Eggbound Hen still a little off

[moonshadow13]

This is my first year breeding pigeons and as luck would have it I just had my first eggbound hen. After searching the site I thought I might be over-reacting since most of her symptoms seemed to be normal for a hen about to lay eggs. It was her first time and she is a tiny little girl, not much bigger than a german owl. But I just had this nagging feeling something was wrong, so I followed all the directions for eggbinding. We brought her in, gave her a warm bath and a heating pad. I wasn't confident enough to try and get oil down her throat so I drizzled oil onto her food which she ate right up.
When I checked on her the next morning sure enough she had laid not one but TWO eggs overnight. One egg was fine but the other was very soft and squishy but NOT broken. She seemed 100% better so I took her and the good egg back out to the loft. Her mate immediately sat on the single egg but she wanted nothing to do with him or the egg. She seemed a little fluffy but most of them seem to do that when taken from the nice warm house back to the loft so I didn't think much of it. Last night she looked super fluffy and just miserable, concerned about a secondary infection I brought her back inside, gave her the heating pad, food and water with antibiotics in it. The only antibiotics I have on hand is a sort of 2 in 1 of Sulmet/Terramyacin.
Now here is why I am confused!! Immediatley after being put in the cage inside she was again 100% better!! No sign of fluffing, eyes bright, eating, drinking, pooping good and dancing around the cage looking at me like "I can't believe you fell for that". Now I don't know if she really is sick, if it WAS just the cold or if she is just messin with me to get herself a couple of days at the spa????? So should I keep her inside on the antibiotics just to be safe or assume that she is a big faker and take her back to her man??

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by moonshadow13

This is my first year breeding pigeons and as luck would have it I just had my first eggbound hen. After searching the site I thought I might be over-reacting since most of her symptoms seemed to be normal for a hen about to lay eggs. It was her first time and she is a tiny little girl, not much bigger than a german owl. But I just had this nagging feeling something was wrong, so I followed all the directions for eggbinding. We brought her in, gave her a warm bath and a heating pad. I wasn't confident enough to try and get oil down her throat so I drizzled oil onto her food which she ate right up.
When I checked on her the next morning sure enough she had laid not one but TWO eggs overnight. One egg was fine but the other was very soft and squishy but NOT broken. She seemed 100% better so I took her and the good egg back out to the loft. Her mate immediately sat on the single egg but she wanted nothing to do with him or the egg. She seemed a little fluffy but most of them seem to do that when taken from the nice warm house back to the loft so I didn't think much of it. Last night she looked super fluffy and just miserable, concerned about a secondary infection I brought her back inside, gave her the heating pad, food and water with antibiotics in it. The only antibiotics I have on hand is a sort of 2 in 1 of Sulmet/Terramyacin.
Now here is why I am confused!! Immediatley after being put in the cage inside she was again 100% better!! No sign of fluffing, eyes bright, eating, drinking, pooping good and dancing around the cage looking at me like "I can't believe you fell for that". Now I don't know if she really is sick, if it WAS just the cold or if she is just messin with me to get herself a couple of days at the spa????? So should I keep her inside on the antibiotics just to be safe or assume that she is a big faker and take her back to her man??

well first you will want to replace that one egg with a dummie egg. she does sound better and congrats on getting her better!, if you are going to give antibios need to follow the directions for the whole course and you will want to keep her inside for that. so after the meds are done and she looks good you can put her out on a warmer morning and check on her through the day. could give some probios after the anitbio treatment to keep her bac levels in balance with some apple cider vinegar in her water for good environ for good bac to grow in the digestive tract..

[moonshadow13]

Why replace the egg with a dummy? Do you think she really needs the antibiotics or was she just cold and tired from the ordeal?

[Trees Gray]

How old is this hen?

I would give her some supportive nutrition, since this is her first time and she may be exhausted after the ordeal, but keep an eye out on her.

IF you want to see if the egg is fertile, then do candle it in 5 days, but keep her on dummy eggs or the real one, just to keep her from laying again.

Please only give her a drop or two of olive oil in the future, as too much can cause her not to absorb anything and is very dangerous.

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by moonshadow13

Why replace the egg with a dummy? Do you think she really needs the antibiotics or was she just cold and tired from the ordeal?

If she is not interested in the nest and egg anymore the cock will have to incubate and feed alone, so I would say for this round, give a dummie egg, you don't want to handfeed a baby. If you really want to breed perhaps the next time around, if she has enough calcium and nutrition she will get back to laying normally. I don't know if she needed the antibios, but once you start it is not good to quit in the middle, I prob would have not given it as you don't know if she does have some kind of infection. I would of just let her recoup for a week and then taken her out on a warm morning and keep a watch on her.

