Help hen with prolapse and broken egg inside!

[Diannastarr]

I was away on vacation and I just got home to one chicken with a buildup of poop over her vent. After soaking and cleaning her it's apparent she has had a prolapse. I've never had this happen so I'm googling and ended up taking a feel inside and I feel an egg shell with parts missing and broken off. I put my gloves and lubed finger and from what I can feel it feels like there is an egg but it's on the other side of whatever is protruding so I can't remove the egg shell or pieces of the shell. It feels like there is half an egg and the rest is gone. I don't know what to do but I have cleaned it entirely and have applied antibiotic ointment to the red angry looking vent which is lumped out pretty good and I have clipped the yucky feathers away from the vent. She's acting fine and looks great from the front. When I touched it she almost made a whine noise so I don't want to bother her again until I know what to do. Any help with this would be great I don't know what to do but it seems scary to push on that bulge when there is clearly an egg in there that has broken. She's currently caged alone now that I've cleaned her up. My neighbor was feeding them for a week and he didn't notice so it could be as old as a week. I really don't know. I also took a picture of it and that is from after I trimmed away feathers. I appreciate any help I could get. I don't want to loose my girl.

every one is right about their advice & we need a larger picture & more pictures of her vent area,but i cant recommend Preparation H, thats just not a good idea and can be harmful at this point.! honey is always better, but if there is a fly strike wound i would try blue kote if thats needed, i use that on every animal and my self HA , plus it helps with bumble foot to , i had a young NHR that prolapsed 2 times in a row months apart after it took weeks to heal her the first time, but i finally stopped it for good with an expensive calcium supplement that worked like a charm, but right now you are dealing with an emergancy beyond a regular prolapse, since the egg you feel is broken inside & infection is the danger , i would start with a dropper to a dropper & 1/2 full of colloidal silver, it cant hurt the hen and will help fight off any infection, i would give a good quality liquid multy vitman & 400mg of vit E & C that can help keep the vent tissues in good condition since its the tissue that needs rebuilding when a prolapse accrues , the elasticy of the of the vent tissues is being lost and leads to a prolapse, also watch for dehydration that can also cause a prolapse along with a real need for calcium. if you can start with these things & then when another egg might help push out any parts of the broken egg, but i would not introduce any further things into her body fingers or other products, flushing or what ever & keep the area sanitary at all costs to avoid introducing an infection , i would hold off and wait to see what happens, and short of going to a vet , i would give her the colloidal silver and a human calcium supplement & human liquid multy vitamins since tums wont be enough & pray her body can fight off any possible infection , i would feed cooked egg that will help her immune system and if she seems dehydreated feed her the water from canned tuna, i just drain off the water & put that tuna in the freezer for future use, if this is working then next is to keep her from laying any more eggs after this next egg that will surely come , then you can keep her in a very dark room & restrict her food ( i fed my hen some scratch & that way nature will take over and help to stop any more eggs, its all got to do with the light & food that encourages egg laying , i was able to completely stop my hen from laying eggs in 3 or 4 days time & stopped her laying eggs for a a month , so after the eggs stopped i fed her normally,with a lot of vitamins & supplements ..! and she has been fine for a year & 1/2 since & laying giant eggs every day so by doing all of that it gave me the time to heal her from the inside out & it worked..! but also i read there is a shot the vet can give to stop her laying eggs , but the dark room & restricting food for a few days works , dont stop feeding her just feed her a lot less, so if it were me my goal would be stopping any possible infection thats no #1..!!!!!!! and then stopping the eggs.! after this next egg that will surely be laid , and that might help to remedy the situation by helping to push out those pieces of egg shell that are inside.! but its not a sure thing, so short of going to the vet im hoping that will help, please post a larger pic or a few more larger pics. and i will be back later on to see if there is any further info you can add, so no worries just take control..! you can do it...! i will be back with the name of that calcium supplement, so for now good luck..!! im praying for you both..! o golly this is important dont feed layer feed that encourages laying eggs, so feed bits of cooked egg , orpieces of tuna or some scratch & try to keep her quite in a very dark room ,

 

[Eggcessive]

I am so sorry about your hen. Wyorp Rock and Rebascora have been so much help to you the last 2 days, and I am sorry that I had not kept up to speed today on your thread until now. Just for your information, there are hens who are born with 2 vents, and many both function for passing droppings. So, you shouldn't feel embarrassed by thinking she had two. You should be commended for trying so hard to save her, and for posting all of these details. You will never know how many times this thread may be seen and help others. When you go through an experience like this, you learn so much, and can help others on here later. You are doing the right thing to end any suffering. She is a beautiful hen. Take care.

