Henrietta, one of our Rhode Island Reds, started looking lethargic yesterday. Wifey snagged me and pointed out that she was bow-legged, lethargic, wouldn't go near anyone, eyes closed, and had her down.
After doing some research, we came to the conclusion that she is eggbound. She is quite bulgy as the picture indicates.
The prevailing recommendations involve putting the chicken in a warm water bath so we did that.
After a bit of time in the warm water, they recommend massaging the abdomen to help push out the egg. No pictures, but Wifey did that. No success.
The last recommendation is to glove up, put some olive oil on your finger, and..........probe the chicken's vent to try to help move things along. I man-ed up and did that.
Unfortunately, we had no luck. Poor Henrietta was understandably worn out after all that so we put her in the chick brooder in the garage to get some isolation and to recouperate.
Our research indicates that this is frequently caused by a calcium deficiency. We've crushed up some egg shells and put it on top of her food. Wifey also gave her some Tums which are mostly made of calcium carbonate.
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