Hen Possibly Egg-Bound, Should I use Duramycin?

[StephanieET]

Hi,
I have a sick EE hen. Her name is Justine, and she is about 1.5 years old. She has not been laying for about 2 weeks, maybe more, but she was otherwise normal, so I just thought it was due to a molt (her plumage has been looking rather scraggly lately, granted some of that is due to an overzealous rooster, but I digress). I was alarmed today to find that when it came time to pass out the mealworms, she did not dart in to the fold to get her share, she was kind of hiding under the coop. Her crop does feel like she has been eating some scratch, so I know she has not been without her appetite for long. Her vent looks a little enlarged, and her abdomen may be a little puffy, but I didn't feel anything hard or resembling an egg in there. The reason I think she is egg-bound is that she has clear, viscous fluid coming from her vent (resembles egg). I put her in a warm bath, and more of the fluid came out. I felt around a little bit internally, but I didn't feel any eggshells or an egg. I have her inside now, and have given her layer feed with lots of oyster shell (and she ate a little bit of it!!). My question is, would it be beneficial to give her some of the Duramycin we have on hand here, or would it just cause more problems? We also have Rooster Booster on hand (has probiotics and vitamins, I believe), and plain Nancy's yogurt. Thanks for any advice!

 

[BarredRockMom]

Hi,
I have a sick EE hen. Her name is Justine, and she is about 1.5 years old. She has not been laying for about 2 weeks, maybe more, but she was otherwise normal, so I just thought it was due to a molt (her plumage has been looking rather scraggly lately, granted some of that is due to an overzealous rooster, but I digress). I was alarmed today to find that when it came time to pass out the mealworms, she did not dart in to the fold to get her share, she was kind of hiding under the coop. Her crop does feel like she has been eating some scratch, so I know she has not been without her appetite for long. Her vent looks a little enlarged, and her abdomen may be a little puffy, but I didn't feel anything hard or resembling an egg in there. The reason I think she is egg-bound is that she has clear, viscous fluid coming from her vent (resembles egg). I put her in a warm bath, and more of the fluid came out. I felt around a little bit internally, but I didn't feel any eggshells or an egg. I have her inside now, and have given her layer feed with lots of oyster shell (and she ate a little bit of it!!). My question is, would it be beneficial to give her some of the Duramycin we have on hand here, or would it just cause more problems? We also have Rooster Booster on hand (has probiotics and vitamins, I believe), and plain Nancy's yogurt. Thanks for any advice!

Hi StephanieET:
I have no experience with this, but just searched "eggbound" as a topic here. Came up with some good info mentioning 1) eggbound hens, 2) a condition called EYP [Egg Yolk Peritonitis] and 3) a link to another possible disease called Ascites.

On 10-29-11 scratch'n'peck posted: "If her belly feels kind of mushy another possible cause could be ascites. Here is one thread that might be helpful: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=506157&p=1."


on 10-30-11 chkn posted: "I have one now (with EYP) who is doing great. What I did was give her Baytril for a week or so and drain the abdomen when I could. Make sure if you drain you do the antibiotics in case any more bacteria is introduced."

I think I'd start her on the Duramycin just to be safe. Obviously, something is going on that shouldn't be. I hope your girl Justine feels better soon. I know you're worried...

Angela

 

[Fancychooklady]

Have you wormed her lately? These symptoms are also found in vent gleet.

 

[StephanieET]

Thank you both for your responses. I will start the Duramycin in her drinking water, hopefully she will drink it. She did have some normal-ish to runny looking poops in her crate over night, which I will take as a positive sign. None of my hens have ever been wormed. I am fairly sure that she doesn't have vent gleet; when I looked it up, the discharge is supposed to have an odor and whitish color due to the yeast overgrowth. Her discharge was odorless, almost exactly like a fresh egg white. I am starting to get really turned off from buying hatchery chickens. When we got Justine, we also bought another EE chick, Mathilda, who didn"t make it past adolescence because of a crop disorder that we struggled with for months.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Thank you both for your responses. I will start the Duramycin in her drinking water, hopefully she will drink it. She did have some normal-ish to runny looking poops in her crate over night, which I will take as a positive sign. None of my hens have ever been wormed. I am fairly sure that she doesn't have vent gleet; when I looked it up, the discharge is supposed to have an odor and whitish color due to the yeast overgrowth. Her discharge was odorless, almost exactly like a fresh egg white. I am starting to get really turned off from buying hatchery chickens. When we got Justine, we also bought another EE chick, Mathilda, who didn"t make it past adolescence because of a crop disorder that we struggled with for months.

