Calcium & Egg Binding
Calcium and egg bindingCalcium Carbonate and Calcium Gluconate are two very important things to ensure the good health of your hens.Most solid forms of Calcium are Calcium Carbonate and include Cuttle Bone, Egg Shells, Oyster Shell Grit and Plaster of Paris.Calcium Gluconate is a combination of calcium and glucose or blood sugar.Calcium Gluconate or Liquid Calcium as we know it is the most soluble form of available Calcium we can buy for our birds. This is a must for your birdroom and no breeder should be without a bottle.It is so rapidly absorbed by the intestines of the bird that it becomes a life saver for an egg bound hen.I always have a container of Calcivet on my birdroom work surface, don’t wait until you are faced with a fluffed up and potential death on your hands with an egg bound hen, order one now.When purchasing Liquid Calcium make sure it contains D3 and if possible Magnesium as these two co factors are required for Calcium uptake.Let us go back to Calcium CarbonateCalcium Carbonate is an excellent source of Calcium for your birds, particularly laying hens but the problem with it is when you have an egg-bound hen.It is impossible for a hen to absorb enough Calcium Carbonate if she ate it for twelve hours non stop she would still not have enough in her body to prevent her from becoming egg bound the following day.This is why we should have Calcium Carbonate available to our birds every day.My birds sources of available Calcium Carbonate are Cuttle Bone, Oyster shell grit and on occasions Egg shells.You may ask where the wild budgerigar gets their Cuttle bone from , the answer is they don’t .The wild budgerigar will choose a breeding area with immediate sources of calcium , it may be from the red earth soils, limestone and river beds containing mineral salts.Exhibition Budgerigars produce larger eggs and bigger clutches of chicks than wild budgerigars and require greater quantities of calcium and minerals. Phosphorous, iron, zinc, iodine, sodium and chloride are very important minerals for today’s budgerigar.Back to Cuttle Bone; Cuttlebone is the internal shell of a cuttlefish that are related to squid and octopus. They have two tentacles and eight arms and when in danger they eject a black ink like fluid. You may notice the ink on the hard part of the bone you are serving to your budgies.Most countries eat cuttlefish and when they are cleaned in preparation for eating the only bone in their body is discarded, washed and then sun bleached ready for export.
It provides our birds with a source of calcium and other necessary minerals. I cannot stress enough how important it is to breeding hens.The major component of cuttlebone is calcium carbonate (85 percent). This is also the major component in eggshells.Calcium and Phosphorous.These two minerals form a very important part of a bird’s diet. Calcium is used for the formation of bones and eggs. It is also needed for adequate nervous and muscle function.Phosphorous is also important in bone and egg formation. The uptake of both of these minerals (from the birds intestine is dependant on vitamin D3).Vitamin D3 is the sunshine vitamin and a bird requires at least 15 minutes sunshine per day which we in the UK know is not possible so we then turn to the full spectrum lighting in our birdrooms .My preference is the Arcadia range.Oyster shell grit.When discussing grit, it is important to realize there are actually two types: soluble and insoluble. Soluble forms of grit include cuttlebone, oyster shell, limestone, and gypsum. Soluble grit is dissolved by acids as it passes through the bird's digestive system, therefore there is little danger of it accumulating in the digestive system or causing an obstruction. Because it dissolves, it does little to aid in the digestion of whole seeds. It does, however, serve as a source of calcium and other minerals.Insoluble grit is generally in the form of silica, and may range in size from sand to small pebbles. Insoluble grit remains in the gizzard and is thought to aid in the mechanical breakdown of food.I never use Insoluble grit in my birdroom.I would never be without Oyster shell grit in my birdroom.Egg shellsSterilize your eggshells in boiling water and after draining them they can be dried out in the Microwave Oven.Crush the egg shells using a mortar and pestle, a rolling pin or the back of a table spoon.These can then be served separately or added to your Oyster shell grit pot.Now we have a few pointers down on paper regarding calcium perhaps we should include a little on egg binding at this point.
I had two hens last year that were both egg bound and with a little help they passed their eggs , one of these hens was lame for almost three months due to the egg pressing on a nerve.Egg BindingA egg bound hen has used up all her calcium reserves , did the breeder not supply enough calcium or was the hen not eating the available calcium sources .Perhaps catching up a bird that is in the process of laying may have caused the egg to stop moving and she then became bound.Do not catch up laying hens unless it is considered criticalThe early signs of an egg bound hen in distress, notice how the urates are trying to by pass the egg.Her faecal matter and her urates will back up and poison her system if the egg is not laid very soon.An egg bound hen is in a critical condition and the egg can press on a nerve and her kidneys causing a slow death.
