Egg Binding

[E Orix]

Just a warning, I was surprised this evening when I went into my large aviary to find a female Orange Bishop on the shelter floor.
She looked bright enough but when I caught her by hand I new something was adrift. As soon as I felt her around the vent you could feel the egg.
Simply she is egg bound,not a massive problem if you find them in time.I am fortunate to have an insect room which runs at 28c, tonight the bugs will have to put up with 30c.She is in a cage with food and water easily reached by her.If it has not layed by the morning then I will have to take the next step but at this stage heat and quiet should be right.
Nearly as important is the question why this has happened,she is housed in a vast aviary,balanced diet,growing green feed, live food and soaked seed available all day,basically the full quota.Yet she has this problem,the two reasons that come to mind is this could possibly be her 3rd clutch or she is an older bird. this can be determined later when she is able to put up with the stress of catching her.Egg binding is a baffling complaint especially when it occurs in large flights, small indoor set up maybe. I know people pour calcium into their birds but they also need other elements to assist the body into breaking it down so the body will absorb it otherwise it does nothing. Fortunately its rare at my place hence the surprise. Other opinions would be appreciated.

[VR1Ton]

Do you feed a lot of mealworms? Just a thought, calcium/phosphorus ratio might be out.

[Jayburd]

I love you have taken a very measured view instead of a panic at such a rare bird becoming egg bound
let's hope she's going to be OK!

[jusdeb]

Touch wood only once for me . My hand reared Quarrion fluffed up and not acting right . I had no idea bit I will share what the vet told me .

Her diet was fine though being a companion bird I wasn't really concerned too much with extra calcium apart from cuttle-bone , this may have contributed to her egg binding but the main factor in her case was a sudden cold snap that hit around the same time she was to lay her first egg .

She stayed with the vet all day while I was at work ( wasn't necessary but gave me peace of mind ) then at home it was a case of constant heat and time .

The only thing the vet did was check her over , do a few poop tests and give her an antibiotic injection in her chest .

She eventually and with much pain and strain passed the egg , shook it off and never looked back .

I'm assuming too that it would be even more stressful for a small aviary bird that isn't used to being indoors or handled , this alone would make matters worse .
At least I was able to give her comforting scratches to keep her relaxed .

[VR1Ton]

I generally give them a couple of drops of parafin oil, a couple in the beak, & a couple on the vent & blow so it gets "sucked" up to help lubricate & pass the egg. Just remember to do the oral route first, wouldn't like to take an oral dose after a supository, would you

[Jayburd]

lost a red faced parrot finch hen to EB a couple of years ago... heat didn't help that one I think I found it too late

[Fincho162]

Down here it's always been a huge problem......until recently that is. We used to separate Blue-caps and Pytilas over the winter for fear of egg-binding - given they luv to breed from here on through winter.........Now we dont bother and ....(touching a VERY large piece of wood!!!!) it appears a thing of the past.
Working with a few vets we arrived at a shellgrit/calcium mix which has been brilliant for our conditions.........if I give you ther initials JB from the Hunter I'm sure you'll recognise which one I'm talking about.

Have had some say its "ordinary" but that's more because of the who than the what I suspect - anyway, none live here so who cares!!
Like you I am loathe to use water based treatments as it is far too easy to overdose in warm/hot weather so I go with the dry mix...........it contains D3 too so is absorbed OK........but birds pick what they want and when they need it.

Why?? Age of bird, change of the weather from hot to cold, as you say prior breeding history...........a multitude of reasons why.
Can only say that since using "that" Ca mix I've not had a problem and not 1 egg-bound Rufous-back last winter as most bred during that time.

So maybe knocking yourself up a dry mix of vits & mins, finer shellgrit and other bits might do the trick.........good luck with it.

Maybe a stupid question but don't suppose you are using an algal remover in your ponds and the likes as the chemicals in these will leech Calcium from the birds...............did say a stupid question....but hey, we found out the hard way!!!!

[Lukec]

The weather maybe.....

Its definately 2-4 degrees colder in sydney over
The last couple of weeks.

[Myzomela]

Hi EOrix,

You're right when you say that egg binding can be a baffling complaint and that it is not always straightforward.

