Is my Budgie egg bound?

[Phantom]

Her butt is very red, and protrudes a bit. She is acting completely normal. She has diarrhea-ish poop, and is able to fly perfectly normal. I just dont want to let it go if it is egg binding. Or if its anything else that is causing these things. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Phantom]

sorry for the terrible quality pictures. Shes pretty active, and its hard to get her to stay still for more than 5 seconds lol

 

[Phantom]

also, idk what all info would be most helpful so ill just dump all this. : Shes 5 years old. ive had her prettty much from the beginning. about 2 months ago she started laying eggs. she had no issues. it was more recently i saw these things start. shes probably layed at least 20 eggs. there is no male, so they are infertlie eggs. i think there may have been one egg awhile back that had a streak of blood on it. i didnt think anything of any of this until today i heard abt egg binding. i never heard of it before.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

If she's pooping, it's a good thing. I would get her into a vet asap, though, because it could get stuck. **Hugs** Keep us updated on her condition, plz!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

No, i dont think shes egg bound. If she was, she would be in extreme distress. She would be in the floor of the cage or in the nestbox straining and wouldl lose use of her legs as the egg presses on the vessels and nerves to her legs. Then her organs, especially kidneys would start to fail and she would die within hours without emergency avian vet care and that may not save her.

After and during when budgies lay eggs the butt often gets puffy and red like that especially the first egg(s). The big watery poops are normal for an egg laying hen. The poops can get so big they look like big parrot poops! Please feed her a balanced diet and add either egg food moistened with water or plain scrambled eggs a few times a week to give her protein, and a good calcium vitamin D supplement in her water while she's laying eggs. Also make sure she has lots of cuttlebones and a mineral block to replace calcium lost to forming eggshells. If she depletes her calcium stores laying a lot of eggs she will be more prone to egg binding. Older hens are also more prone to egg binding and at 5 she is approaching past her prime for egg laying. A budgie that's out of shape and overweight is also much more likely to get egg bound. Too much fat in the abdomen crowds the internal organs and can interfere with the passage of the egg down the oviduct. If she's out of shape from lack of exercise her muscles may not be strong enough to lay eggs when combined with other risk factors.

Egg binding is a life threatening emergency. If she shows any of the distress associated with egg binding, please take her to an avian vet right away. If you can't, admininister a few drops of liquid calcium supplement straight, directly into her beak, to raise her blood calcium levels quickly to help the muscles to contract strongly and expel the egg. Adequate blood calcium is essential for muscle contraction and it gets depleted quickly when the egg doesn't pass readily. Raising the calcium levels quickly may be just what she needs to pass the egg. You can also try putting a lubricant like olive oil or ky jelly on her vent. Putting her in a very warm moist environment like a steamy bathroom may help.
At the vet they will likely xray to locate the egg and, they may give her a Pitocin-like injection to make the muscles of the oviduct contract strongly, and or a calcium injection. They may also try to manually deliver the egg by pressing carefully behind it and pushing it out the vent. This is a dangerous procedure that can break the egg causing massive internal injury and infection (egg peritonitis). Don't try this at home! They may also insert a needle into the egg itself and draw out the egg contents before assisting in delivery of the collapsed egg. These interventions are much safer on large birds like large parrots and chickens not budgies.

I hope you never have an egg bound budgie. It really is a horrible way for her to die.

 

[Phantom]

If she's pooping, it's a good thing. I would get her into a vet asap, though, because it could get stuck. **Hugs** Keep us updated on her condition, plz!

Thanks. I noticed that in the past few hours she hasnt really pooped but maybe once.
I'm not really financially able to go to the vet. ive heard its like 200 dollars minimum just for the diagnosis. I'm just hoping theres easy home remedys that i can afford.

 

[Phantom]

No, i dont think shes egg bound. If she was, she would be in extreme distress. She would be in the floor of the cage or in the nestbox straining and wouldl lose use of her legs as the egg presses on the vessels and nerves to her legs. Then her organs, especially kidneys would start to fail and she would die within hours without emergency avian vet care and that may not save her.

After and during when budgies lay eggs the butt often gets puffy and red like that especially the first egg(s). The big watery poops are normal for an egg laying hen. The poops can get so big they look like big parrot poops! Please feed her a balanced diet and add either egg food moistened with water or plain scrambled eggs a few times a week to give her protein, and a good calcium vitamin D supplement in her water while she's laying eggs. Also make sure she has lots of cuttlebones and a mineral block to replace calcium lost to forming eggshells. If she depletes her calcium stores laying a lot of eggs she will be more prone to egg binding. Older hens are also more prone to egg binding and at 5 she is approaching past her prime for egg laying. A budgie that's out of shape and overweight is also much more likely to get egg bound. Too much fat in the abdomen crowds the internal organs and can interfere with the passage of the egg down the oviduct. If she's out of shape from lack of exercise her muscles may not be strong enough to lay eggs when combined with other risk factors.

Egg binding is a life threatening emergency. If she shows any of the distress associated with egg binding, please take her to an avian vet right away. If you can't, admininister a few drops of liquid calcium supplement straight, directly into her beak, to raise her blood calcium levels quickly to help the muscles to contract strongly and expel the egg. Adequate blood calcium is essential for muscle contraction and it gets depleted quickly when the egg doesn't pass readily. Raising the calcium levels quickly may be just what she needs to pass the egg. You can also try putting a lubricant like olive oil or ky jelly on her vent. Putting her in a very warm moist environment like a steamy bathroom may help.
At the vet they will likely xray to locate the egg and, they may give her a Pitocin-like injection to make the muscles of the oviduct contract strongly, and or a calcium injection. They may also try to manually deliver the egg by pressing carefully behind it and pushing it out the vent. This is a dangerous procedure that can break the egg causing massive internal injury and infection (egg peritonitis). Don't try this at home! They may also insert a needle into the egg itself and draw out the egg contents before assisting in delivery of the collapsed egg. These interventions are much safer on large birds like large parrots and chickens not budgies.

I hope you never have an egg bound budgie. It really is a horrible way for her to die.

Thanks for replying!
She eats mainly a diet of millet and a few other seeds. Its the Higgins vitaseed blend. Weve tried many others, but its the only one she will eat. Ill have to try doing scrambled eggs tho. i never heard of that.
Shes had a cuttlebone for probably 5 -6 months, and is about a third of the way through it. For grinding her beak, she mainly chews on wood toys.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

About the blood streak on an egg, that sometimes happens and unless there's more than a smear I don't think there's an urgent problem. However, I would take her to an avian vet to discuss ways to minimize her egg laying by modifying her environment and to get advice on ways to ensure she stays healthy laying all those eggs.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

That's very poor diet for a budgie especially one who lays eggs like she is. I know how hard it can be to get a budgie that's eaten nothing but seed all its life to expand its diet but at the very least she needs supplentary calcium and vitamins in her water all the time.
Do you have any other birds?