HELP! I don't know what to do now

[HerculePoirot]

I have a sick layer who was fine yesterday but at bed check she was facing backward in a laying box and obviously not well. Under her cloaca was red and swollen.

I brought her in and gave her two of warm baths and massaged her stomach and the area adjacent to the cloaca. Did an internal and could not feel a shell. I gave her liquid calcium (crushed up Tums and some water and down the throat) and have kept her in the house overnight.

She's still alive this morning and her cloaca is pulsing and dark red and swollen. She's not moving much.

I have no idea what this is and nothing I'm doing is helping. Advice??

Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

Could you post a picture of her vent? Did she have a prolapsed vent where the internal tissue has come outside? If so, keep the red tissue moist with honey or oil. Preparation H, honey, or sugar can help to reduce swelling in a prolapse. Take one finger and insert it into her fent an inch or so to check for a stuck egg. Is she passing droppings? Can she take some water?

 

[HerculePoirot]

My poor girl died in my arms a minute ago. I took a picture of the area around her vent and it won't attached (so much for the iPhone when you need it). It was dark red and looked stretched to the max and the skin looked as if it was splitting but there was no blood. It was extremely distended. She had brownish fluid that came out of her mouth as she died. It looked like dirty water.

I've never encountered this before. What happened to her? I'll attach a picture if I can get this fancy phone to do its job.

 

[Eggcessive]

I don't know for sure, but it sounds like she was egg bound. The fluid that came out was probably a normal thing that happens during death since the crop can empty as the chicken dies. If you would like to learn more, you could either refrigerate her body and send it off to the state vet or poultry lab for a necropsy, or you could do one at home. That could help you see if she was egg bound, if her intestines were coming out, if she suffered from an internal laying problem, or if there were blockages in her crop, gizzard, or intestines. Many take pictures and post them to help others see what certain conditions looks like, or to get advice on what they are seeing. I'm really sorry for your loss. Below are some pictures of prolapsed vent with and without egg binding:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/prolapse-vent-causes-treatment-graphic.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/07/chicken-egg-binding-causes-symptoms.html

prolapsed vent which can also occur with egg binding

egg binding with prolapse

 

[HerculePoirot]

Yes, that last picture is close to what she looked like. But not nearly as bad. I free feed them calcium but they really don't eat much of it. I'll try mixing it in their food. Not sure of the ratio though.

 

[Loppy Lobster]

I have a hen with something very similar... see pic... the bulge is huge and although palpable, it is fairly hard but I do not feel an egg in it. Your post was the best info I could find on the subject but I am slightly puzzled...

do I just clean it as recommended and hope for the swelling to go down?

At what point do I try to push it back in?

Do I need to manually drain it somehow?

What is the actual fluids inside the bulge?

Poo is passing by. We've bathed and washed her twice so far.

NOTE: My wife was kind enough to lend a small finger to check if there was an egg behind the bulge... she was knuckle deep (my apologies for the graphics) and could not feel anything.

Thx for the help

 

[micstrachan]

Hi there and welcome!
That looks awful. Poor chicken. I am going to tag some of the more experienced and knowledgable BYC people since I personally do not have experience with this. I think it is urgent. I do think your first priority should be keeping it moist so the tissue doesn’t die. And I am pretty sure you do not drain it. She may be egg bound with a prolapse?
@casportpony @azygous @rebrascora @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive

 

[micstrachan]

While we wait for the others to arrive, I’ll ask a few questions. When did you first notice the bulge? Does the chicken exhibit any other symptoms (penguin stance, pumping tail, etc.) Do you know when the last egg was laid? Have there been any soft shelled or shell less eggs lately? Have there been any weird, rubbery or cooked-egg-material looking chunks of weird stuff passed lately? Does the poop look normal? Do you know if the crop is emptying overnight? Is the breast muscle wasting away? Does the abdomen feel bloated with fluid? What do you feed her? If you answer as many of these questions as you can, that will help everyone figure out what’s going on so we can get you some help. There will likely be other questions, as well, but this is a good start.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It looks like a prolapsed vent. That's good that you were able to inspect inside for an egg.

General instructions to treat a prolapse would be to soak in epsom salts, cleanse the exposed tissue, apply hemorrhoid cream or honey to help reduce swelling. With it swollen like that, it most likely will not go in right away, so you will need to keep the exposed tissue moist with cream or honey - if the tissue dries out, it will harden and die. Let her rest, but provide her with plenty of water and her normal feed - see that she is drinking since dehydration can make it worse. If you have poultry vitamins those can be added to the water if you wish.

Extra calcium will help with contractions, you use TUMS or 1/2tablet of calcium supplement like Caltrate - I've found they will eat the crushed calcium if you sprinkle it on scrambled or hard boiled egg - every chicken is different though.

Again, it may take a day or 2 for the swelling to go down - once that happens she may be able to contract that herself, if not, give her a little help by gently pushing it in (lubricated with cream or honey).

 

[Loppy Lobster]

The hen is 7 months old Ameraucana. I think she has only laid one egg so far. If she did, it was hard shell. We noticed the bulge this afternoon. We have 42 chickens so it is a little hard sometimes to look at them all closely. We haven't noticed much aside from the appendage. Now she won't sit but this afternoon she squated for me to get some lovin'. I haven't seen weird looking poo in the coop... but having that many is again a little hard. Her crop seems to be working well. They feed on non gmo grains and compost. Her cheat seems fine, I probed her belly below the chest bone and around her sides... all normal. She does not appear to in distress yet...