Dealing with a messy prolapse

[Tommy Tank Chickens]

Hi, first time posting.

I adopted my hens about 6 months ago and one of them now has a vent prolapse. I got some advice from the adoption charity who said to separate, keep clean and in a dark room to prevent her laying.

It's been about 2 days, she's difficult to keep clean as there's it's seems encrusted on and I'm trying to soak it and rub it clean but the poor lady is shaking and I'm worried about stressing her too much. She also has black scabs on the protrusion which I assume was from where the other birds pecked at her as she was bleeding.

I'm doing the best cleaning I can then spraying with an antimicrobial wound liquid.

The prolapse still looks bad but it seems like the crusty bits are preventing it from going back in and I certainly don't want to push it in and put something inside her that is going to cause issues.

Is this making any sense and does anyone have any advice they can give?

She's still eating and drinking though has lost a bit, I'm not sure if that's because I've cut down her food proportion and given her only mixed corn the past 2 days.

 

[azygous]

Here's your "how to" instructions for dealing with prolapse. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ng-from-vent-prolapse-oh-my-what-to-do.76124/

You are correct in figuring that an obstruction in the oviduct is causing the prolapse. Give her a calcium tablet right now. This will encourage contractions so she can expel the egg or sloughed off tissue that's stuck, causing her to strain and the prolapse to occur.

If all you have on hand is Tums, give her one tablet directly in her beak. But get the calcium citrate as it works quickest. Once the obstruction passes, the prolapse should retract on its own. But meanwhile, follow the instructions in my article I linked to.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Had this happen this past week, this is what I did, so far so good.
Post in thread 'Vent prolapse isnt staying in' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/vent-prolapse-isnt-staying-in.1518226/post-25559138

 

[Tommy Tank Chickens]

Had this happen this past week, this is what I did, so far so good.
Post in thread 'Vent prolapse isnt staying in' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/vent-prolapse-isnt-staying-in.1518226/post-25559138

Thank you so much, that's so helpful. I've not managed to keep the prolapse in yet, but it's definitely shrinking and looking cleaner and hasn't got the blackened areas on it anymore. I've seen her gently pecking the area cleaning it.
We did have two steps back when she got a an egg stuck in the prolapse. I've been trying so hard to prevent her from laying keeping her mainly in the dark and changing her feed. Thankfully with some massaging of olive oil it came out but the prolapse looked bad as she'd tried to peck at herself to get the egg out. So it's been focussing again on healing the wound.
I never realised how hard having chickens could be sometimes. It's quite stressful having their little lives in your hands. I just hope I get it right

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Thank you so much, that's so helpful. I've not managed to keep the prolapse in yet, but it's definitely shrinking and looking cleaner and hasn't got the blackened areas on it anymore. I've seen her gently pecking the area cleaning it.
We did have two steps back when she got a an egg stuck in the prolapse. I've been trying so hard to prevent her from laying keeping her mainly in the dark and changing her feed. Thankfully with some massaging of olive oil it came out but the prolapse looked bad as she'd tried to peck at herself to get the egg out. So it's been focussing again on healing the wound.
I never realised how hard having chickens could be sometimes. It's quite stressful having their little lives in your hands. I just hope I get it right

I know how you feel, it's quite a responsibility, their lives & quality of their lives depends upon us. It's easy to become quite attached to them, too, with their sweet personalities. It never ceases to amaze me, just how they relax, whenever I scoop up birds for some hugs, or when I tend to any issue, the affection & complete trust in me...to have a bird lay on it's back on my lap, looking up at me calmly, as I tend to it...just touches my heart.

We do the best that we can. I'm so grateful for the knowledge I've found on this site!
Just realize that while some ailments are mild or temporary, some are not curable. They could potentially have any ailment or illness, cancer, organ failure, heart disease, respiratory or reproductive issues...some things we can only manage & try to make them comfortable. There's no greater feeling than when you are able to help a bird recover. When a bird heals so well, no one would ever guess that it ever had a compround leg fracture, or if a hawk attacks and you stitch it up so well, no one would ever guess there was once a 3" gash years ago. Unfortunately, there are some things we just cannot cure. I can't tell you how many times I wish I had the super power of healing! The only consolation when one of our birds passes on, is that we tried our best to give them the best life while they were here.

I've had various birds in my life for decades, since childhood, but only got into chickens 2015. I don't want to come across as a Negative Nilly, but I will share that my experiences with reproductive or egg issues, from tiny Finches, to Cockatiels, Pigeons & Macaws, in the long term, they did not improve. I'm not saying it's not possible for improvement, I'm just saying that in my experiences, whether it was a scenario that needed major attention or just ongoing monitoring, the original situation never completely healed or disappeared. We are only human, we do our best, but we can't wave a magic wand. If there comes a point in time where our efforts are exhausted & can no longer provide a bird with relief, or a good quality of life, & pain or suffering is obvious, it is truly an awful, helpless feeling, but we must not beat ourselves up when the inevitable happens. The hardest part of life, is when someone you love, person or pet, passes on. We just do our best, it's all we can do.