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Urgent Aviary hen eggbound?

parrotkid

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Hello,

One of my aviary green cheek hens (paired, proven breeders) laid an egg about 4-5 days ago. Since then there has been no other eggs but she has retained a fat butt, I am assuming she is holding another egg but it has not appeared yet, nor has she incubated the previous egg. She is flying around normally and looks otherwise healthy, she eats a lot of cuttlebone for calcium too.

I think I got excited about the egg and checked the nest box a little too much, so she has not incubated or laid anymore. I won't be checking as often anymore as was told not to check until the hen disappears as she could abandon the eggs entirely.

But I am worried, what if she does not lay that egg? Ever?

Thanks
 

rocky'smom

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She needs to see a avian vet asap.
 

parrotkid

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She needs to see a avian vet asap.
Catching her out of the aviary risks breaking the egg inside and actually putting her life at risk. It is a suspended aviary and she is not handraised. So just wondering if any other advice before I really put her in a bad situation...
 

Garet

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Catching her out of the aviary risks breaking the egg inside and actually putting her life at risk. It is a suspended aviary and she is not handraised. So just wondering if any other advice before I really put her in a bad situation...
She's already in a very bad situation by the sound of it.
 

Peachfaced

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Is there a way you can rig up a closing mechanism to the nest box so you can contain her without having to net or catch her by hand?
 

karen256

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If she's acting normal, then she's probably not actually egg bound but at high risk for it if she really hasn't laid a second egg in 4-5 days.
Is it possible she laid a second egg, but, maybe because of disturbance, she laid it in another spot, or ate it? It kind of sounds like she might've laid her second egg already, and still looks big because she has a few more to lay.
I can understand the reluctance to see a vet as the stress, extra handling, being taken out of familiar surroundings, are all likely to cause injury or egg binding (if she isn't actually egg bound).
If she actually becomes fully egg bound, she will be in obvious discomfort, but at that point it's an emergency. It's a tough call. If there is an avian vet in your area that makes house calls that would be best so they can observe her before doing anything else, but I know that isn't likely.
If it were me, I'd probably just wait and see - but observe her very closely and be ready to take her in at the first signs of discomfort.
Also, if she's pooping normally, she's not egg bound so that's something to watch for. It's normal for hens to have larger poops less often when they're laying but if you see her having any trouble pooping, that's a sign of egg binding.
 
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