2nd Prolapsed Cloaca in 2 Months*update: She's laid a tiny egg???

[kitchwitch]

Middle of June one of my hens escaped from the run and I had a very hard time catching her, she kept hiding under things and when I finally caught her i realized her odd behavior was due to a cloacal prolapse. I put her in a dog crate in the garage and for three days i bathed her twice daily and applied honey/prep H I also have her antibiotic chick feed because I couldn't find any chicken antibiotics and I put some baby vitamins in her water. I also gave her small treats of yoghurt and fresh fruit that she ate right up. In 3 days she was back with her coop mates, no problems.

Today I went out to water the chickens and she was in the coop, by herself on top of a roost. When she turned around I saw that she had prolapsed again (same size, about a half dollar) but this time she's bleeding a bit. To clarify: there is evidence of blood on her backside, however she herself is not bleeding that I could tell. I assume her coop-mates have been picking her backside. What should I do this time? I worry because of the blood, clearly there is an injury somewhere, is there anything i should do differently than last time?
Also, do you think she's going to keep prolapsing like this?
Last time she was egg bound(it was a MASSIVE egg), and I believe she is again because I can see her motioning like she's trying to lay an egg but can't.

My plan of action is to get her into a warm water bath and wash her with some gentle shampoo and figure out what the cause of this is.

She's the only one in the 18 months i have had chickens that has gotten egg bound and now she's done it twice!

But because she's the only one affected I don't think it's a nutrition thing unless she's not eating which isn't likely because she's the bully!

Any idea why she's prolapsing? Anything I can do to keep her from prolapsing again? What should I do about the possible injury? What should I do if she's NOT egg bound?

Thank you so much for any advice! I'm off to bathe my chicken.

 

[kitchwitch]

I soaked her for 10 minutes or so and worked off all the gunk on her backside. Thankfully, there was no blood in the bath! Whatever was bleeding must have clotted. Once I dried her up I attempted to feel for a stuck egg and I felt nothing. I was right at my 3rd knuckle and could feel nothing and thankfully she's such a trooper that she let me poke her without consequence. I did have to lube her up with some olive oil as I have no idea what happened to the KY I keep on hand for poultry emergencies. I can only imagine

Once I pulled my finger out though everything went back in right as rain. I dabbed on a bit of prepH and put her in a laundry basket for further monitoring.

 

[crtrlovr]

sounds like you're doing all you can do at this point. I hope your girl stays better.

 

[MotherJean]

The prevailing wisdom seems to be that once a hen prolapses, she is likely to do so again...and again. The problem is that each time she prolapses it exposes the cloaca and oviduct (and the muscles that control it) to injury and permanent damage. This sets up a cycle of problems with eggs (soft shells, no shells, egg binding) which, in turn, lead to more prolapses and more damage. There's really nothing you can do (that you aren't doing already) to "fix" this problem - all you can do is continue to provide special attention and treatment when she gets in trouble. If this becomes frequent, chronic, or she becomes really ill from egg yolk peritonitis, you might consider euthanasia to alleviate suffering.

 

[kitchwitch]

Thanks motherjean, the sad part is that i already know that but only half want to believe it

Lola (as I've decided to call her) is currently resting in a laundry basket kennel I've made for her, with a light sprinkling of soft rat bedding, a cup of water, a homemade yoghurt/fruit/feed/tums slurry and some tuna fish. I have to admit she's eating like crazy and I'm wondering if perhaps the prolapse was somewhat self induced? I know if they're egg bound it can be due to a lack of nutrients and the last time it had happened NONE of the chickens had eaten their proper food in about a week because they were given a huge scratch block while my husband and I were on vacation :-(

She's been extremely broody the last few days so perhaps she hasn't been eating?

All I know is that as of right now she's looking perkier and she was talking to me a bit. Her cloaca is also right back where it should be but it appears soft, is there anything I can do about that?

