Monday, December 18, 2006

Egg Bound Chook

On Thursday I noticed this chook had layed and egg on the path with no shell on it, but had some ?shell stuck out her vent, I didn't know what to do so left it there, apart from not wanting to hurt her, I had to go out. I am not sure if she pasted that or not.. I think she must have, though I haven't found it around the yard or their pen (but the dog may/would have eaten it).On Friday and Sat she was contracting her vent a lot, and doing lots of just clear liquid poo with a bit of white poo in the middle, the clear poo is almost like egg white, there is heaps of it and it is thickish, when I wash it off the paths the white poo is like spiderwebs. Sunday I figured out that maybe she was egg bound, gave her a warm water bath, massaged her sides and underbody, no response, after a while I got an eyedropper and put a small amount of oil in it and (poor girl) got my Fiance to put some up her vent, about 5 mins later she pass a very large egg, no shell formed though, just a very tough skin on the egg. Also like an umbilical cord She was alot more active after this moving around and eating more. Monday and Tuesday she has sort of been the same, sleeping lots either standing in one spot sleeping or sitting, she is drinking heaps, eating too, contracting her vent a bit but not as bad as the weekend. She is ok, just not her normal active self. Generally I go outside and they all run over to see if I have anything for them. I did give her another 'oiling' on Monday, but she didn't lay another egg. They all eat laying pellets and wheat, as well as the odd veggy scraps. They only started getting wheat about 2 weeks ago.. It is fresh as we havested it when they started getting it. I gave all the girls a dusting last night as I noticed little white mites on them.
Blue Lace from The-coop suggested giving her, Molasses Flush, and then milk/yoghurt food.. Instructions below. THANKS Blue Lace!
To make the molasses flush, just mix 1 tablespoon molasses with 1-1/2 cups of water. Let that be her only source of water and let her have her regular food too if she will eat. Give her the molasses flush for no longer than 8 hours. Then the next day, if you have buttermilk, mix some with some of her regular food, however much you think she will eat in one setting. If you don't have buttermilk, regular milk will work. After all of that has been absorbed, add a teaspoon of yogurt and mix well. If you think it's too dry, add a little water. Too much yogurt can cause diarrhea and I think she already has enough of that. You don't want it to be soupy, just a wet mash that's easy to eat.

No comments: