Egg Bound Chicken Symptoms, Treatments, Causes, and Prevention

I get asked this question more and more often, “What can I do to help my egg bound hen?” I’ll share everything you need to know about egg bound chicken symptoms, treatment options, the causes, and the prevention. You’ll be prepared to help relieve any egg bound hen in your flock.

I learned how to be a chicken keeper from my grandmother. With over seven generations of keeping chickens as part of sustenance farming and my 40+ years of chicken keeping, we’ve experienced many health issues in our heritage breed flocks.

This is one of the most difficult health issues in our flock for me personally. Maybe it’s because I am empathetic to the pain the hen is experiencing? Maybe it’s because I know the difficulty in trying to help her so that it doesn’t keep happening to her?

I believe the reason there’s been an increase of people reaching out to me about this problem is that GMO feed is the industry standard now. This is not a post about GMO crops, however, poor feed is one of the leading causes of egg binding in chickens.

An egg bound hen was virtually unheard of in the backyard flock until the late 1990s. This is when feeds made from GMO grain became commonplace.

I didn’t learn about GMOs until 2007. By this time, I had already experienced this in my flock.

My Granny didn’t feed much grain and when she did, it was corn they grew on the farm from their own seed. She had never experienced or even heard of such a thing so I had to learn the hard way. My hen died; I don’t want this to happen to you.

Symptoms of an Egg Bound Chicken

• Sitting on the ground or floor of the coop for extended periods of time
• Fluffed feathers as if she is hot or covering chicks
• If you are observant of your flock, you may notice a straining look to her face and body
• The tail and her bottom will appear to be moving up and down like she’s trying to poop
• Multiple trips to the coop and nest in an attempt to lay, resulting in general distress
• A low balking which you will recognize as her distress sound
• Lethargy or general droopiness (in advanced bound stage)
• Lack of pooping (late stage)
• Paleness to cone and wattle (late stage)

There are just some things we have to expect as chicken keepers. The complexity of the egg laying process lends itself to the fact things just go wrong sometimes. Egg abnormalities are just part of caring for chickens.

An egg bound chicken is not as common as some of the other common diseases faced by chicken keepers, but knowing how to spot it and what to do, will help you respond quickly.

A Word of Caution About Handling a Hen

Always, Always handle your hens gently. It takes 24 hours for a hen to develop and lay one egg.

You never know which stage of egg development she’s in. If a hen is close to laying and she is handled roughly or falls from your arms, the egg can crack inside her. This could cause her serious harm.

What causes egg binding in a hen?

There are several things that can lead to egg binding in a hen.

• Beginning to lay at an early age
• Poor feed quality
• Poor diet
• A calcium deficiency (calcium is necessary for proper muscle contraction as well as egg development)
• Genetic flaws – her oviduct or pelvis is too small for the egg.
  • This means she will not be able to lay eggs without the probability of death. These issues are not preventable or curable.
  • Makes the egg too large for the hen to pass
• Parasites in the oviduct or intestines (worms)
• Dehydration – usually secondary to some underlying illness or not being provided with access to water.
• Obese chickens – poor feed quality can cause a chicken to over eat as they try to get the nutrition they need. Chickens don’t normally have a “food issue” like humans can. Most backyard flocks will not experience this.

How to Prevent an Egg Bound Hen

• A healthy feeding plan can prevent many, if not all health issues for your chickens.
• A flock that is fed a good quality layer will probably not experience being egg bound. Many people who are able to free range their flock don’t offer supplemental feed at all. When we do offer feed, it is a quality non-GMO feed.
• Offering chickens free-choice access to calcium is a must. We prefer to use their own eggshells. You can also purchase oyster shells online or at your local farm supply.
• If you give your flock treats, such as mealworms, ensure it’s only a small amount of their diet. Less than <10%.
• Free ranging a flock allows for plenty of exercise as well as foraging for food. If you can’t free range, allow your flock as much room as you can to roam around for exercise.
• It’s also recommended to not use supplemental light in the coop at night. If the hours of light your hens are exposed to are not balanced with hours of darkness, it can cause over-stimulation in the hens.
  • I know some people do this, especially in the winter, to increase egg production but I don’t.
• Feeding your flock too much protein will result in abnormally large eggs.
  • Check the protein levels of your feed, treats, and anything you are supplementing their diet with. They need a lot of protein, this is true. However, their daily intake value of protein shouldn’t be over 20% of their diet.
  • This again, is helped by allowing the flock to forage.

