Hi all. I am desperately hoping someone here will be able to help.
We have a 2 year old Khaki Campbell hen that free ranges on one acre with 5 other duck hens and 1 drake. She is fed Country Companion All Flock and a blend of oyster shells and grit, free-choice and free-feed. She has been laying normally until about a week ago when egg production just stopped. Yesterday morning she laid an egg (it was HUGE!) and when she walked away from the nest I noticed that she had flesh hanging out of her vent. We netted her and brought her into the house and I was able to get a look at things. She had a protuberance right at the vent entrance about the size of a golf ball and then a "rope" of flesh hanging beneath that, approximately 3 inches long. The egg was passed completely in the nest. We let her soak in a warm water Epsom salt bath for about 30 minutes and then slowly and gently worked on easing the flesh back in through the vent using witch hazel, mineral oil and Preparation H. We were able to get everything tucked back in and put her in a small cat carrier down in our dark basement with water with a small amount of apple cider vinegar in it. I checked on her throughout the day and then yesterday evening noticed some blood coming from her nostrils. Pulled her out of the crate and brought her back into the bathroom. Protuberance and hanging "rope" of flesh were back out and bloody. Back into another warm Epsom salt bath for almost an hour. There was enough blood that the bath water was pink tinted. Once again manipulated the flesh and protuberance back into her vent. The "rope" of flesh had gone from a pink color to a brownish tan color and was notably stiffer. Put her back in the crate overnight.
Checked on her this morning and bleeding had stopped, but once again the "rope" of flesh was hanging out. Discussed with husband and made the decision to cull her. Once we had everything set up we pulled her from the crate and I was able to see that the protuberance was gone (now just an empty "bag" of flesh rather than a swollen ball), all bleeding had stopped, and only about two inches of "rope" was hanging out. We decided to give it another try. Back into a warm Epsom salt soak for an hour. Able again to manipulate things back inside. The "rope" of flesh is almost completely tan in color now and stiff.
Not sure what else to do for her. It seems as though the "rope" of flesh is dying. Should I cut it off? And, without a vet to stitch things up or run antibiotics, am I just prolonging the inevitable?
She is very spunky and energetic. Drinking lots of water. I am withholding food at this point to try and avoid another egg forming. Was going to give her some yogurt, kale and spinach in the morning if she is still alive.
Going to a vet is not an option. So, I am hoping this is something I can handle here on the farm. Any and all advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I would like to help her and heal her and avoid culling her if at all possible, but recognize that this may be beyond anything I can handle here on the farm. Thanks for any and all help.
I will try to get some pictures tomorrow and post them.
We have a 2 year old Khaki Campbell hen that free ranges on one acre with 5 other duck hens and 1 drake. She is fed Country Companion All Flock and a blend of oyster shells and grit, free-choice and free-feed. She has been laying normally until about a week ago when egg production just stopped. Yesterday morning she laid an egg (it was HUGE!) and when she walked away from the nest I noticed that she had flesh hanging out of her vent. We netted her and brought her into the house and I was able to get a look at things. She had a protuberance right at the vent entrance about the size of a golf ball and then a "rope" of flesh hanging beneath that, approximately 3 inches long. The egg was passed completely in the nest. We let her soak in a warm water Epsom salt bath for about 30 minutes and then slowly and gently worked on easing the flesh back in through the vent using witch hazel, mineral oil and Preparation H. We were able to get everything tucked back in and put her in a small cat carrier down in our dark basement with water with a small amount of apple cider vinegar in it. I checked on her throughout the day and then yesterday evening noticed some blood coming from her nostrils. Pulled her out of the crate and brought her back into the bathroom. Protuberance and hanging "rope" of flesh were back out and bloody. Back into another warm Epsom salt bath for almost an hour. There was enough blood that the bath water was pink tinted. Once again manipulated the flesh and protuberance back into her vent. The "rope" of flesh had gone from a pink color to a brownish tan color and was notably stiffer. Put her back in the crate overnight.
Checked on her this morning and bleeding had stopped, but once again the "rope" of flesh was hanging out. Discussed with husband and made the decision to cull her. Once we had everything set up we pulled her from the crate and I was able to see that the protuberance was gone (now just an empty "bag" of flesh rather than a swollen ball), all bleeding had stopped, and only about two inches of "rope" was hanging out. We decided to give it another try. Back into a warm Epsom salt soak for an hour. Able again to manipulate things back inside. The "rope" of flesh is almost completely tan in color now and stiff.
Not sure what else to do for her. It seems as though the "rope" of flesh is dying. Should I cut it off? And, without a vet to stitch things up or run antibiotics, am I just prolonging the inevitable?
She is very spunky and energetic. Drinking lots of water. I am withholding food at this point to try and avoid another egg forming. Was going to give her some yogurt, kale and spinach in the morning if she is still alive.
Going to a vet is not an option. So, I am hoping this is something I can handle here on the farm. Any and all advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I would like to help her and heal her and avoid culling her if at all possible, but recognize that this may be beyond anything I can handle here on the farm. Thanks for any and all help.
I will try to get some pictures tomorrow and post them.
is there any chance you can clean up that piece of tissue and post new pictures of it?
