while back - it took her a good 2 weeks to get back to normal and she didn't have half the symptoms yours has. Keep holding out for more time.
                  Last edited by lizzylemon; 22-04-2009, 03:34 PM.

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                  • #10
                    Hope she pulls through it quickly.x
                    the fates lead him who will;him who won't they drag.

                    Happiness is not having what you want,but wanting what you have.xx

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                    • #11
                      Thanks, everyone. Bathed her again today, this time in water with epsom salts and sugar (?! why?!), which was recommended by a vet. I've got antibacterial drops in her water. Keeping her off the layers pellets. She still looks strong. This time it was very clear that she has a prolapse. Part of it seems to have a scab on, though - perhaps it tore and is now healing?? We tried to put it back, but without success. We couldn't find the preparation H we bought on the recommendation of a site we found, so will try again tomorrow once we've found that (or bought it again, one or the other).

                      I'm very grateful for the advice and good wishes, everyone. I'll keep you posted. If anyone has any further advice, please do let me know.

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                      • #12
                        Hope you are successful. I also read about haemorrhoid cream on Little Hen Rescue but it didn't state a particular make so perhaps it doesn't have to be Prep H.

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                        • #13
                          Good to hear she's ok. Fingers crossed for her (and you). Sounds like she's getting the best of care.

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                          • #14
                            Sorry to hear this, they seem to be in a lot of pain when they get it. One of our ducks had a similar problem last year. The advice we were given was to put her out of her suffering! We increased the amount of available oyster shell instead and after 3 days she passed a long sleeve of soft shell and a bit of inner egg separately. She never had a problem again since and an egg a day all autumn, winter and spring, knock on wood!

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                            • #15
                              Don't want to be the harbinger of doom but once a hen has prolapsed she will always be "weak" in that area and probably do it again and again. Unless you are prepared to keep stuffing the prolapse back in and do endless nursing, my feeling is that she should be culled. Had this problem with an old RIR and she never really recovered from her initial prolapse, despite resuming laying, and after the third time we decided to cull.

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