We rarely purchase feed for our chickens. Learn how we do it.

Should I call a veterinarian or not?

An egg bound hen will die if not relieved. Usually, it will take 48 hours for this to happen. Finding a veterinarian who actually treats chickens is rare.

Our veterinarian, who was a DNVM (Doctor of Natural Veterinarian Medicine), would offer us advice, but she did not treat chickens.

I think it’s because they’re considered by most vets as easy and inexpensive to replace and most illnesses can be treated by the flock keeper.

We don’t seek veterinarian assistance except on rare occasions. When do you ask? When the money allows us and the needs must. Let’s face it, economics plays a large role in what we do or don’t do on the homestead.

When the situation is outside our scope of experience or that of our friends and/or when the time, energy, and money invested in the animal justifies the expense of a vet, we call on one.

We practice selective breeding with everything from our garden to our large livestock. This means an animal that is unhealthy is sold or culled. As sustenance farmers, our decisions are based on a way of life, not always on what we would or would not like to do.

Treatments to Help an Egg Bound Chicken

Try not to stress your hen. If she isn’t used to being handled this may not be avoidable. Handle her as little as possible if this is the case and move slowly around her. Remember to handle her gently.

These home remedies for helping your egg bound hen are shared with the intent to offer you options. I’m not a veterinarian and I’m not offering you veterinarian advice.

ACV Water

If your hen has the symptoms of being egg bound, but hasn’t reached the late stage symptoms listed above:

• Start by placing her in solitary. You can do this with a crate or cage. We have a specific area of our yard set up for isolation.
• Offer her apple cider vinegar water: 1 – 2 Tablespoons raw, organic apple cider vinegar in 1 gallon of clean water. This will help with electrolyte balance and rehydration. Both of which may be what she needs to lubricate the oviduct and vent to lay the egg.

Lubricate Her Vent

• Use an eyedropper and place a dropper full of warm (not hot) olive oil into the vent.
• Also, give her a dropper full of castor oil by mouth.

Epsom Salt Soak

• Prepare a tub deep enough to submerge her bottom in by adding warm water and 1/2 cup of Epsom Salt.
• While her bottom is soaking, gently, gently massage the oviduct and vent.
• About 20 minutes is a good length of time to do this.
• This will help her muscles relax, if she’s used to being handled it shouldn’t overly stress her.
• Be sure to keep her in a warm environment when doing this especially in winter.
• Repeat the soak in the tub every hour or so until she lays her egg.

Warm Moist Heat

• This method is thought to have the least risk for the hen.
• If your hen isn’t used to being handled, you can still accomplish this.
• Place your hen in a cage or crate which has a wire or slotted floor.
• Elevate the cage and place a pan of steaming water under it.
• You may have to repeatedly reheat the water as it cools until she lays the egg.
• You can also use a towel or blanket over the cage to hold the moisture in, like a tent when you use a steam treatment on yourself.
• Be sure to have ACV water available for the hen at all times.

Heat Lamp

• Some people say using a heat lamp hung where it is concentrated on the cage or crate she is in will provide the heat necessary for her to relax and lay the egg.
• Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature. You don’t want it to get over 102F.
• This method doesn’t provide for moisture though.
• Be sure to have ACV water available for the hen at all times.

How long does it take for treatment to work?

• Within 2-4 hours of treatment, the hen should lay the egg. She will immediately perk up and be ready to come out of the cage.
• If she appears to be acting normal after 4 hours and she hasn’t laid an egg, it may be you have misdiagnosed her. I would remove her.
• If she doesn’t appear improved, continue the course of treatment you chose or try another one.
• If she hasn’t laid the egg after trying all these, there is something else going on. It’s time for the last resort method.