 

[OregonChickenGal]

Sorry about your girl, I had to finally put down my beautiful Australorp. She prolapsed once, quarter size, did the same thing you have been doing. After a week she was ok, no prolapse. I put her back in with the flock, everything was great for about a month. She was back to laying and all was good. Then one day another one. This one was huge. Half dollar size. Once again separated her, did all the same things as before. She seemed to get a little better, it looked like it shrunk in size somewhat, and she was still eating and drinking. Then it started to bleed ever so slightly. From there it only got worse. She stopped eating and drinking, and her posture was not normal. So.......I had to cull her.

 

[MotherJean]

Sounds to me like you're going the extra mile for Lola - she's lucky girl. I wouldn't do anything about her vent beyond (maybe) giving her a little "lip gloss" of olive oil

just to keep her skin protected and lubed a little. I don't know whether you know this or not...a chicken's cloaca does a mild prolapse both when they lay eggs and when they mate with a Roo. It will sometimes take a little while for it to retract fully and that is normal. When it's more than just a small protrusion or it doesn't retract on its own within say 15 minutes, then it's a concern. I never did ask you if you have a Roo. If so, and Lola is his favorite, it is possible she could be suffering from over-mating. Do you have a Roo?

 

[kitchwitch]

I don't have a roo...live too close to my neighbors for that! I was worried because of the blood on her backside and because it wasn't a small prolapse, it was about a half dollar size. She's fine though and has integrated back into the group with ease and is happily back to ruling her roost, however today I found a tiny egg, not laid with the other eggs and I nearly stepped on it. It was a bit smaller than the size of my thumb and when I cracked it open it had a tiny yolk (smaller than a dime). I have a sneaking suspicion that it was Lola, but I'm not sure. The other 3 I collected were of normal size. Any suggestions as to what caused that?

 

[MotherJean]

Did you hen ever have what appeared to be a mild "cold?" The reason I ask is because some respiratory diseases can do long-term damage to the reproductive system. I wouldn't be surprised by the tiny egg considering what you've already been through. It just means that the ovary released the yolk a too early before it was fully developed. BTW, generally the blood around a prolapse is from the other hens pecking at it. They'll actually kill a hen with a prolapse.

 

[kitchwitch]

I knew that the blood was from other hens picking at it, but I was relieved that they hadn't been picking at it too much as evidenced by lack of "new blood" when I washed her the first time and they haven't picked at her since.
I never noticed anything sickly about any of them, but now that I've been bringing her in every couple of days I'm noticing more and more things wrong with her. The other 3 are big, healthy looking chickens but poor Lola is fairly skinny when compared to them, has a reoccuring prolapse, poopy-butt and now a massive black scab/hole in her backside which I noticed today for the first time! I've been kicking myself over it as I have NO IDEA what may have caused that but it's gross looking. It's just a half-dollar sized sunken black scab that's dry under her tail that I never noticed until I had her practically upside down. I'm not in the habit of picking up my chickens and turning them on their heads every few days. Now I did have a raccoon or fox get into the run a few weeks ago and get my other NHR, so I don't know if this is a healed over wound from that event? (assuming it had tried to get her). It's not wet or soft and it's not attracting flies so I'm not sure what to think of it. If I knew it was definitely a scab i wouldn't worry about it at all except for exactly when did she get a wound that size without my noticing? But this mysterious black spot in addition to the prolapse in addition to the poopy-butt is getting to be too much.

Like I said, she's never outwardly displayed signs of sickness (none of them have) no lethargy, no pale/droopy combs and no lack of appetite, in fact, Lola is always the most adventurous as far as trying new foods and treats and is always the first to try anything thrown into the run. As far as pecking order goes she's on top of the other three and rules with an iron wing despite looking rather pathetic. I'm afraid I might have to cull her because I have no way to account for all the stuff going on with her and I can't keep her inside much longer. I've looked the other 3 over and they're fluffy, meaty, woundless and lice-less but looking at Lola I feel like i failed her