help!! think carmen may be eggbound??

[angelat]

hi all

not sure what is up with carmen this morning. yesterday i found a what i can only describe as a deflated balloon in the nesting box. today carmen is under the weather, sleepy. she laid a hard egg this morning, but she is just standing there and her bum is going in and out?? she has had a small amount of water and hardly any food today. kept going back to the nesting box as well. anyone else had this. what can i do??

[Flummery]

They usually suggest bathing her bum in warm water. Sounds like she laid a softie which can tire her out. They have to strain but there's nothing hard to push against. She may have an egg or two stacked up behind ready to come. You could try a bit of vaseline round the inside of the vent too (Now wash your hands please!) You might get a couple of hard-shelled eggs close together. Hope she's ok. When she starts to eat again try some poultry spice on her food - or one of the pick-me up drinks in her water -(I think one's called Battles?)

[MaureenHall]

I think Flum's right there. Try the vaseline and warm water. See if she'll have a bit of a treat from your had, if she does then sprinkle a little poultry spice on the next lot just to get it down her. fingers crossed she'll perk up a bit tomorrow.

[shirlthegirl43]

One of our girls is distinctly off-colour today too - hunched up and not taking much notice of anything. I know she hasn't been laying for a few days and her comb is sort of faded looking, we did find a baggy egg a few days ago but don't know whose it was. She doesn't seem to be crop-bound and her bum isn't dirty though she is doing runny poo (all 3 are so I guess the wet weather is to blame a bit there). Any suggestions on what to tempt her with please?

Hope your hen is okay soon Angela and sorry for hijacking your thread but didn't see much point in starting another on nearly the same thing

[Nicos]

Poor little things

I have read that you should make sure they drink a lot...apparently they drink more than you would expect....dehydration can also make you feel yuk...esp if you've got eggs stuck up yr bum! ( Sorry!)

[Ashbylife]

One of ours laid a soft egg a while back (her first ever egg) and she was really under the weather for a couple of days after - exactly as you describe, hunched up, not wanting to eat and also going to bed very early. I made her a warm mash with poultry spice on, shut the others away and left her with it. This did get her eating a bit and then she started drinking (quite a bit more than usual), after a few days she was fine again. Good luck with yours, it is a real worry when they're off colour.

[shirlthegirl43]

Glad to read on another thread that Carmen seemed better before bed.

Update on Cardinal Puff Puff the Second - she sadly didn't wake up this morning. On the floor near her was a long thin egg with a very poor quality shell. I suspect that something must have gone wrong in her egg production line for some reason. We had spent hours yesterday trying to coax her to eat or drink but she just wasn't interested and spent the day hunched up in the sunshine, no obvious straining and no feeling of a stuck egg. I said to younger son (she was 'his' hen) when he came in from school that I thought he better say goodbye to her which he did. I really hoped she would bounce back but that was not to be.

Hope Carmen had a better night.

[Nicos]

Sorry Shirl xx

[Flummery]

So sorry to read about The Cardinal Shirley. They get to be real members of the family in such a short time, don't they?

[shirlthegirl43]

Thanks Nicos.

It is a shame as they were just getting really friendly - Puff was the most gregarious of the three. We are now planning a bigger house and more permanent run and then the addition of some extra birds as replacing just the one would be tricky I think.

[frias]

So sorry Shirley to hear about Puff. When one of mine was like this she did get better. I guess we were lucky. These girls seem to go downhill so quickly don't they.

[angelat]

so sorry about puff shirley

so sorry to hear about puff. What a shame, I was dreading opening the pop hole this morning but luckily carmen full of beans today. We get so attached to our chooks its really sad when things go wrong. x

[shirlthegirl43]

Thanks for the kind words folks.

Hope it doesn't seem mercenary but we decided to replace Puff as quickly as possible before the pecking order got sorted out too much. See other thread

Glad to see that Carmen is better.

[kirsty b]

Not mercenary at all Shirley. It still shocks me at just how quick they can go downhill, I've put them away all fine at night, then in the morning one is a bit off colour (nothing drastic), and then when I go to put them in again, she's gone. Happened twice now.

Can't imagine life without chooks. Planning to add to the family in spring.