HELP eggs in sack/ membrane hanging out of hen! **Update**

My 20 week old buff orp has a sack like membrane hanging out of her bottom. I can feel an egg or 2 in there and they are broken. what do I do??

She looks miserable. This has just happened within the past few hours.

I'm so worried. She's beautiful and our favorite. Please help...

Shane

She has what's called a prolapsed vent. The oviduct can come out with the egg, and it's common in young pullets who aren't quite fully mature. This can be treated, but it is serious. First of all, attempt to get the broken egg shells out of her, as they will cause damage and possibly death! Wash your hands and get some fingers in there to work the stuff out. As soon as you are done with all that, coat the oviduct with KY jelly, petroleum jelly, or some mineral oil in a pinch. Slowly and gently attempt to work it back into her. Keep her separated from the other hens, as they will peck her to death. Keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't "pop out" again. Make sure she has a quiet place to stay, with access to water, but drastically reduced amounts of food to slow up egg production. Vitamins/electrolytes in the water are also a good idea. Best of luck, and keep us posted!

Where is everyone?!?!? Anyway, turtle, you should also do a search on "prolapse" on this site. You could probably get some more advice from the other eggsperts!

wow!!...hope she is okay...someone on here will help ya..Wendy

thank you so much for the response. I've been working with her before I got your message.

I picked her up to see what I could do for her. She flapped real hard and I lost my hold. When she went down, out came the broken egg. Her vent area is real red. She's walking much slower.

She walked around some and headed up the ramp into the coop when the others were starting to go in.

I'm going to check her out fully tomorrow to make sure it all went back in.

What will happen if another egg develops tomorrow? or will it? Boy, that has got to be sore.

Thank you so much.

Shane

I am really hesitant to advise a particularly procedure to follow in getting the broken egg shells out and of course the most responsible thing to do is to take to a vet ...however we all know there is not a vet on every corner nor the funds to do so .
I do want to say that I do not think using your finger to try and get the broken shell out is a good idea...the opening is usually very small and you would more than likely make things worse by damaging the the wall (increasing the already exceptionally high infection risk)... dependent on how high up it is amongst other factors must first be dconsidered before even attempting to do such... a plastic (long) tweezer type instrument (no sharp edges) would to my mind be preferred over attempting to insert your finger and I am not at all convinced that is acceptable even except when you are sure you can remove the pieces when they are close and seemingly blocking the opening.
Flush the protusion with lukewarm sterile saline (you can make your own by boiling 1/4 tsp salt in a quart of water for five minutes) and then lubricate with kygel and reinsert gently... the entirety should pass now that the egg blocking it has broken. There is a very high risk of infection and most vets would give a baytril injection for that.

My hen (Fluffy) came out of the coop this morning just like usual. She immediately went over and got some water. She is moving around slowly and staying away from all the other hens.

My chickens free range in the backyard, so they have plenty of space. She is keeping away from everyone. Everything on her backside looks fairly normal the best I can tell, although kind of raw looking.

I was very alarmed at about 10am this morning. I looked in the nest box and she was sitting in it. I gave her a little time (I didn't know what to do) and went back and checked the box. She was gone and there was no egg. I hurried to find her. She was by herself off in a corner. Her backside was all normal though, which I was very happy about.

Any thoughts or suggestions?? Does she just need time to heal before acting like her normal self?

Thank you for all your suggestions.

Shane

Shane, This might be a real good time to slow down egg production by keeping her in dark, quiet, stress free area.
When you say the egg came out was it your sense that all of it was accounted for, or might there be broken pieces inside still?
If there was a perforation from a broken shell fragment your girl might need antibiotics per dlh's note above.
Try to keep her well hydrated. Watch to see if she's drinking on her own.
JJ

Yes, the egg was broken and leaky but it was all intact. She has been drinking on her own.

I got home from the office today at 5:30pm. She was already in the coop on the roost. Very unusual.

There was a small bit of something hanging out. I was able to push it back in. It was very moist back there.

Shane

will she keep prolapsing now?....is that whats going on with her?..Wendy