Help!!! Does anyone know what this lump is protruding from my quail? Warning : semi graphic photos

[BillyBeans]

Good evening all,

We just started keeping quail, so fairly new to this all. We noticed this lump on the underside of one of our quail, just above her vent, or what I believe to be the vent. I have isolated her and kept her in a darker environment to slow egg production as I was worried she was egg bound, but this morning I found an egg in her penthouse. She’s eating, drinking and pooping normally. The mass is soft-ish but sorta lumpy. It’s a little scabby and raw, so we soaked her in Epsom salt for a 10-15 min to sooth and help healing. It kind of pushed back in if I gently worked it, but I didn’t want to push too far, and it didn’t really stay in, so I’ve stopped doing that. But I had some thoughts it was a prolapse? But she’s still pooping fine and she laid an egg. So I’m a little stumped. I am concerned time is of the essence. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all!

 

[Nabiki]

That looks like an infection, and a bad one. If you try antibiotic ointment, make sure it doesn't contain pain killer. The pain killers used in those are usually toxic to birds.

Personally, I would either be looking for a vet or culling.

 

[BillyBeans]

That looks like an infection, and a bad one. If you try antibiotic ointment, make sure it doesn't contain pain killer. The pain killers used in those are usually toxic to birds.

Personally, I would either be looking for a vet or culling.

Thank you for the info. I have been thinking about culling, and what she’s going through. But she’s really quite happy and active looking. Unfortunately this is a backyard operation, a vets opinion would be valuable, but I don’t quite have the money to get anything done professionally.

 

[Susan Skylark]

She’ll lay for several days until the eggs in her system already in production run out, keeping her with less than 8 hours a day of light will shut down egg production. My guess would be a mild prolapse with secondary necrosis/infection. A topical antibiotic won’t hurt anything but probably won’t do too much either, the tissue that is supposed to be inside the bird is now exposed to air, has lost some of its blood supply, and the combo of air, nutrients and dead tissue makes it a bacterial paradise. Good nursing care and an incredible amount of patience may save the bird. As she’s feeling good, there isn’t an internal infection (peritonitis) yet so she has a chance. The tissue can’t be replaced/won’t stay in so it will have to die and slough off. In pigs and cattle with an unfixable prolapse you can place a tube in the rectum and use a castrating band to hold it in place. The animal poops through the tube while the prolapsed tissue dies and the rectum heals. You can’t do that in a bird. Culling May still be your best bet if you don’t have the time or patience, but keep her in the dark to stop laying, soak the infected tissue in warm water for 5 minutes daily, scrub off scabs, dirt, etc. keep her in clean dry bedding with good access to feed and water, if you can keep a buddy with her who won’t peck at it, that is even better. Also keep away from flies, you don’t need fly strike as well. You can apply topical antibacterial ointment as well but keeping it clean and dry and removing dead tissue will be most important. This will take 4-8 weeks and you might just want to keep her not laying indefinitely as once they prolapse they can do it again or as the wound heals it may scar down and make egg laying difficult.

 

[BillyBeans]

She’ll lay for several days until the eggs in her system already in production run out, keeping her with less than 8 hours a day of light will shut down egg production. My guess would be a mild prolapse with secondary necrosis/infection. A topical antibiotic won’t hurt anything but probably won’t do too much either, the tissue that is supposed to be inside the bird is now exposed to air, has lost some of its blood supply, and the combo of air, nutrients and dead tissue makes it a bacterial paradise. Good nursing care and an incredible amount of patience may save the bird. As she’s feeling good, there isn’t an internal infection (peritonitis) yet so she has a chance. The tissue can’t be replaced/won’t stay in so it will have to die and slough off. In pigs and cattle with an unfixable prolapse you can place a tube in the rectum and use a castrating band to hold it in place. The animal poops through the tube while the prolapsed tissue dies and the rectum heals. You can’t do that in a bird. Culling May still be your best bet if you don’t have the time or patience, but keep her in the dark to stop laying, soak the infected tissue in warm water for 5 minutes daily, scrub off scabs, dirt, etc. keep her in clean dry bedding with good access to feed and water, if you can keep a buddy with her who won’t peck at it, that is even better. Also keep away from flies, you don’t need fly strike as well. You can apply topical antibacterial ointment as well but keeping it clean and dry and removing dead tissue will be most important. This will take 4-8 weeks and you might just want to keep her not laying indefinitely as once they prolapse they can do it again or as the wound heals it may scar down and make egg laying difficult.

Thank you for that advice. We have been keeping it as clean as possible, an epsom salt bath a day. We have the time, and patience, so hopfully she pulls through. Sorry, this may be an uneducated question, but how do i indefinitely stop her from laying? Would it be restricted access from light for the rest of her time? I kept a sheet over her house outside, but she still laid a brown very soft egg today. I put up a more permanent light block, and see if that slows it down.

I think I understand this all, but one things I’m struggling to understand is, this mass poking out isn’t coming from her rectum I don’t believe, there is no hole in it, and she’s pooping normally. After this tissue gets cleaned up and un-scabbed is the idea that I would want to try to push it back in because it’s possibly a prolapse? Or will she live with this the rest of her days? Thank you for your time and reply!

 

[Nabiki]

This doesn't look like prolapse to me. As you said, it's not coming from her cloaca, but rather on her belly.

To answer your question about laying, if she never gets more than 12 hours of light per day, she is going to lay less. If I don't want a hen to lay, I will usually restrict them to about 8 hours of light per day. I think of this as a temporary solution, but I supposed you could do it long term. I don't know how that would work, though.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This doesn't look like prolapse to me. As you said, it's not coming from her cloaca, but rather on her belly.

To answer your question about laying, if she never gets more than 12 hours of light per day, she is going to lay less. If I don't want a hen to lay, I will usually restrict them to about 8 hours of light per day. I think of this as a temporary solution, but I supposed you could do it long term. I don't know how that would work, though.

I think I understand this all, but one things I’m struggling to understand is, this mass poking out isn’t coming from her rectum I don’t believe, there is no hole in it, and she’s pooping normally. After this tissue gets cleaned up and un-scabbed is the idea that I would want to try to push it back in because it’s possibly a prolapse?

I agree, it does not look like a prolapse, we can see the intact healthy vent in the photo (circled), this is on the abdomen.
Possibly a cyst or abscess. For some reason, hernia also comes to mind.

Either way, if not culling, then the area needs to be kept clean and ointment applied. No, don't try to push back in. See if the area starts to heal and shrink with you caring for it like a wound.

Does it feel hard or soft/fluid filled?