Phallus Prostration (male prolapse) - HELP!

1. Separate the drake from females. Typically this is a problem affecting young, exuberant drakes. If you take away the temptation then their phallus will stay put and get the rest it sorely needs.
2. If the tissue is too swollen to replace or is black, green, dead then see an avian vet first.
3. If not, gently cleanse the phallus and, if possible without too much misery, lube it up with KY or similar water-soluble jelly and tuck it back inside the cloaca. Sometimes, if the duck is cooperative, you can try applying a hypertonic sugar solution to help shrink the swollen tissue. Most ducks are not this patient.
4. If it pops right back out and there is danger of it getting stepped on or beat up, go see an avian vet.

redhen said:

Can you soak in it cold water to see if it will shrink?

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akeaglevet said:

I am an avian specialist and I see these ocassionally. Sorry I missed this post until 18 months later, but in case someone else comes across this in the future, I recommend the following:

1. Separate the drake from females. Typically this is a problem affecting young, exuberant drakes. If you take away the temptation then their phallus will stay put and get the rest it sorely needs.
2. If the tissue is too swollen to replace or is black, green, dead then see an avian vet first.
3. If not, gently cleanse the phallus and, if possible without too much misery, lube it up with KY or similar water-soluble jelly and tuck it back inside the cloaca. Sometimes, if the duck is cooperative, you can try applying a hypertonic sugar solution to help shrink the swollen tissue. Most ducks are not this patient.
4. If it pops right back out and there is danger of it getting stepped on or beat up, go see an avian vet.

The most important steps the vet can provide that you can't are pain relief, anti-inflammatory drugs, and, in the case of a phallus that keeps popping back out, they can apply a couple of temporary sutures across the vent to hold the phallus in place while it heals. The procedure can be performed in most ducks while awake and using just a local anesthetic-- so not too expensive. Usually this is all that's needed and the sutures can come out in 10-14 days (often they pop out on their own). In very few cases, where the phallus has devitalized or become injured, or fails to heal after the initial vent sutures, then amputation is necessary. Some birds will have long-term complications from this, depending upon how the amputation is performed.

Click to expand...

akeaglevet said:

I am an avian specialist and I see these ocassionally. Sorry I missed this post until 18 months later, but in case someone else comes across this in the future, I recommend the following:

1. Separate the drake from females. Typically this is a problem affecting young, exuberant drakes. If you take away the temptation then their phallus will stay put and get the rest it sorely needs.
2. If the tissue is too swollen to replace or is black, green, dead then see an avian vet first.
3. If not, gently cleanse the phallus and, if possible without too much misery, lube it up with KY or similar water-soluble jelly and tuck it back inside the cloaca. Sometimes, if the duck is cooperative, you can try applying a hypertonic sugar solution to help shrink the swollen tissue. Most ducks are not this patient.
4. If it pops right back out and there is danger of it getting stepped on or beat up, go see an avian vet.

The most important steps the vet can provide that you can't are pain relief, anti-inflammatory drugs, and, in the case of a phallus that keeps popping back out, they can apply a couple of temporary sutures across the vent to hold the phallus in place while it heals. The procedure can be performed in most ducks while awake and using just a local anesthetic-- so not too expensive. Usually this is all that's needed and the sutures can come out in 10-14 days (often they pop out on their own). In very few cases, where the phallus has devitalized or become injured, or fails to heal after the initial vent sutures, then amputation is necessary. Some birds will have long-term complications from this, depending upon how the amputation is performed.

Click to expand...