Have you got a few spare hours??????? Only joking..

Basically it happens because the hen isn't properly primed for breeding.
1) Nutrition, including lack of calcium, is one of several causes. As you say there are other factors involved. eg lack of vitamin D3 means that the bird can't absorb the calcium in the diet- this is unlikely to be involved in your case as the birds get good exposure to natural unfiltered sunlight.
High fat in the diet (eg oil seeds) can also inhibit calcium absorption. Chemicals in some plants eg oxalates can inhibit calcium absorption.Water too high in certain minerals. And on it goes...and this is just calcium. Other mineral and trace elements eg Magnesium, manganese, essential fatty acids, vitamins all are important and a deficiency or excess can affect the health of the oviduct, the ability for new eggs to be formed, and the ability for formed eggs to be passed. Underweight and obese birds are also at increased risk of becoming egg bound.
2) Birds are not in their reproductive prime ie they are too young, too old or breeding out of season, or have overbred. Sometimes individual birds just can't cope with the demand of multiple clutches in a season, even though you would reasonably expect them to do so.
3) External stressors can make egg binding more likely, be it bickering between hens, overzealous cockbirds, annoying aviary co-inhabitants, vermin and other pets, limited food/nest sites/roosting sites or weather changes. Those hens on a knife-edge are the ones that will succumb first.

4)Other hens have underlying issues. They may be carrying subclinical disease which only shows up when they try to lay; or they may be unable to lay properly because of genetic or developmental defects which, for example, make it difficult or impossible for them to form and then lay eggs normally. As not every bird is destined to survive to adulthood, not every hen is destined to be a good breeder. Selecting hens which come from successful hens themselves is a good start.

5)Other previously successful hens may have suffered oviduct damage from the strains of laying previous eggs or from infections existing within the uterus or oviduct.

So are we bored yet? Or just confused?

There are lots of causes- some management related; others are specific to the individual bird.

These are just some of the causes. There are others which I've omitted, and others that we just don't know about yet.
Hope this gives some info to think about.

[mickw]

Hi EOrix,

You're right when you say that egg binding can be a baffling complaint and that it is not always straightforward.

Have you got a few spare hours??????? Only joking..

Basically it happens because the hen isn't properly primed for breeding.
1) Nutrition, including lack of calcium, is one of several causes. As you say there are other factors involved. eg lack of vitamin D3 means that the bird can't absorb the calcium in the diet- this is unlikely to be involved in your case as the birds get good exposure to natural unfiltered sunlight.
High fat in the diet (eg oil seeds) can also inhibit calcium absorption. Chemicals in some plants eg oxalates can inhibit calcium absorption.Water too high in certain minerals. And on it goes...and this is just calcium. Other mineral and trace elements eg Magnesium, manganese, essential fatty acids, vitamins all are important and a deficiency or excess can affect the health of the oviduct, the ability for new eggs to be formed, and the ability for formed eggs to be passed. Underweight and obese birds are also at increased risk of becoming egg bound.
2) Birds are not in their reproductive prime ie they are too young, too old or breeding out of season, or have overbred. Sometimes individual birds just can't cope with the demand of multiple clutches in a season, even though you would reasonably expect them to do so.
3) External stressors can make egg binding more likely, be it bickering between hens, overzealous cockbirds, annoying aviary co-inhabitants, vermin and other pets, limited food/nest sites/roosting sites or weather changes. Those hens on a knife-edge are the ones that will succumb first.

4)Other hens have underlying issues. They may be carrying subclinical disease which only shows up when they try to lay; or they may be unable to lay properly because of genetic or developmental defects which, for example, make it difficult or impossible for them to form and then lay eggs normally. As not every bird is destined to survive to adulthood, not every hen is destined to be a good breeder. Selecting hens which come from successful hens themselves is a good start.

5)Other previously successful hens may have suffered oviduct damage from the strains of laying previous eggs or from infections existing within the uterus or oviduct.

So are we bored yet? Or just confused?

There are lots of causes- some management related; others are specific to the individual bird.

These are just some of the causes. There are others which I've omitted, and others that we just don't know about yet.
Hope this gives some info to think about.

Otherwise known as the "Choas Theory" or "Butterfly Effect" .......... .......... ;)