[moonshadow13]

Trees:
She is pretty young about a year old and this was her first time laying. I have left the one egg in there to keep the dad busy so he will leave her alone (he is a bit of a wife beater) that and I do want her wait awhile before trying again. Not really concerned if the egg is fertile just happy she got them both out.
Don't worry I did only give her a few drops of oil, I just drizzled it on the food rather than down her throat.

Spirit:
This is upstate NY unfortunately warm mornings are NOT in my future. I do have some Probiotics and I already give them ACV in their water 3-4 days a week

Did I jump the gun bringing her back inside? Should I even give her the antibiotics? Like I said she looked super fluffy and miserable last night but as soon as she was inside she was dancing around and looked perfect, still does. There is about a 40 degree temp difference between my house and the loft so could she have just been cold, tired and cranky? Should I put her back out there or let her have some time inside?

[Trees Gray]

I would definitely bring her inside for rehabilitation, she needs warmth and time away from the spouse, and is definitely not 100 percent and is not able to maintain her body warmth. Hopefully she will fully recoop inside, but you have to keep a close eye on her. Make sure she is getting a calcium supplement in either the grit or supplement, as that is crucial in healthy egg laying hens.

If she isn't better in a few days, I wouldn't hesitate to take her to a good avian vet or rehabber.

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by moonshadow13

Trees:
She is pretty young about a year old and this was her first time laying. I have left the one egg in there to keep the dad busy so he will leave her alone (he is a bit of a wife beater) that and I do want her wait awhile before trying again. Not really concerned if the egg is fertile just happy she got them both out.
Don't worry I did only give her a few drops of oil, I just drizzled it on the food rather than down her throat.

Spirit:
This is upstate NY unfortunately warm mornings are NOT in my future. I do have some Probiotics and I already give them ACV in their water 3-4 days a week

Did I jump the gun bringing her back inside? Should I even give her the antibiotics? Like I said she looked super fluffy and miserable last night but as soon as she was inside she was dancing around and looked perfect, still does. There is about a 40 degree temp difference between my house and the loft so could she have just been cold, tired and cranky? Should I put her back out there or let her have some time inside?

well when I mean warm, I mean not on a windy cold rainy day, a sunny not too cold morning....how is that. I would keep her in for a week and see if she really needs any meds, if she is normal and eating, she can go back out after that.

[moonshadow13]

Well sunny and not too cold we can probably manage

I do provide plenty of calcium they have a supplement in their water, oyster shell grit and I occasionally put crushed egg shells in their food. Everyone else is laying just fine. I think between her size and it being her first time is why she had the problem.

I'm not one who tends to overmedicate but reading through all the threads it seemed like a secondary infection caused by the eggbinding was possible. She has only had a few sips of the antibiotic water so if you don't think she needs it I will switch it out. But I will let her stay inside for a while just so she can have a break from her man.

[moonshadow13]

Oops forgot, don't worry I don't plan to let dad hatch the egg by himself and will replace it with a dummy if and when he lets me near it. I got pecked and wingslapped the last time and he would not budge!!

[pigeonpoo]

He will sit longer if you slip two dummy eggs under him. It's unlikely the hen will sit the eggs as she won't recognise them as hers with laying them inside. Hope she makes a speedy recovery.

[moonshadow13]

I thought about giving him two but didn't know if he would be suspicious of a 2nd egg showing up while his mate was inside. I was wondering if she would sit or not after having them inside, I didn't see anything about that part when I was reading how to help her get them out. But whats funny is dad immediately knew it was his and has been sitting on it round the clock!! If I try to come near it he pecks and wingslaps me he won't stand up, just squishes himself as far down in the bowl as he can. Little bugger!!

[pigeonpoo]

Saving the hen is the priority if she is eggbound. After a good rest she can lay again and will, in all probability, be OK. It's sad that the eggs won't be viable but, the only way that she might have sat them would have been if she had laid the second egg in her own nest.

The cock won't like you going near his nest but, he will accept a second egg, just as they accept two dummy eggs in replacement of the real ones. Just ignore his pecks and wing slaps and slip another egg under his tummy. Some people warm the dummy egg so that it feels the same for the pigeon but I never bother and have never had a problem.

[moonshadow13]

Unfortunately I noticed last night that he had already stopped sitting on the egg. Though today I see that since his mate is inside he has moved on to one of my unattached females. I am hoping, will he stay with this new hen even after I bring this hen back out?

[spirit wings]

Originally Posted by moonshadow13

Unfortunately I noticed last night that he had already stopped sitting on the egg. Though today I see that since his mate is inside he has moved on to one of my unattached females. I am hoping, will he stay with this new hen even after I bring this hen back out?

I don't know, she may want him back, cocks will stray more than hens, just have to wait and see.