When a hen has an egg inside her oviduct, she is referred to as being egg-bound. Egg-binding can be a life-threatening condition that must be addressed quickly, preferably by a seasoned, chicken veterinarian. If the egg is not passed within 24-48 hours, the hen is likely to perish. Absent access to a vet, backyard chicken-keepers may have to take matters into their own hands in order to save the hen's life.

Causes

• Calcium or other nutritional deficiency
• Obesity
• Excessively large or misshapen egg
• Oviduct infection
• Premature layer (hen began laying eggs before her body was fully mature)
• Egg retention due to lack of sufficient nesting areas

An overview of a hen's reproductive system is important in order to know where an egg may be stuck.*

A hen's uterus (aka: shell gland)  is the muscle responsible for squeezing the egg out of the vent. Since muscles require calcium to contract properly, if a hen has a calcium deficiency, the egg can get stuck in the uterus.

Possible Symptoms

• Loss of appetite
• Disinterest in drinking
• Shaky wings
• Walking like a penguin
• Abdominal straining
• Frequent, uncharacteristic sitting
• Passing wet droppings or none at all (egg interferes with normal defecation)
• Droopy/depressed/pale comb and wattles

Dangers

• Infection
• Prolapsed uterus
• Damage to oviduct
• Bleeding
• Death

Prevention

• Avoid supplemental lighting with young pullets to avoid premature egg-laying
• Feed layer ration, which is carefully formulated to provide balanced nutrition to laying hens
• Make available oyster shell (or another calcium source) free-choice (never add to the feed)
• Avoid excess treats that can interfere with balanced nutrition in layer ration
• Avoid treats in the summer heat when feed intake is reduced

Treatment

Calcium (injection, liquid or via vitamins & electrolyte solution)

Warm bath

Apply KY jelly

Massage

To assess whether a hen is egg-bound at home, gently feel on either side of her vent with one hand (think: squeezing the cheeks of a cute kid). If an egg is felt, giving the hen calcium is the first course of action. Absent liquid calcium, vitamins and electrolytes in the water contain calcium and can help. Even if she's not interested in drinking, try to get some into her with a dropper or syringe carefully. If she is too weak to drink, don't try it. The calcium may be enough to get her to pass the egg on her own within a half hour or so.

Put the hen in a tub of warm water for 15-20 minutes, which will hydrate her vent and relax her, making it easier to pass the egg.

After a warm bath, some KY jelly applied to the vent can also help hydrate the cloaca to allow for ease of passage when the egg gets to that point (don’t use olive oil, as it can become rancid). Massage the area around the egg gently towards the vent, being careful not to break the eggshell.

At this point, put her in a crate in a darkened, quiet room. If a truly egg-bound hen does not pass the egg within an hour of these measures, the egg may need to be manually removed, which can be dangerous but is possible but proceed at your own risk.

"If she still hasn't expelled the egg, and you don't think she's going to on her own, then you can move to manual manipulation. This only applies if she is still bright and not in shock. Palpate the abdomen to find the location of the egg and gently manipulate it in an effort to move it along. GENTLE is the key word here. If manual manipulation fails and you can see the tip of the egg, another option is aspiration, implosion, and manual removal.

"First, get someone to help you hold the bird very securely while you work (preferably not upside dwn). Then, using a syringe and a large needle (18ga.), draw the contents of the egg into the syringe. After aspiration of the contents, gently collapse the egg all around. You want to do this gently in order to keep the inner membrane of the egg in tact, which will keep the eggshell fragments together.

Last, gently remove the egg. (Copious amounts of lubrication would be good here.) Go slow and try to keep the shell together (although broken). If all fragments do not come out, they should pass, along with remaining egg content, within the next several days."

Stella was put to sleep due to severe egg-binding. She did not exhibit the typical symptoms outlined above, the only clues that she had a problem at all were a change in droppings, activity level and a hard abdomen. 

Additional reading and resources:

http://www.avianweb.com/Prolapse.htm

http://www.avianweb.com/eggbinding.html

*Anatomical illustrations and photo reproduced for educational purposes, courtesy of Jacquie Jacob, Tony Pescatore and Austin Cantor, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. Copyright 2011. Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, M. Scott Smith, Director, Land Grant Programs, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Lexington,and Kentucky State University, Frankfort. Copyright 2011 for materials developed by University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension. This publication may be reproduced in portions or its entirety for educational and nonprofit purposes only. Permitted users shall give credit to the author(s) and include this copyright notice. Publications are also available on the World Wide Web at www.ca.uky.edu. Issued 02-2011