An egg bound hen will normally have a shell on it but on occasions there are no shells, she may still be bound but will pass the unshelled egg easier.An egg bound hen will be fluffed up, tail bobbing, not eating, on the cage floor lethargic and struggling to breathe, unless the egg is passed within twelve hours she may be dead or close to it.We must help our hen pass the egg and to do that we need Liquid Calcium immediately, mix one ML of Liquid Calcium, add to the Liquid Calcium a couple of drops of Cod Liver Oil (lots of D3 in the oil) and a small pinch of Epsom salts (a source of Magnesium) this needs to be given via a crop tube directly into her crop (CHECK OUT THIS LINK)Her crop feed of Liquid Calcium, Cod Liver Oil and Epsom salts should be repeated one hour later.Do follow the manufactures dilution guidelines for Liquid Calcium.Your hen needs heat and in the high 80 degrees Fahrenheit it is not too hot, a cheap alternative for a hospital cage is an electric propagator complete with opening vents. Just lay a few shavings on the propagator floor add a millet spray and a dish of water containing liquid calcium. She should pass her egg in a few hours if not an avian vet is urgently required as the egg will need to be surgically removed.Do not breed from an egg bound hen again that year.
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egg binding
Complications of Egg Binding in Birds
It is interesting how your perceptions change with time! Once upon a time, when treating egg bound birds my first consideration was to get the egg out of the bird the reasoning being that the egg was the cause of the problem and once removed the problem disappeared.
During many years of treating egg bound birds I have come to realise that the egg is not the only consideration when dealing with these birds.
The first thing to assess when you find a bound bird is whether it is actually egg bound! Often people jump to conclusions when they find a hen on the floor with a swollen abdomen - not all these are egg bound. You should be able to feel the hard egg in the lower abdomen.
Catching up birds that are in the process of laying may actually cause the egg to stop moving and then they become bound!! Be careful that you do not overly interfere with the egg laying process.
The next important consideration is the well being of the hen. If the bird has been bound for some time she may well be in a critical condition because of changes to blood flow to the kidneys. Birds that are bright and happy, but have an egg stuck should be treated conservatively (thats vet speak for do nothing ). Many of these birds will pass the egg in due course. Often the larger the bird the more tolerant they are of egg binding. Many of the Ostrich we dealt with in the past few years would have a uterus full of old eggs that did not pass but they appeared very normal, yet a finch that is truly egg bound is an emergency.
Once the egg is removed the bird may not necessarily be cured. Many of these birds have underlying conditions that need treatment if the bird is to breed again (that is generally the aim!).
Getting the Egg Out: Removing the egg may be difficult or at worst life threatening to the bird. Applying oil to the vent is about as useful as applying it to the birds left ear. The egg will be lodged in the uterus or shell gland, oil on the vent only makes you feel better it does nothing for the bird apart from give it an oily vent!
The general approach is:
* 1 - get the bird in a warm environment - about 28 - 30 degrees
* 2 - raise the humidity to greater than 80% relative humidity
* 3 - crop needle the bird with a dose of Poly Aid with some added Calcivet
* 4 - monitor the bird for 24 hours. If there is no improvement then get help from your bird vet – sometimes we need to get the bird into surgery quickly to save its life!
When we have the egg out we must then think about what else could be happening in those birds. Often they have a severe uterine infection, proving this in the live bird is difficult so you should treat them all as if they have an infection. Give them either injectable antibiotics or crop dose with antibioitcs. Eliminating uterine infections will improve the birds chance of laying normally in the future.
The other medical problem these birds suffer is acute, severe inflammation of the uterus or shell gland. This may lead to scar or adhesion formation. I always give a large dose of potent anti inflammatory when treating these birds.
Prevention is always more economical than treatment, be prepared to change things in your aviary (or individual hens ) if you have a recurrent problem.
1 - over fat hens will bind more frequently than fit hens.
2 - birds that lack adequate calcium or Vitamin D3 will bind because their muscles are not strong enough to expel the egg. A bird that binds with a soft shelled egg generally has a calcium/D3 deficiency. Breeders should be on a Calcium /Vit D3 supplement ( Calcivet or D nutrical ) during the egg laying period.
3 - a multitude of diet factors can cause egg laying problems. Reassess your diet with someone who has knowledge of avian nutritional needs.
4 - recurrent infections (misshapen, malformed eggs are often due to uterine infections) - you need veterinary advice. Just as oils ain’t oils, antibiotics ain’t antibiotics, some are better at penetrating into the uterus than others.
5 - if a hen egg binds in two successive seasons, she should be culled from your breeding programme.
Egg binding is a very common occurrence in breeding aviaries and all birdkeepers should have a system they use when they suspect a bound bird. If in doubt check with your avian vet and have the things you will need at hand – the sooner you act the sooner the bird is back in the aviary.