HELP! I don't know what to do now

[rebrascora]

@Loppy Lobster
Just reading back over your replies where she was pecking at the shell less egg that came out of her and wondering if she might manage/be tempted to eat same raw beaten egg as that would give her nourishment without clogging her crop any further. I agree that Exact Baby bird formula would be useful to help build her back up.

 

[Loppy Lobster]

Thank you for spending so much time and effort on us... we really appreciate it.

We gave her some coconut oil and ate approx 1.5 tbs by herself. Her crop went from hard and barely palpable to fully palpable. We'll keep doing that along with water, vitamins and yogurt for now.

We had a bit of a set back with the rupture. I think we need to eliminate bathing and just rince her a few times a day... the super glue let go this morning while bathing. We glued the rupture again and we'll see how it goes. Being water soluble, I'm not surprised... we were just hopeful.

All she has in the dog carrier right now is water.... in their coop, they free feed on oyster shell, #2 grit, and compost. They also get fed non-gmo grains and a little bit of corn during the winter for a little extra energy. They free ranged a little bit until I finished the 200 sqft mansion (coop), but we have a family of eagles, and ravens circling the property so they are kept inside at the moment until i get the fencing done around their run. They get approx 5 sqft per chickens in the coop in case anyone is worried. And, the coop is 10 ft tall and has tuftex all around to let as much sunlight in as possible. I built them a small pole barn

Her breath smell like coconut oil right now but we haven't noticed any sour smells... just poop and and prep H ....no regurgitation either. We will leave some yogurt and coconut oil for today and graduate to feed tomorrow maybe. Should a feed her something else while in infirmary?

 

[Loppy Lobster]

I guess we ran out of luck in the super glue department. It came apart just 4 hours into it... but thankfully, we found dissolvable sutures we found left over from the previous owner's business and decided to give it a try. Not sure if we Should do a victory lap just yet

After massaging her crop a few times We found out she indeed has a sour crop. That came up as we were suturing her oviduct. First timer smelling said sour crop... we weren't sure where the smell was coming from so we were both trying to smell her vent area... pretty funny moment

In the pic, you'll notice that the external layer of the tissue to the right of the stitches is getting black... the tissue is actually dying even with a bucket load of ointment. Good news is her little body is actually trying to get rid of it and it is peeling off. It is also important to mention that the overall portion of the oviduct that is protruding out of the vent is actually only 1/5 or less of the initial prolapse bulge, so she's manage to contract it back in a fair bunch.

So we'll see how the stitches hold up and try to push it back in the next few days.

I'll keep you updated.

Thank you for the outstanding support.

 

[micstrachan]

Thanks for the update! She is lucky to have you.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

Sorry to hear the superglue didn't hold longer term but good to hear that you found an alternative solution. I hope that proves more successful.
I would not give her anything with sugars (it will feed the yeast) or a lumpy texture until her crop is working properly..... I would stick with vitamins in the water and perhaps some scrambled egg, but the Exact baby bird feed would be a good investment as I believe it is a fine homogenous powder that you can mix to a paste with water and maybe swipe bits into her beak like the coconut oil. You will probably need to start treating the sour crop. Woman's vaginal thrush cream will help to kill the yeast. Again swiping bits into her mouth for her to swallow.

They also get fed non-gmo grains and a little bit of corn during the winter for a little extra energy.

I have concerns about her diet and believe it may be responsible for her current problems. I'm not sure why you would feed non GMO grains and then add corn. I have a theory that these grain type feeds may be responsible for a number of hens that have had prolapses and other serious issues. There are several threads here on BYC this winter where people feeding these mixes have reported such problems and worse.
The way I see it is that chickens prefer some grains over others and with a feed where there are fragments of grains or whole grains mixed together, they will select their preference and not get a balanced diet. Hens can locate and eat the tiniest specs of bugs and other morsels if you watch them scratching and foraging, so it is not unreasonable to say that they can easily select their favourite components in a grain mix. Most hens love wheat and corn but the higher protein lentils and pulses etc are less attractive. If your bird is getting more carbohydrate and less protein than she needs, she will start to lay down fat deposits. These can cause a number of health issues one of which is that fat builds up in the belly and around the vent and constricts the cloaca leading to problems laying eggs and having to strain much harder. She may also not be getting enough calcium due to this selective eating which may cause the soft shelled eggs. You have also been adding corn to the diet which adds more of the carbohydrates that so easily turn to fat and further dilutes her overall protein and calcium intake.
I would recommend you try a pellet or crumble type feed (there is less waste with pellets) which is homogenous and therefore prevents them from picking and choosing like they can with a grain mix.
The above is purely a theory of mine but I would urge you to test it by scattering some of the grain mix down on a paving slab or other hard surface and watching how they eat it and whether they eat particular components before others. My guess will be that they will scratch through it to find their favourite bits. If you normally feed pellets and put a pile of them down they usually just eat it without scratching because they know there is nothing more interesting in amongst it. It may seen boring for them but it means they eat the whole ration and therefore get a balanced diet and if you let them free range or give them compost to scratch through then they are getting exercise and free range as well as a small amount of bugs and foliage etc to add variety to their diet and life in general.

I know many of these grain mixes are organic and GMO free etc and probably very expensive and people think they are giving their hens the best, but it may not always be as beneficial as you would hope.

If you decide to switch to pellets or crumble, be prepared for them to go on strike and reject the new feed.... you need to be tough with them to make them eat it. It can help to slowly grade it in with their old mix.

If you are interested I can probably find and link a few of the other posts. One or two lost their birds and had necropsies done and fat deposits and potential diet issues were identified.

 

[rebrascora]

WARNING GRAPHIC PHOTO.....

Just to illustrate the point about diet and obesity.... below is a photo of a necropsy I did on a light sussex hen that had too many grains in her diet...... she got ascites and ruptured. The thick yellow stuff is fat that was lining her abdominal cavity and you can see how it narrows and restricts her vent area down at the bottom right of the photo. There were also thick fatty deposits in and around many of her organs...... this bird belonged to my neighbour but has been a stark reminder to me to go easy on the treats and particularly scratch grains and wheat.
I would not have said this bird was obese until I opened her up and found this. I butchered 4 of his other birds as they were not laying and found similar although not quite so extreme fatty deposits.

 

[Loppy Lobster]

My Apologies for the late reply and update... I was out of state... so we have a success story. She is now healed and seems to have recouperated fully including the sour crop issue. The prolapsed portion was stitched and kept moist with ointment and we tried to keep it in inside her little body as much as we could. She always pushed it out as soon as we would put her back in her crate... no big deal, it was kept moiat anyway. It took about 3 days for the tear to scab over and fall off (see pic). The stitches even fell off with it... amazing!!! now her vent is now as good as new (see the other pic) lol. We kept her in her crate away from direct sunlight for about 2 weeks all together. She went back into the coop wed last week... so far so good. She did lose a fair bit of weight though so we will keep monitoring but her appetite is good.

Thank you for all the amazing info regarding feed, and super glue, and .... you guys have been nothing short of amazing.

 

[rebrascora]

Wow! That has healed wonderfully, well done , although I'm a little concerned that she is soiling herself so badly and the area around her vent looks swollen still. Is that just the camera angle? Can you compare her to another hen?

 

[Loppy Lobster]

That picture was taken the day the scab fell off. She looks really good now (see pic in this post).

 

[rebrascora]

That does look even better from the point of view of how fantastically the vent has healed, but I still think she has a full look to her back end and would urge you to look at her diet if you haven't already. My feeling is that she is carrying too much fat in her abdomen and that may have lead to the prolapse.