Hi all, I've been hanging fire hoping to post a photo of a happy and healthy Holly, but we sadly lost her yesterday after two weeks of trying to save her. I'm gutted. Her vent looked fine, her crop looked fine and she seemed to be getting better, but she has hardly eaten for the last few days...
Morning, so our Holly is up and about eating, drinking and scratting around :) She dodged the Vaseline I tried to put on her and I decided not to stress her out straightaway, but I feel a lot better about her than I did yesterday.
Her butt is still a bit of a mess, but I don't think she's egg...
Ha, thanks! I'm now sitting indoors at night worrying that Holly is going to have her eyes pecked out by rats because the cat basket is on the ground and wire mesh on the door to the basket and the coop itself is probably rat-sized. Just when I'd decided to stop worrying until the morning!
Okay, it's getting dark outside now so the girls will be heading to bed soon. Holly is going to spend the night in her new little run-for-one in a cat basket to give her some peace. Time for a much-neeed shower for me! Let's see what the morning brings. I can't thank you all enough for your...
You are so, so kind and your help is very much appreciated. I will stock up on what I can tomorrow and order anything I can't. I've really been caught unprepared.
That's a great straightforward article, thanks. Looking at the photos and looking at Holly (about time we called her by name) now, her vent itself when relaxed looks like a picture I've seen of a normal one, maybe slightly more swollen, but I don't think because of a prolapse...I don't think...
I finally felt inside her vent while my nephew held her. I tried twice and couldn't feel anything there. I'm sure I put my finger in far enough, but no blockage that I could feel. Hopefully doing it will have helped. I have vaseline, so can apply that.
I haven't smelled anything bad, but admittedly haven't ventured right close. All her fluff is already gone. I've trimmed the dirty feathers before reading this - hopefully not too much. She just seems to be continually dirty though.
She keeps looking like she's straining to poop (or lay???) and her 'insides come outside a bit' while she's doing it - if that makes sense. There's leaking poop, but that's all I've seen her do for the last two days now. The last time she laid was on Monday.
To be honest, I'm still so new at all this that I just don't know. She's obviously fed up - and doesn't want me anywhere near her now - but has been eating and I've seen her drink a little bit. She was scratting around quite happily earlier today before I started messing with her, and ran to see...
So it will be quite obvious (to someone without a clue) if there is an egg stuck when I feel inside the vent? And is there an easy way to do it???
This is the latest photo. She's messy again, but I don't think that a prolapse is the problem...is it?
Thanks, moral support is what I need. Had a big cry thinking that I might be letting her down and then rolled up my sleeves and created her an enclosure within the coop, so at least she won't be pecked at. Still haven't 'explored' yet, but am going to ask my nephew to come round to see if he can...