Hi StephanieET:
I hope that Justine is feeling better. I've found that if I mix the Duramycin into the water & am worried about them drinking it//drinking enough//drinking it in time to head off whatever's going on, I bring the girl(s) in, put a couple of towels down on my washing machine, sit her there, fill a 3ml syringe (no needle) with the medicated water & feed it to her drop by drop. If you squeeze the syringe verrrry slowly and rub the syringe tip on the side of the beak, their natural reaction is to open their mouth & lick the drops. Sometimes they have to adjust to you doing this and squirm, turn their heads, etc. Ya just have to keep talking to her & continue. If I get a lot of resistance, it takes longer, as I give breaks & cuddles. Once they've settled back down, we begin again. It's not a quick process, but they're pretty smart about catching on to what you want them to do & eventually going with the flow. I don't know for sure if it does anything beyond make me feel better & more pro-active, but there you have it. This is also a way that I've given Pedialite to my girls during times of stress (like from the heat.) In the cases where I've fed them Pedialite this way, I KNOW it makes a difference because I can see it. And it doesn't HAVE to be 3ml, it can be anything in between none (if she just won't cooperate) & 3 [that's just the volume of the syringe I used on one tonight. She got 1 1/2ml & decided she was fine, so I was too.] I wouldn't give more than 3ml at a time, however, simply because even at their thirstiest, I don't think I've seen them drink that much at one time.

Sorry about Mathilda. It's always sad to lose one.

 

[StephanieET]

Thought I would give a everyone an little update. I did keep Justine in the bathroom for a couple days with the Duramycin in her water. After the first full day in there, she was very lively and she was feasting herself on watermelon, mealworms, etc. Since she had improved so much, I decided to let her go back out with the rest of the flock (and stop pooping all over my bathroom!). I still have a sense that something may not be quite right with her, and she seems underweight, but now that her appetite and energy are back full force, I no longer feel that she is in imminent danger.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Thought I would give a everyone an little update. I did keep Justine in the bathroom for a couple days with the Duramycin in her water. After the first full day in there, she was very lively and she was feasting herself on watermelon, mealworms, etc. Since she had improved so much, I decided to let her go back out with the rest of the flock (and stop pooping all over my bathroom!). I still have a sense that something may not be quite right with her, and she seems underweight, but now that her appetite and energy are back full force, I no longer feel that she is in imminent danger.

Oh good, I'm very glad to hear that. As long as she's eating, drinking & leaving chicken bombs everywhere, she must be on the mend. I'm sure she appreciates how you took extra good care of her when she wasn't feeling well. I just KNOW that our animals understand that we try to help them live happy & healthy lives.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Thought I would give a everyone an little update. I did keep Justine in the bathroom for a couple days with the Duramycin in her water. After the first full day in there, she was very lively and she was feasting herself on watermelon, mealworms, etc. Since she had improved so much, I decided to let her go back out with the rest of the flock (and stop pooping all over my bathroom!). I still have a sense that something may not be quite right with her, and she seems underweight, but now that her appetite and energy are back full force, I no longer feel that she is in imminent danger.

How is Justine doing? Is she over that "not quiet right" part yet? Did she put on some weight?

 

[StephanieET]

Hi, Justine is actually looking a lot better! She goes out in the vegetable garden with the other chickens to root around, and she is holding her tail feathers high and generally looking very perky. She even laid a very large egg the other day, her first in a few weeks! I haven't gotten the chance to grab her to gauge her body weight; since she is feeling better now she is a lot harder to catch! I think she is going to be alright, maybe the stress of her molt combined with the heat was getting to her. Thanks!

 

[BarredRockMom]

Hi, Justine is actually looking a lot better! She goes out in the vegetable garden with the other chickens to root around, and she is holding her tail feathers high and generally looking very perky. She even laid a very large egg the other day, her first in a few weeks! I haven't gotten the chance to grab her to gauge her body weight; since she is feeling better now she is a lot harder to catch! I think she is going to be alright, maybe the stress of her molt combined with the heat was getting to her. Thanks!

Oh good, I'm so glad to hear that! High tail feathers, laying eggs again & hard to catch? Yep, she's better, lol!