At some point in your chicken keeping days you’ll probably have an egg bound hen. Meaning the hen has an egg it’s unable to pass easily. This can be deadly to the hen.
Sometimes you won’t see symptoms. Maybe they just stop eating or sit in a corner but mine have always exhibited the “penguin” stance. This is where they continuously stand in the position of the act of laying attempting to push the lodged egg out.
What you’ll need:
Warm water – enough to mostly immerse the hen, Epsom salt & some sort of lubricant (I use coconut oil)
Occasionally the egg may be broken inside them so it’s extremely important to be gentle while handling them.
First, look to see if you can see the obstruction or if there are bits of broken egg coming out of her vent. It’s pretty easy to feel her abdomen gently and feel an egg.
Immerse her in warm water with Epsom salts being careful not to make the water too hot. If it’s too hot for your hand it’s too hot for her. The warm water will help her relax and hopefully pass the egg. I let them sit in the bath for 30 minutes. Sometimes they will pass it in the water, other times they’ll pass it afterwards.
Prior to the soak, if you saw discharge (egg whites, yolk, shell shards, etc.) hopefully some were passed while she was in the bath. Inspect her vent again and gently apply coconut oil or lubricant to her vent – I do this whether she’s passed the obstruction or not to help with any irritation.
Some people recommend a gentle massage to help pass the obstruction but this seems to upset some of my hens while they’re already in discomfort so I don’t attempt this, especially if I suspect the egg is broken.
After the bath I leave her in a dark place with food and water and clean bedding so she’s undisturbed. I’ve never had one need help beyond this point.
Some people will attempt to assist further by trying to break the egg. This can cause internal injuries so I’d only attempt this if the situation is life threatening.
A hen can become egg bound for many reasons. I have a couple hens who need a lot of calcium or they can have laying issues so I make sure to provide it free choice and sometimes have to feed those girls separately with added calcium which helps a lot.