Please help me and tell me what happened to my female IRN, I suspect that she is eggbound. She has been incubating her eggs since the 6th of March. However when she came out to the cage to eat this morning I noticed that she was a little strange and saw a big lump by her vent. What should I do?! Could it be possible that she has been hatching eggs at the same time laying them? Could it be possible that the lump just means that she is in the process of laying the egg?
Also, it's only a week away until the earlier eggs hatch, if I were to take my female to the vet, how many degrees and/or humidity should I set for the incubator if I have access to one? Please help me, I really don't want to lose her!
HELP! It's an EMERGENCY, I want to cry...
Moderator: Mods
Hi there,
Can you catch the hen and examine the lump up close and personal?
Although possible, it is highly unlikely that the hen is laying an egg and is eggbound. Here are some things to consider:
a. Hens will not normally go out to eat when eggbound. They would be at the bottom of the cage or nest, looking sick with their feathers puffed up.
b. Incubating hens will not normally produce hormones to cause them to lay more eggs.
c. If you take the hen to a vet, then you have to house those eggs in an incubator set to 99.5 degF and humidity at 50%.
Call a vet ASAP.
Can you catch the hen and examine the lump up close and personal?
Although possible, it is highly unlikely that the hen is laying an egg and is eggbound. Here are some things to consider:
a. Hens will not normally go out to eat when eggbound. They would be at the bottom of the cage or nest, looking sick with their feathers puffed up.
b. Incubating hens will not normally produce hormones to cause them to lay more eggs.
c. If you take the hen to a vet, then you have to house those eggs in an incubator set to 99.5 degF and humidity at 50%.
Call a vet ASAP.
Jay
Krameri Aviaries
Krameri Aviaries
She doen't sound like she is eggbound but I would be very leary to take the hen out right now. If she starts flying around and you have to towel her to get her out you could risk breaking the egg inside her. I do agree she needs to be seen by a vet but getting her out without a fight is your biggest problem.
Keep us posted
Donna
Keep us posted
Donna
In Loving Memory
of one special husband and one special bird.
I miss you both
of one special husband and one special bird.
I miss you both
First of all, thank you so much for the replies. I really don't know what to do now, there is no avian vets in the area and I would really have to fight to get my IRN out because she was never properly trained. I'm worried about breaking her egg, if she is egg bound. I had someone tell me that if this is the first time she lays then she might be a little confused and try to lay agan before the other eggs hatch. How long does it usually take for an egg to form and pass in an IRN? Could it be formed but just not passed yet? I'm hoping for the best because I probably really can't get her to a vet in time...
I apologize if I am too forthright but most eggbound hens won't make it, even those under the care of an avian veterinarian. Most will die within 24 hours.
While there are some successes in getting the egg passed by a combination of brooder heating, lubrication and massaging the egg out, nine times out of ten the hen won't survive the procedure.
Another thing to consider is your perceived value of your hen versus the expense of getting an avian veterinarian care, which is not cheap. In California, emergency care by an avian vet is ~$300/hr.
But first things first. You need to examine the bird ASAP so you can make a better assessment on what your options are. Find a way of getting the bird out of the nest. Knock gently on the nest. If she doesn't leave, open the inspection door gently. Leaving the inspection door open for a few minutes will encourage some hens to leave the box. Of course I am assuming you have a safety vestibule (or your birds are indoors) to prevent escape. Once the door is opened but the hen did not leave, she most likely crawled into a corner. This is your chance to grab the eggs slowly and gently and set them aside. You can then grab the hen with a towel.
Bottom line, if the hen is eggbound and the egg is not passed, she will die. She has a much better survival rate if she is caught and examined. If I were you, I would risk breaking the egg inside her by catching her anyway I can. Since the egg is not yet passed, chances are the egg will not break because her body tissue and skeletal system will cushion any impact on the egg.
Last possible option, you can just observe her a few more hours and hopefully when/if she comes out again,visually examine the suspected lump area and hope that it was nothing but ruffled feathers.
Goodluck.
While there are some successes in getting the egg passed by a combination of brooder heating, lubrication and massaging the egg out, nine times out of ten the hen won't survive the procedure.
Another thing to consider is your perceived value of your hen versus the expense of getting an avian veterinarian care, which is not cheap. In California, emergency care by an avian vet is ~$300/hr.
But first things first. You need to examine the bird ASAP so you can make a better assessment on what your options are. Find a way of getting the bird out of the nest. Knock gently on the nest. If she doesn't leave, open the inspection door gently. Leaving the inspection door open for a few minutes will encourage some hens to leave the box. Of course I am assuming you have a safety vestibule (or your birds are indoors) to prevent escape. Once the door is opened but the hen did not leave, she most likely crawled into a corner. This is your chance to grab the eggs slowly and gently and set them aside. You can then grab the hen with a towel.
Bottom line, if the hen is eggbound and the egg is not passed, she will die. She has a much better survival rate if she is caught and examined. If I were you, I would risk breaking the egg inside her by catching her anyway I can. Since the egg is not yet passed, chances are the egg will not break because her body tissue and skeletal system will cushion any impact on the egg.
Last possible option, you can just observe her a few more hours and hopefully when/if she comes out again,visually examine the suspected lump area and hope that it was nothing but ruffled feathers.
Goodluck.
Jay
Krameri Aviaries
Krameri Aviaries
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Peachykeen
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I monitored her since Sunday, she is still eating and sitting on her eggs. A breeder in the town was nice enough to give me some liquid calcium for her, I don't know if it was that she passed the egg or it was something else, I haven't been able to see her up close because she runs away every time she sees me. The breeder thinks that it's just probably that when incubating the female held her droppings for too long. I hope that's what it was, I'm going to monitor her for another day or two before concluding that she was not egg bound...