Tips for Follow Up Care

• You may want to keep her where you can monitor her egg laying for a few days. You want to be sure she doesn’t have a genetic issue that would require culling her.
  • This is the worst part of being a responsible chicken keeper. But to be good stewards of the life entrusted to us requires making hard decisions. We don’t want her to continue suffering.
• If you place her back in the generall flock, you can easily identify her egg by placing a few drops of food coloring around her vent. It should last for 2-3 days and each egg she lays will have a smear of the color on it.

Occasionally, every hen will have some abnormalities in her eggs, but being egg bound is a serious issue. If it happens more than once in the same hen, especially within a few months, I would cull the hen for her sake.

Last Resort Treatment Method

Breaking the egg and seeing if she can pass it should be a last resort.

If you are in the position where you’ve tried all the other suggestions and they have failed, try this. At this point, the hen will die if she doesn’t lay the egg.

This procedure can likely cause an infection and death. There is also the risk of the sharp eggshell pieces cutting her internally. Just more reasons it should be a last resort.

To “break” an egg you have two options.

1. If you can see the egg, not feel it, see it with your eyes, puncture the egg. Immediately, use a syringe large enough to hold the yolk and white of the egg, and draw out its contents.
   • Once you have most, if not all of it in the syringe, gently collapse the shell in a crushing motion. Be careful to crush the egg so the internal membrane keeps the shell pieces connected.
   • Gently pull the eggshell from the vent. If it’s resistant, squirt some olive oil into the vent to lubricate the shell. She should pass the shell or you should be able to pull it now.
2. If you don’t have a syringe or the time to get one, gently…gently squeeze the egg to break it.
   • Try to remove it from the hen or lubricate it with olive oil to help her pass it. Again, this should be your last resort.

While this is nerve-racking for you, I’m anxious just writing it, your hen will be nervous and anxious too.

Let her relax for a while before you return her to the flock.

I recommend keeping her confined for a couple of days until she lays again. This will allow you to determine if this is to be an ongoing problem for her and to monitor her for any damage after this last resort method.

Summary of Egg Bound Chicken Symptoms, Treatments, Causes, and Prevention

You can see these signs and symptoms

• Sitting on the ground or floor of the coop for extended periods of time
• Fluffed feathers as if she is hot or covering chicks
• If you are observant of your flock, you may notice a straining look to her face and body
• The tail and her bottom will appear to be moving up and down like she’s trying to poop
• Multiple trips to the coop and nest in an attempt to lay, resulting in general distress
• A low balking which you will recognize as her distress sound
• Lethargy or general droopiness (in advanced bound stage)
• Lack of pooping (late stage)
• Paleness to cone and wattle (late stage)

Causes of egg binding include

• Beginning to lay at an early age
• Poor feed quality
• Poor diet
• A calcium deficiency (calcium is necessary for proper muscle contraction as well as egg development)
• Genetic flaws – her oviduct or pelvis is too small for the egg.
  • This means she will not be able to lay eggs without the probability of death. These issues are not preventable or curable.
  • Makes the egg too large for the hen to pass
• Parasites in the oviduct or intestines (worms)
• Dehydration – usually secondary to some underlying illness or not being provided with access to water.
• Obese chickens – poor feed quality can cause a chicken to over eat as they try to get the nutrition they need. Chickens don’t normally have a “food issue” like humans can. Most backyard flocks will not experience this.

Unless there is a genetic flaw, it can be prevented by diet, supplements, and foraging.

We shared 5 treatment options and the last resort treatment option to help treat your egg bound hen.

She should pass the egg within 2-4 hours of treatment. We shared what to expect and some follow up tips with you as well.

I do hope you never have to deal with this issue. If you do, I hope this article will stick in mind and you’ll have the confidence you need to help your hen.

You can learn more from our other egg-related articles.

As always, we’re here to help.