Owl is Eggbound...

[GouldieFledge]

She's still alive and uh..........acting normal right now. Really wish I could explain that better, but yeah. She's putting on quite the resilient face.

How long until she starts looking bad again? I mean, she's still guaranteed to die, because the egg was broken internally right? There's no fixing the poisoning of body tissue from a "spill" of that nature, was my understanding.

[GouldieFledge]

This was her about 30 min after passing the broken egg, and the egg itself.

[MisterGribs]

Well, from my understanding, eggs are sterile until they are contaminated. Where do you think the egg comes from, after all??

I think as long as there is no internal bleeding and she passes the shell COMPLETELY she has a decent chance of surviving, and a fairly good one if you give her antibiotics to prevent fecal bacteria from feeding on the protein left.

Don't let her out of your sight, though. D: I have never dealt with egg binding in such a small bird, but I've had a lot of success with olive oil enemas in getting an egg to pass.

Right now I am sure she is very exhausted and dehydrated, and that alone could kill her. You did an excellent job with her though, you did great.

[Babs _Owner]

GouldieFledge

I had to redo my post because I just saw the update. No baths, she will get chilled . Get her under a heat lamp. Hopefully she wont have anymore eggs on the way. Give that deserving hen some boiled egg , shells and cuttle bone shavings on top in case another egg is on the way tomorrow.

You did it!! Excellent job!! You did the very best you could. Was it a soft shell?

[MisterGribs]

So far, all I can tell about when it's ''over'' is when the hen starts eating and drinking and is out of shock. Even then, it's best to keep her in a small, heated cage with no perches and just a towel and feeders.

Antibiotics is really important though, if she makes it through. If she's acting normally, from what I have read, she might make it.

[MisterGribs]

Some useful information I just found: You can use tums or rolaids antacid crushed up in water as a liquid calcium and supposedly it works quite well!

You can rub the hen's cloaca with human preparation H cream (Like for hemorrhoids) and the swelling will come right down so she can pass the egg remains! it's worth a try, and absolutely worth having on hand.

[GouldieFledge]

lovezebs thank you so much for all the posts/suggestions, this definitely helped her get through the actual binding

[GouldieFledge]

mistergribs babs

Thank you both!! that's super interesting about both the rolaids and the preparation h, absolutely worth looking into.

I'm reading around too, trying to figure out the best antibiotic to administer now. This is unfortunate, being that she just came off meds a couple of weeks ago for her self-amputated foot...

I fortunately had some NV powder sent to me as a free sample once, so I've added that to the drinking water.

If this girl tries to pass another egg tomorrow, I think I'm giving up finches and having kids instead.

[Babs _Owner]

GouldieFledge

mistergribs babs


If this girl tries to pass another egg tomorrow, I think I'm giving up finches and having kids instead.

HAHAHAHA! I only had one child for a reason! They are too scarey to have anymore!! Stitches, broken bones. Little boys are real terrors!

[MisterGribs]

GouldieFledge
Just in case she does try to pass another, I recommend leaving her in the heated cage overnight and pumping her full of calcium.

I've heard of people using tums to deliver calcium to baby raccoons before, lol, but not birds.

It doesn't hurt to try! I'm really glad you have the powder on hand. I guess the main complication is that the egg left inside her can give a lot of bacteria food to thrive on and apparently it can affect their kidneys.

How is she looking now? This poor little animal has been through so much...

[lovezebs]

GouldieFledge

Is she still with us?

I would definitely order some birdie calcium as fast as possible (as in arriving tomorrow). This is a life saver to have around, if you have any birds. Or pick up some liquid people calcium in the drug store (which can be used in an emergency).

If you have some broad spectrum antibiotics, I would start her on them immediately if not sooner.

Dry her off, and get that warm lamp on her as soon as possible.

She needs het and quiet (no mate). A small hospital cage, or lacking that, a shoe box, with paper towel or kleenex on the bottom, and some sort of screen on top; old window screen, or even a strainer, just to keep her contained. Keep one corner covered, to offer shade if she wants it.

Not really familiar with NV powder, but if it's similar to pediolite, then go for it.

Also some spray millet, where she can reach it. If you have some fish oil capsules, poke a tiny hole in one, squeeze a drop on the spray millet and spread it around a bit on the actual seeds.

Let her rest, and keep her nice and quiet.

Good luck honey.

[Sally]

So sorry to hear this. How is the little girl doing now?

[Jen]

Oh my goodness....poor little girl...and poor you.... I lost a hen about a year ago, my beautiful Juliet grasskeet hen. I had never dealt with this before and it was so difficult. I tried the calcium and heat and she eventually passed the egg (soft shell) and I thought all was okay, but she didn't make it. I'm so sorry you have had to deal with this because it is so difficult.

A lot of articles say that it is due to diet and nutrition or whatever is missing in their diet, but my hen was in a cage with other similar species and no other hen had the problem then or since then. I have not lost a hen to egg binding since then. I just want you to know that some hens are more prone to egg binding than others and knowing that, you should not try to breed that hen. Try to feed her a diet that will not increase her need to lay. It was probably not something you did, so don't go there. It sometimes happens because it happens....

[lovezebs]

GouldieFledge

How is our baby doing?

Leave a warm light on her overnight as well.

[GouldieFledge]

MisterGribs@lovezebs@Sally@Jen@Babs

She's still doing well today. I was expecting another egg to pass this morning, but nothing. I have her on generic baytril right now, and I moved her mate into a separate cage early this morning (I had to go to my father's and grab my last beloved Petco cage late last night).

She appears to be eating and drinking normally, with an occasional bout of puffing up and sleeping. She's been eating calcium regularly, which has been a relief to see. I keep wishing the best for her outcome. Still so shocked by all of this!!