all 7 hens prolapsed this week

crystal1957

Songster
10 Years
Jun 24, 2009
120
1
111
Tallahassee
I have a group of 7 hens--they hatched in January. First eggs were early--April and were large. This week 4 out of 7 prolapsed, blood when I came home... 2 have died already. It's odd, last week I checked everyone's vent--nothing unusual and now this happened.

Could I have added something to the feed to help this? It really threw me for a loop when 4 out of 7 have prolapsed, with the possibility that maybe all 7 will. And that 2 hanging on may die soon.

Can anyone help me?
 
Wow. Sorry this happened. I've heard certain strains are more prone to this than others. Hoping someone with more experience with this can help. Are they on a 16% protein layer feed? Perhaps lowering their protein intake to slow laying?
 
I'm not sure, but I'd look long and hard at calcium content of your food and whether they consume oyster shell- do you offer it? I'm really sorry- this sounds awful.
 
Yes--I provide separate oyster shell. Use a 16% top of the line natural feed. These hens were all hatched out together--4 New Hampshire Reds, 3 Black Sex Links. I have 2 of the most seriously wounded in the house right now, separated, trying to heal them. Each morning I wake up not knowing what I will find.

I had no warning as all the vents last week were pink and moist... I check every week on all my hens. This was so sudden, unbelieveable.
 
Very odd that the entire flock would prolapse. Are they by any chance penned with a drake? Aggressive breeding of hens by a drake can cause cloacal prolapse.
 
The first thing that comes to mind for hens of different breeds to prolapse around the same time would be that they are so spoiled that they are too fat. A rich diet can cause fat to build up around the reproductive tracts and everywhere really, causing them to push harder and to prolapse when they start laying eggs or their eggs reach "adult" size....


However.. You say hatched January, let's say Jan 1st, then laid let's say April 9thth... They would only be 14 weeks old, even at the end of april, they'd only be 17 weeks old, which for the breeds you list, would be incredibly early as they usually start between 20-24 weeks for "normal". Interesting...

I'd say it is diet to spur maturation too fast and making birds too fat.
 
Hi Silkie Chicken--Sound advice... How can I trim diet? Use Layena Crumble...and they eat grass and bugs. No other treats. How do I cut back--just offer less feed?
 
Usually the issue with fat hens is when people give them scratch and table food to eat because they like it. If they are only eating layena crumble and freely ranging without any treats, they should not be getting fat.
 
It may very well be in your water. Especially since I see you have different breeds - not just one genetic line as I thought earlier.

There have been a lot of studies recently about estrogenic compounds in the water having all sorts of odd and bad effects on frogs alligators etc. It is believed to originate from prescription birth control pills and agricultural growth hormones and so on. Sewage treatment plants are not designed to deal with this, so the stuff can be in city water as well as rural wells.

Here is one study. There are lots more.

http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info:doi/10.1289/ehp.7522

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) are a newly defined category of environmental contaminants that interfere with endocrine system function (Sumpter 1998). Many alterations of the reproductive system observed in the aquatic environment are attributed to the presence of endocrine disruptors.​
 
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