Posted October 24, 200915 yr Well, we all buy birds and we don't always know when they are born, nor to whom -- that's the bird world for you, parentage can be fickle when we buy from people or discover a special bird in a pet shop and don't get records... That's we did -- we bought a very nice bird in a pet shop and we took her home. Like I normally do when I don't know the age, I guess and mark them down as a July clutch... it's a good enough guess... except that it's NOT. What if your hen is actually born at the end of the season, and you get the dates wrong? That's what I just did. And she dies because she was egg-bound. She was far too young to have bred, because of my poor record guessing. She went sick last night -- egg bound from being too young. She died this morning. We work up and she was still VERY warm. Its sad when it happens and I am annoyed over my record keeping, so now will move the hens age to the December time frame, or to the end of the possible age they could be, so they may well be older than than they are, but at least we wont breed them until much later. And now we have 5 eggs that have coloured up, and no hen. Fortunately we have a foster. I suppose its all a earnings experience, but getting the dates right, even if you err on the side of caution for your record keeping is better for the hen. Enought said - we're sad. We lost a good hen, all because we guessed her age when we bought her from the pet shop... Still guessing didn't help the hen.
October 24, 200915 yr Very sad loss as she was a lovely hen. This is why we don't breed YOUNG hens!!! I carry the weight of her death on my shoulders, 1 because she was too young and she shouldn't have been breeding for another 4-5 months easily, and two, i couldn't treat her egg binding effectively - the egg was not near the vent, but very much internal. :hooray: On the flip side, her eggs, left for a full 24 hours with no brooding, are alive - little hearts pumping and embryos wiggling when candled! The miracle of new life, and i hope they do well under the foster.
October 25, 200915 yr Because the hen became egg bound,she may of been a old hen. Me being me I also find the story a bit confuseing,yousay the eggs are fertile.Egg #5 the hen would of been sitting on it for at least 4days to show up fertile .Did you do a post mortum on the hen, as you say it was very internal the egg,if not it my have been another problem.
October 25, 200915 yr I was wondering too if the problem really was egg binding. Egg bound hens usually show symptoms for several days so there is time to treat them
October 25, 200915 yr I too was wondering the same thing as I was thinking in the kine was Macka and Neville, maybe there was an underline problem.
October 25, 200915 yr I did a postmortem on her last night as i was worried too, and there was an egg in the Cloaca, and her vent was swollen and bruised. She was a black ring so could have been from December. We bought her in April. I didn't notice any previous symptoms with her, but i don't check boxes every day. She is our first case of egg binding. She was in top condition otherwise. beautiful glossy feathers, clean vent, good weight and lovely tan to the cere.
October 26, 200915 yr im so sorry about your loss. but dont blame yourselves for getting the age wrong it is soo easy to missread the age by no records. i hope you continue with good luck in the future x x
