Chicken squarks when poops?

[Kippiekippen]

Also she doesn’t seem to be cooperating so I’ll clean her tomorrow afternoon. It’s 4 pm right now in the uk so it’ll be going dark really soon

 

[MissChick@dee]

Pictures would definitely help. If she is prolapsed a soak in warm water is what she’ll need. It will clean and relax her. Actually I believe chickens like soaks they calm right down and relax. Don’t leave her alone soak her for at least 20-30 minutes. So get comfortable.
Get your supplies ready. A hemorrhoid cream is helpful to get. You can apply it after the soak to reduce swelling. It will also act as a lubricant.
Once she’s soaked and lubed you can hold her in your lap and gently push the prolapse in and hold it in place. The longer you can hold it the better.
Depending on how much has prolapsed you might have to repeat the process...because egg laying could pop it back out.
You’ll want to separate her from the others because chickens tend to peck each other especially if there’s blood or red colored tissue.
It will create a much worse problem if they begin to peck at her.
It sounds daunting but you can do it. Go slow if you’re calm she’ll be calm. Having hens this happens. Now you’ll get some hands on experience for next time. Best wishes keep us posted.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I’ve checked her but I can’t get any pictures because she has lots of bum feathers. Her vent looks prolapsed and it looks quite red and sore it’s about the 2cm in diameter. She didn’t do an egg today but she did one yesterday when it all started. What should I do to get it the tissue back in?

Also she doesn’t seem to be cooperating so I’ll clean her tomorrow afternoon. It’s 4 pm right now in the uk so it’ll be going dark really soon

Once you give her a good soaking and cleaning up, you should be able to get photos. Wet feathers usually hang out of the way.
Epsom salts in the soaking water if you have them, soak for about 15minutes.

Sometimes a prolapse is swollen to the point it will not go back in immediately. Keep the exposed tissue clean and moist with anti-inflammatory cream, honey or hemorrhoid cream. Once the swelling has gone down, sometimes they are able to draw the tissue back in themselves or you can gently push it in. A prolapse may not stay in when they poop or lay an egg, so you may have to repeatedly soak and apply your ointment of choice over the course of a few days until inflammation goes down. Just keep the tissue moist.

She needs to be drinking. Dehydration can make it worse. If you have poultry vitamins give her a direct dose of those. Since you are in the UK look for Nettex Nutri-Drops. She also needs extra calcium to help with contractions. Give her 1/2 tablet of human calcium with D3 like Caltrate or store brand. An anti-acid like TUMS that contains Calcium Carbonate will work too if you have those. Just crush up the tablet/TUMS and sprinkle over some scrambled egg.

Keep her in a warm place, preferably separated from the flock, keep her where it's calm so she's not stressed.

Let us know how she's doing.

 

[Kippiekippen]

Thank you all so much for your replies. Tomorrow I will soak her and lubricate the vent, keeping her isolated from the others. I’ve read that she needs to stop eating pellets whilst isolated and should be given mixed corn and lettuce instead? Is this ok?

 

[MissChick@dee]

I’ve haven’t heard any about her regular feed not being appropriate. She needs to stay hydrated. If it were me I’d soak her pellets (extra moisture) adding some TUMS (for calcium) would be of great benefit. Adding electrolytes into the water would be good also. Corn & lettuce are not bad for treats but she needs good well rounded nutrition as in her pellets. Try warming the soaked mushed pellets in the microwave for a couple seconds. (check they don’t get too hot) my chickens love this! They think it’s a treat.

 

[rebrascora]

I agree with @MissChick@dee . I would not give her corn or lettuce as both require more digestion than a formulated feed andsince she is already struggling with her digestive system then she needs things kept simple to process and balanced. Pellets or crumbles soaked in warm water and allowed to stand for 10 mins to become mush would be best.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you all so much for your replies. Tomorrow I will soak her and lubricate the vent, keeping her isolated from the others. I’ve read that she needs to stop eating pellets whilst isolated and should be given mixed corn and lettuce instead? Is this ok?

Can you possible find where you got that information from - about not feeding the pellets while recovering from prolapse, I would like to read that.

I agree, there's no need to withhold her normal feed, she needs balanced nutrition in order to stay fit and heal.

 

[Kippiekippen]

Can you possible find where you got that information from - about not feeding the pellets while recovering from prolapse, I would like to read that.

I agree, there's no need to withhold her normal feed, she needs balanced nutrition in order to stay fit and heal.

“The recommended way to stop the laying process is to put the hen in a dark environment, the darker the better. Egg laying is dependent on the light/dark cycle of day and night. Reduce feed to a mere maintenance level and replace layer’s mash or pellets with corn so there is no “extra” nutrition that the hen needs in order to produce an egg.” From this websitehttp://www.pocketfarm.co.uk/hen-health-prolapse-of-the-vent/

 

[MissChick@dee]

Thanks for that. I think your hen is in a bit of a different situation given that she’s prolapsed. Yes the dark environment will help her biological clock.
She’s going to need nutrition to overcome her body stress.
I will encourage you to try the mash.
But in the end it’s truly your decision. I wish for a full recovery for her. Best wishes

 

[Wyorp Rock]

“The recommended way to stop the laying process is to put the hen in a dark environment, the darker the better. Egg laying is dependent on the light/dark cycle of day and night. Reduce feed to a mere maintenance level and replace layer’s mash or pellets with corn so there is no “extra” nutrition that the hen needs in order to produce an egg.” From this websitehttp://www.pocketfarm.co.uk/hen-health-prolapse-of-the-vent/

Thank you for this!
I do agree if a prolapse is severe and you need to stop the hen from laying, limiting the light she gets daily will make her "stop" over the course of several days. A hen may already have an egg on it's way, so don't be surprised if she tries to lay even with a prolapse.

I understand where they are coming from about feed - it's thought that reducing calcium/placing them on a maintenance ration would reduce laying, but light cycle and hormones are conducive to laying, not feed. My case in point - I don't feed layer feed ever! I use an all flock type feed and supply a source of calcium separately (oyster shell). If layer feed caused hens to lay, then surely feeding a non-layer feed, my hens/pullets would never lay. Make sense?

It's a pretty good article, but a hen that is sick/injured/has suffered from something like prolapse, etc. they needs nutrition. The best way to do this is to offer their normal nutritionally balanced poultry feed. I even will "boost" for a few days with poultry vitamins and "extra" protein like egg or meat as a treat.

Corn and lettuce do make fine treats, but neither by themselves contain the correct nutrients. Your hen will love it though Too much corn packs on the fat which accumulates in the abdomen (fat pad) this in turn will make it harder to lay an egg.
Too much fat can often lead to Fatty Liver Hemmoragiac disease as well.
https://hencam.com/henblog/2015/07/fatty-liver-disease-in-hens/

Warning - video can be considered graphic! It does show the amount of fat that can accumulate in the abdomen and surrounding the organs. That amount of fat would eventually cause reproductive problems (think about trying to pass an egg past all that) and it's hard on the internal organs.