A couple of days ago, I noticed one of our chickens was behaving a little strange. Upon closer inspection I found that poor little Rosetta's bum was extremely distended (I won't gross you out with pictures). So, of course, off I go to research what her malady could be...thank goodness for the internet. She was egg bound and it was life threatening. I couldn't justify a visit to the vet (not even for sweet Rosetta) and looked up home remedies. I brought her in and gave her a warm bath for 20 minutes, followed by rest on a heating pad to help relax her. She spent most of the day in a tote under the watchful eyes of Caroline, Lili, and Tater. According to most of the sites I visited, this might need to be done several times to really work. Another option was lubricating the internal area with olive oil. And if this didn't work, the egg would need to be carefully broken and hopefully expelled without injury to internal organs.
Well, the soak didn't work and Brett decided to skip the lubricating step. Our surgical tools included a cordless drill, latex gloves, seringe, and tweezers. I held Rosetta wrapped in a towel with her head under my arm. Holding her tail feathers out of the way, we could see the egg in the vent hole. Brett drilled a hole in the egg, used the seringe to get rid of the egg contents, and the tweezers to get the egg shell out. All said and done, Rosetta is quickly recovering with her chicken pals out in the yard foraging and scratching.
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9 comments:
Muchos Grandes Kudos to the M&B Chicken Emergency Rescue Team!!!!!
Wow!!! I'm fascinated by what you two did!
But what about Rosetta's future in the egg-laying department? Will she still have this problem in the future?
Hopefully not, but when Brett lived in Sweden for awhile he lived on a farm and one of his chores was to castrate the piglets. One of his ideas if Rosetta does have a recurring problem with egg laying is to give her an epesiotomy (sp?). I personally will call a vet and find out if this infact would be the answer and have it done professionally rather than by Brett.
What a fascinating experience, Maureen. Thanks for sharing it. I mentioned to Becky Carpenter that you are raising chickens because she wants to do the same! If she gets serious about it, I'll be sure to give her your contact info :)
These chickens were the best pet purchase for us. Caroline truly adores them and they are so tame from being handled so much. When all else fails to entertain her I can send her outside to play with the chickens. She builds them forts and plays house with them. It is always fodder for a good belly laugh watching her with them. By all means have Becky contact me with any questions. I'm by far no expert, but am totally queer for our feathered family members.
That was some story, I sure wish there had been pictures taken during this process, lol! Congrats on saving Ms. Rosetta, good job :)
Thanks Cheryl. It's still not as amazing a save as your possum; but my emotional attachment to the silly bird is way up there lol.
ewe! Great job and I bet a vet would have charged you a lot!
I hit a raccoon last night coming home, I was more upset that I ever thought I would be, pooor guy went thunking under my car :(
Fascinting!
I'm glad there was a happy ending.
About the chicken, I mean, not the raccoon.
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