went out to say goodnight to my kiddos and found one 8 week old pullet with a bit of poop stuck on its vent, cleaned it , and found this! Anyone have any idea what's wrong?
That is a prolapsed cloaca. You need to gently push it back in. Lubricating it with honey or Preparation H before pushing it back in might help it to shrink. This may happen again and again, so I would check her frequently. It can happen each time she passes stoll, and if it gets stuck it can become swollen, dried out and the tissue can die. Other chicks can peck it causing injury and even death.
Yikes, thanks so much, after 2 hours of searching I could only find info the vent prolapse, obviously this one isnt laying! Will get right on it, this one is a total sweetheart! Don't get me wrong, I love all my stinker, but this one is always in my face and at my feet!
I agree with Eggcessive; she looks like she has a prolapse. Heres what to do: Isolate her immediately from the other birds. They will pick at the prolapse, and she might harm herself when running away from them, or jumping onto high rooster, etc. A dog crate would work well. Start soaking her lower half, twice a day, in a warm water bath. Make this water 95 degrees, and soak her for twenty minutes each time. This will help relax her muscles so that she can draw the prolapse back into her body. It will also keep the prolapse moist and relatively clean. After each soaking, and throughout the day, apply some honey and some Witch Hazel, or Preparation H. I recommend the honey and Witch Hazel, as it helped one of my birds when she had a prolapse. All three items help reduce swelling, and the honey keeps it moist and lubricated. Once a day at least, I'd recommend trying to gently push the prolapse in. It probably won't stay in very long at a time, but should eventually help. Don't let her eat a lot of feed. If possible, only feed her at night. This prevents too much passing of droppings, which can irritate the prolapse, get it dirty, and make the prolapse protrude more. Don't restrict feed completely, and continue giving her plenty of water. I did all of these things when one of my birds had a prolapse. Hopefully, it will help yours too, as mine successfully recovered, and has had no problems since.
