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hedgehog

(36,286 posts)
Thu Apr 17, 2014, 01:50 PM Apr 2014

My egg bound hen -

So, I have this very old hen, and she was sitting on a nest making odd noises - more a trill or gobbles than a typical cluck. So I watch her a bit, and she gets off the nest and walks around a little. I can see that her vent is dirty and that her abdomen is drooping down. She's also dropping her wings like a rooster does when he's courting. I figure she's egg bound, so I try to catch her to see if I can help. I end up chasing her all over the yard - a little bit walk and stalk, a little bit running. My son finally chased her into the hen house and we caught her.

I turned her upside down and tried a little gentle massage - I know that if you break the shell, that's bad. Nothing much happened, so I set her down and left her alone.

I walked into the hen house about 10 minutes later to check, and there was the biggest damn chicken egg I've ever seen! It's twice as big as the jumbo eggs my big Australorps lay. More like a goose egg than anything else.

The hen is walking around, looking much more like her old self.
I don't know if it was the massage, the running or just luck , but I'm glad she's OK.

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My egg bound hen - (Original Post) hedgehog Apr 2014 OP
Maybe it was a little of both but my bet is on the massage. In_The_Wind Apr 2014 #1
Bet the hen was as releived as you were! dixiegrrrrl Apr 2014 #2
Possably? oneshooter Apr 2014 #3
Pretty much the situation! hedgehog Apr 2014 #4
Just keep her away from the ostrich. n/t oneshooter Apr 2014 #5

In_The_Wind

(72,300 posts)
1. Maybe it was a little of both but my bet is on the massage.
Thu Apr 17, 2014, 03:51 PM
Apr 2014

You might have moved the egg into a better position.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,011 posts)
2. Bet the hen was as releived as you were!
Thu Apr 17, 2014, 04:08 PM
Apr 2014

Wonder if she is gonna do it again?
We have not run into that problem...yet.

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