 

[Parront]

I am very sorry you have to make a difficult decision about your hen. This is not an uncommon problem, especially for hens bred to lay heavily. (And for pet birds, fed lots of birdseed while being raised). Seeds do not have enough calcium to make shell and still have the muscle strength to push out the egg.
Here is a link to an article from one of the chicken breeding companies, Aviagen. It is a little technical, but the gist of it is, feed more calcium, in larger sizes like oyster shell, 3 times per week, 4 days off and 3 days on. The first clue the giant breeder houses get of this problem is dead birds in the morning or after feeding. Hope this will keep your other birds in the flock out of this trouble. http://en.aviagen.com/assets/Tech_C.../English/AviagenBrief_CalciumTetany_Apr09.pdf
I hope this will help you feel better, to do something for the rest of the flock. You have my sympathy, if that is any condolence.

 

[Diannastarr]

I am very sorry you have to make a difficult decision about your hen. This is not an uncommon problem, especially for hens bred to lay heavily. (And for pet birds, fed lots of birdseed while being raised). Seeds do not have enough calcium to make shell and still have the muscle strength to push out the egg.
Here is a link to an article from one of the chicken breeding companies, Aviagen. It is a little technical, but the gist of it is, feed more calcium, in larger sizes like oyster shell, 3 times per week, 4 days off and 3 days on. The first clue the giant breeder houses get of this problem is dead birds in the morning or after feeding. Hope this will keep your other birds in the flock out of this trouble.
I hope this will help you feel better, to do something for the rest of the flock. You have my sympathy, if that is any condolence.

thank you..!You are sooo right on...!!! this is just wonderful info , ever since my NHR hen under one year that developed one prolapse after another & i had to guess at how to save her , and your info explains it all..! so much better, and so now i see what i did for her to saved her, i ended up feeling what she needed , one thing i want to add is that i used an above average coral calcium Supreme supplement i had on hand & multi vitamins with extra E & C plus keeping her hydrated and feeding hi quality proteins to help the healing process until the prolapse was healed , never to return i might add..! and this your wonderful info explains why that strategy all came together to save her long term , she is 4 now and has been one of my best layers all these years , so here is a pic of the label of this above average coral calcium supplement & my go to at the first sign of any prolapse. im so glad you posted this info you have no idea how happy this info makes me...!!! its very best i have ever seen..! http://en.aviagen.com/assets/Tech_C.../English/AviagenBrief_CalciumTetany_Apr09.pdf so it has explained all i did for her only using my own natural instinct really did the trick , so thanks so much this is wonderful info ...!! have a great day..!!!!! i will be adding that coral calcium supplement label pic as soon as possible, thanks again sooo sooo much take care

 

[Parront]

I kept the bottle of liquid calcium that I was prescribed by the vet for Dylan, but I believe that feeding Oyster shell and a high calcium pellet has stopped the egg-binding problem she was having. The vet prescribed Calcium Gluconate23mg/ml .5 ml by mouth every 24 hours for 20 days. I kept the bottle in case I needed to get more, but so far so good. (This dose was for a 460 gram bird). Her second egg was laid 6 months later, without a whimper.
The pro chicken companies are on the Internet, you just have to Google diligently. The reason I found that PDF was I was looking for Cornish-X info, they have lots of great info for the breeder raising farmers. This is really big bucks for them, they have great research, you just have to read it carefully to find what you need. I hope our home flocks can benefit from the big companies, we support them every time we buy chicken at Safeway!

 

[Diannastarr]

Parront thanks sooo much for more great info..!!!!!View attachment 1105557 View attachment 1105560 right on...!!! i totally agree..! especially about safe way this is the coral calcium supplement ( label ) i bought it on line it was a bit expansive , but it did work great in just one day , so i cant complain , it was well worth the money in the long run..!!! saving my darling big red girl...! my NHR hen, o and my parrot (View attachment 1105560 Burt ) says hi to your Dylan is that the name of your girl bird.. Dylan.? View attachment 1105557

I kept the bottle of liquid calcium that I was prescribed by the vet for Dylan, but I believe that feeding Oyster shell and a high calcium pellet has stopped the egg-binding problem she was having. The vet prescribed Calcium Gluconate23mg/ml .5 ml by mouth every 24 hours for 20 days. I kept the bottle in case I needed to get more, but so far so good. (This dose was for a 460 gram bird). Her second egg was laid 6 months later, without a whimper.
The pro chicken companies are on the Internet, you just have to Google diligently. The reason I found that PDF was I was looking for Cornish-X info, they have lots of great info for the breeder raising farmers. This is really big bucks for them, they have great research, you just have to read it carefully to find what you need. I hope our home flocks can benefit from the big companies, we support them every time we buy chicken at Safeway!

