Dr. Z. saved my girl!

[jeannieo]

yes, she mentioned a prolapse and sewing up the vent sounded funny to me too but I trust this vet. Coco is pooping, which I was worried about, it's just sort of dribbling out through the sutures so I guess that is o.k. but I am having a hell of time getting the liquid meds into her. The first syringe I thought I had it positioned correctly and I shot it and she moved and it went down my arm. So I tried another syringe full, got some of it into her but I thing some went into her lung although she is not choking but her beak is open. could that just be because she is stressed because i'm trying to shove a syringe down her gullet and another one (not the same one) of Prep H into her butt?

I can give a pill to a chicken no problem but the liquid stuff is not working out for me. help?

 

[speckledhen]

Sewing up the vent only makes eggs back up into the oviduct. That won't stop her from producing eggs--egg production is related to hormones, not an open or closed vent. Sounds very wrong to me.

 

[jeannieo]

sounds wrong to me too, I'm calling right now.

Of course I may have it wrong but she definitely sutured the vent

 

[speckledhen]

She may have just charged you $75 to kill your bird for you. Oh, my headache is coming back!

Think about it--what sense does it make to sew up the anus of any creature? That is certain death. Only a hormone treatment or a hysterectomy would stop egg production.

 

[jeannieo]

Speckledhen, I just sent you a PM with something I found on another forum and wanted to put it in the public forum to see if anyone else had any thoughts on this.
Here it is:


Chickens that show signs of prolapse can be helped by preventing them laying. However, if there is any small prolapse gently push it back into the chicken with your fingers. The chicken should then be put on a maintenance diet of wheat and water and put in a dark cage. Leave the hen there for a week.

In severe prolapse a purse suture and maintenance diet with the chicken kept in the dark, as above, works well. However, it is important to restrict the chickens diet to maintenance only for possibly a couple of months. This does work!! Alternative to maintenance diet is feeding the chicken enough to keep it alive, moving and keeping warm plus enough extra feed for it to produce eggs.

You may find that by reducing the feed it brings on a forced molt

By reducing feed intake so that the bird has just enough feed to keep it alive, moving and keeping warm you are feeding for maintenance only. The chicken will not lay eggs and so give it the best chance of recovery.

Treatment:
You can try to push the prolapse organs back in, very carefully
First, remove the hen immediately from the flock to prevent cannibalism
Clean the prolapse organ
Which will have become dirty
Use warm water and a very mild soap
Smear with a lubricating jelly like Vaseline and very gently push the prolapsed organs back into the body cavity

Isolating the bird and reduce the feed to try and stop her laying
She more than likely she has another egg already moving down the oviduct
The next egg laid could cause another prolapse

Helping to prevent further damage when a hen is prolapsed
1. Reducing swelling and allowing the muscles to contract
2. Preventing a yeast infection
3. Preventing them laying
4. If there is any small prolapse gently push it back into the chicken with your fingers
5. Put the hen on a maintenance diet of wheat and water
6. Put in a dark cage to stop the laying cycle (5 days to 2 months (severe case))
7. In severe prolapse a purse suture may be need to the cloaca

Wash area with sterile water and using preparation-H (this is an ointment used for humans who have piles or hemaroids)
Coat the extended portion in and around the vent area.
Preparation -H reduces the swelling tissue and thus allows the tissue to recede.

 

[speckledhen]

That is about prolapse. Doesn't mention sewing the vent completely closed, does it? Even with prolapse, you cannot sew the vent shut. And if there is even one more egg down the pipe, that is essentially making her artificially eggbound again, IMO. I'm not a vet and take what I say with a grain of salt, but sewing the poop hole and egg hole shut makes zero sense to me. Yes, keep her in the dark, certainly! Feed her only soft feed (scrambled eggs and yogurt) and very little of that, till you can contact that vet again.

Poop will back up till it goes into the oviduct and then you have a lovely ecoli infection that can lead to internal laying. Trust me, you don't want that.

From the article you posted:

Isolating the bird and reduce the feed to try and stop her laying
She more than likely she has another egg already moving down the oviduct
The next egg laid could cause another prolapse

Even with prolapse, you cannot sew up her vent. If I'm not mistaken, a purse suture mentioned doesn't completely close up the vent, just reduces the size of it to help prolapse stay in better.​

 

[jeannieo]

Quote:
Even with prolapse, you cannot sew up her vent. If I'm not mistaken, a purse suture mentioned doesn't completely close up the vent, just reduces the size of it to help prolapse stay in better.

Yes, I believe that is what the vet did, a purse suture. It looks like just two or three stitches at the most to hold things in and there is still an opening, through which I was able to administer a small amount of Prep H. Please don't tell me that is wrong too!

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Good grief. She THINKS that the poop can come out? Is this really exactly what the vet said, or is it your interpretation? That can make a huge difference.

 

[jeannieo]

I hate to be so vague but now I'm not exactly sure that she said that she thought poop would be able to come out or that it would be able to come out. Actually, it looks like poop is sort of dribbling out so I hope that is the least of my worries right now.

BTW, that is me beating myself up into oblivion because I try and try to do the right thing and it seems that I always muck things up.

 

[jeannieo]

Please, no bumping your own thread, per BYC rules. I know you're scared, but weekends are slower here.