My Buff Orpington with oviduct prolapse / prolapsed vent. Warning, pictures are graphic!

My hen had an oviduct prolapse (I think that is what it is called) yesterday. We set her in warm Epsom salts water with some peroxide poured in the water. As my husband attempted to work the 2 eggs back the direction from which they came the membrane tore. He removed the eggs, one was soft, the other just looked like a regular sized egg. He then used preparation H to push all back inside. We brought her home, placed her in a large dog crate, on a towel, with water (mixed with a vitamin supplement). I placed towels over the top of the cage to make it darker. When I checked on her this morning she was standing in the back of the cage. Looks like she has had 3 -4 bowel movements. Her vent appears to have stayed inside her. I have several questions. What type food do I offer her? Can I put pine shavings in there? When should I try to give her time with her coop mates? How often should we wash the area? Do we reapply Prep H each time? I am going to add oxytetracycline to her water today. I have read not to eat her eggs for 21days. How do you tell which egged are hers? I know this is a lot! Thanks in advance for your time and patience!

I don't have a lot of experience with this but I will answer what I can. She can have her regular food and if it is not normal layer rations make sure she is getting enough calcium. Pine shavings should be fine. You may want to keep her out of the coop for a few days in lower light conditions to reduce her ovulation for a while and give her a bit of a break from laying. She can have supervised visits with the flock for a while if you want. Depending on how much poop is getting on her, clean her at least once a day and put prep H on for a few days. I don't know if I would give her an antibiotic for the membrane rip. It's not that it would hurt her really but I don't if it would help. I guess you would have to watch her or separate her to tell which eggs are hers. I can tell some of my chickens eggs apart because they are different breeds.

I suppose the moment of truth will be when she lays another egg. Hopefully it was a one time thing because of that soft egg, and she won't prolapse again.

Maybe someone else will respond with more details or ideas.

scratch'n'peck said:

I don't have a lot of experience with this but I will answer what I can. She can have her regular food and if it is not normal layer rations make sure she is getting enough calcium. Pine shavings should be fine. You may want to keep her out of the coop for a few days in lower light conditions to reduce her ovulation for a while and give her a bit of a break from laying. She can have supervised visits with the flock for a while if you want. Depending on how much poop is getting on her, clean her at least once a day and put prep H on for a few days. I don't know if I would give her an antibiotic for the membrane rip. It's not that it would hurt her really but I don't if it would help. I guess you would have to watch her or separate her to tell which eggs are hers. I can tell some of my chickens eggs apart because they are different breeds.

I suppose the moment of truth will be when she lays another egg. Hopefully it was a one time thing because of that soft egg, and she won't prolapse again.

Maybe someone else will respond with more details or ideas.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your response!

Your doing a great job, I would bath once daily if she's getting messy, normal food is good, when my pullet prolapsed I scrambled some eggs for extra protein. Everything above is right on the money!!

Good luck

best wishes,i hope she heal's soon,you recieved some really good advice

I got her out to wash her off this afternoon. She had prolapsed again. This was nothing like seeing the 2 eggs hanging outside in the membrane. We used Prep H and tucked the vent back in. I am wondering about giving the antibiotic. I started it today, but I am now questioning whether I should give it or not. If all is well in the morning I hope to put her out with her coop mates for a while.

scratch'n'peck said:

I don't have a lot of experience with this but I will answer what I can.  She can have her regular food and if it is not normal layer rations make sure she is getting enough calcium.  Pine shavings should be fine.  You may want to keep her out of the coop for a few days in lower light conditions to reduce her ovulation for a while and give her a bit of a break from laying.  She can have supervised visits with the flock for a while if you want.  Depending on how much poop is getting on her, clean her at least once a day and put prep H on for a few days.  I don't know if I would give her an antibiotic for the membrane rip.  It's not that it would hurt her really but I don't  if it would help.  I guess you would have to watch her or separate her to tell which eggs are hers.  I can tell some of my chickens eggs apart because they are different breeds.  

I suppose the moment of truth will be when she lays another egg.  Hopefully it was a one time thing because of that soft egg, and she won't prolapse again.  

Maybe someone else will respond with more details or ideas.

Click to expand...

. This is a photo from this morning. I waged it as best as I could, but probably not vigorous enough. Part of it is hard. She sat in an Epsom salts and watered down peroxide bath for several minutes. I used prep H to push it back in. I held it there until it was no longer coming back out. She is still inside and in a darkened cage. Not eating much, but acting OK. She has bowel movements, but not eating much. Any further ideas?

omgosh,poor hen,i hope she heal's soon best wishes

I'm not really sure if the membrane or skin drying and hardening is a concern or not. Betadine or iodine would be better in the bath than hydrogen peroxide. I tend to use hydrogen peroxide only for the initial cleaning, because it does damage skin cells and can slow healing with repeated use.

Try giving her a few treats that you know she likes to see if she has any appetite. The more nutrient dense the treat the better, but she may not be in the mood to try new food. I hope she is drinking enough. At least she is pooping okay. I am not really sure what to do about the repeated prolapses. I hope others respond who have had similar experiences.

Thanks to all of you that have replied. I want to share progress to this point.


This was day one, but before the 2 eggs were hanging outside. I was so upset at this point I forgot to take pictures. As we were trying to get to get the eggs out the membrane surrounding the eggs broke. We cleaned everything with peroide water,and used Prep H to push it back in.