 

[Parront]

Parront thanks sooo much for more great info..!!!!!View attachment 1105557 View attachment 1105560 right on...!!! i totally agree..! especially about safe way this is the coral calcium supplement ( label ) i bought it on line it was a bit expansive , but it did work great in just one day , so i cant complain , it was well worth the money in the long run..!!! saving my darling big red girl...! my NHR hen, o and my parrot (View attachment 1105560 Burt ) says hi to your Dylan is that the name of your girl bird.. Dylan.? View attachment 1105557

Yes, Dylan thought she was a he for 23 years, then laid an egg! Can't change the name of a parrot that age!
I got her from a friend who could not keep Him any more, His (her) leg band gives her birth-date as '94. The former owner swears never an egg! Says Dylan had a sex change! But, I think that she was not fed properly before I got her, and that is why the eggs began. The food that he gave me with her was just seed like you get at Walmart. (Not what I would even feed a chicken)! Not enough calcium, or protein. Pet birds get this pretty often, according to the Vet. My chickens I had years ago only got it when they were going on 3, and at the end of their laying life!

 

[Parront]

View attachment 1105561 thank you..!You are sooo right on...!!! this is just wonderful info , ever since my NHR hen under one year that developed one prolapse after another & i had to guess at how to save her , and your info explains it all..! so much better, and so now i see what i did for her to saved her, i ended up feeling what she needed , one thing i want to add is that i used an above average coral calcium Supreme supplement i had on hand & multi vitamins with extra E & C plus keeping her hydrated and feeding hi quality proteins to help the healing process until the prolapse was healed , never to return i might add..! and this your wonderful info explains why that strategy all came together to save her long term , she is 4 now and has been one of my best layers all these years , so here is a pic of the label of this above average coral calcium supplement & my go to at the first sign of any prolapse. im so glad you posted this info you have no idea how happy this info makes me...!!! its very best i have ever seen..! http://en.aviagen.com/assets/Tech_C.../English/AviagenBrief_CalciumTetany_Apr09.pdf so it has explained all i did for her only using my own natural instinct really did the trick , so thanks so much this is wonderful info ...!! have a great day..!!!!! i will be adding that coral calcium supplement label pic as soon as possible, thanks again sooo sooo much take care

Does the supplement come in a capsule? How did you give it?

 

[Diannastarr]

hi sorry this is late, i was off building a broody house , but its a capsule, and i was going by my instinct, i felt the first day should be 2 capsules to get a jump on the healing , then 1 capsule a day for 3 days in food along with all the other vits i was giving her in like a 1/2 a scrambled egg so she would eat it all, then 1 capsule every other day for as long as you feel your hen needs this help...! my hen was in my laundry room with all the lights off for around 2 weeks, give or take a day or so, & keeping them in complete darkness will help to shut off their r egg production, but i would always go into visit her at feeding time & i did turn the lights on for an houror so for that, until shes was healed up good , but she was away from the flock way to long ,since the other's didn't remember her, so i recommend keeping them in complete darkness , but every few days let them out with the flock, but away from any roos at sun down for a few minutes or till dark.!teach time so the other hens will remember her so thats the only draw back in keeping them away from their flock that long , but it done so we can heal them up right , but i gotta say my NHR hen is doing great at 4 years old & has been laying every day ,so this method turned out great..!O but just one thing hydrate the hen no matter what i used tuna water, they will drink that , other wise they wont drink unless they want to so dehydration goes hand & hand with creating a prolapse..! and yes you are right about all kinds of foods they make for animals they have never been my choice , i have always DIY my pets food & my 42 year old parrot, i think is a boy HA he named him self Burt HA & he eats egg salad & all kinds of fresh veggie sandwiches every day HA . he loves artichoke spaghetti with fresh raw organic tomato sauce, & fresh vegie tacos, i try to eat raw along with him , so feeding him has helped me to make better food choices for my self ..!

 

[Parront]

hi sorry this is late, i was off building a broody house , but its a capsule, and i was going by my instinct, i felt the first day should be 2 capsules to get a jump on the healing , then 1 capsule a day for 3 days in food along with all the other vits i was giving her in like a 1/2 a scrambled egg so she would eat it all, then 1 capsule every other day for as long as you feel your hen needs this help...! my hen was in my laundry room with all the lights off for around 2 weeks, give or take a day or so, & keeping them in complete darkness will help to shut offf her egg production, and heal her up good, but she was away from the flock way to long ,since the other's didnt remember her, so i recommend keeping them in complete darkness , but every few days let them out with the flock, but away from any roos at sun down for a few minutes each time so the other hens will remember her so thats the only draw back in keeping them away from their flock that long so they can heal up right , but i gotta say my NHR hen is doing great at 4 years old & has been laying every day ,so this method turned out great..!

So the capsule has granules inside that you could sprinkle on her food or put in something they love like scrambled egg. What I got was liquid drops, which is fine for a pet but not a layer.