Help needed

[Keith Doman]

Hi all my name is Keith, I looking for a little help from you guys
I have 6 chickens in all but the one i need help with is my white leghorn shr stopped laying just at the end Nov 2016
She still not laying but i have come accross a few time lately of broken shell less eggs in the laying box have not thought to much about it as it happens, But this morning I came accross my leghorn with her back end all messy when i checked she had the reminds of a shell less egg suck to her i cleaned off what i could but stuck to her is this what looks like a big black sack looks the size of a big black grape I managed to get it of her feathers but the looks like a some tendon or somthing going from it to inside her vent it dose not look like its supplysing this grape looking thing with blood but did not want to pull on it just in case ?
Shes eatting & drinking ok & moving around with the rest of them
Dose anyone have any ideas what it may be ??
I have had to keep them locked in there run most of the time now becouse of the bird flu thing thats going around.
Thanks
Keith

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Keith and welcome to BYC

Sorry to hear your leghorn is having problems. It sounds like it might be a prolapse.

I would start by giving her a warm bath in Epsom salt solution and clean her up down there really thoroughly. You should then get a better idea of what the black thing is and with any luck it may work loose during bathing. It's important to do the bathing somewhere warm at this time of year and dry her really thoroughly with a hair drier afterwards.

If it is a prolapse, where part of her tract gets pushed out with an egg and doesn't go back then you need to coat it with haemorrhoid cream or honey and gently push it back inside her. It may pop out again and need to be cleaned up and repeated. It is important not to lt it dry out whilst it is exposed to the air as the tissue will die and that may be the end for her. After you get it back in, keep her in the dark (a cardboard box with holes punched in it works well) with clean bedding and take her out twice a day for feed and water. Keeping her in the dark will hopefully stop her from laying for a while and give her a chance to heal. If she continues to lay eggs then you may need to bath and repeat the treatment if it pushes back out again. I don't envy you having to deal with this with a leghorn as they are not the happiest breed to be handled but I usually find they relax once they get settled in the warm water. I use a trug to bath sick chickens in and place a heavy towel over the top to keep them in there and the darkness helps calm them too but don't leave her unattended whilst she is soaking as there is always a risk of drowning.

Let's hope it is just a bit of stringy poop and it bathes off.

Good luck

Barbara

PS. What are you feeding them....I'm wondering if they are getting too many scraps/treats and not enough pellets as a result. Do you give them access to oyster shell and crushed egg shells. I'm thinking maybe she is calcium deficient.

 

[Keith Doman]

Hi Barbara
Thanks for the advice I have bathed her & managed to get it back in with heamorrhoid cream & she is now in a cardboard in the dark in my living room

I feed my chickens mostly on layers pellets but i do give them a feed of corn with mealworms mixed in at evening time, they have access to crushed oyster shells all the time & every so offten they have egg shells
They have a cabbage hanging up the peck at to stop them getting board, as they are in there run now because of this bird flu thats going around
Its a big run & i had to cover it with netting to stop anyother birds getting it
They have a few scraps of bread & the odd corn on the cobb or peas
But most times its layers pellets

 

[Keith Doman]

Hi Barbara

Thank you so much for you advice, On looking it up more & more are saying the its a prolapse
I have bathed her & have managed to get it back in with haemorrhoid cream & now she in a cardboard box in my livingroom
Lets hope it works as id be gutted if i loose her

I feed my flock on layers pellets most of the time but in the evening they get a corn & mealworm mix if im home in time
They have a cabbage hanging up to stop them getting board as they are in there run now because of this bird flu
They have access to oyster shells & every so offten they have egg shells
They have scraps but not loads every so offten

Chickens are not as easy as ppl think
But to me they are my pets so will do what i need to do to make sure they have a good life

 

[henny1129]

Hello and ! I hope you enjoy BYC just as much as the rest of us do! @rebrascora has given you some great advice, so I'll just say good luck!

Edit to Add: Whoopsy! I just posted this thinking this was a "New Member Introduction", but it's not. Anyways, I meant what I'd said and it's true you've already been given some great advice so good luck!

 

[Keith Doman]

Thanks henny1129

 

[Gurk]

Hi everyone I am so new here and would love to chat and see if I can get some help with some questions.

 

[henny1129]

Thanks henny1129

You're welcome!

Hi everyone I am so new here and would love to chat and see if I can get some help with some questions.

Hello and ! It would be best if you formally introduced yourself in the "New Member Introductions" section! When you introduce yourself you can ask all the questions you need answers too and all of our helpful members can give you your answers! Heres the link to get to New Member Introductions:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/44/new-member-introductions

 

[rebrascora]

Well done for getting her bathed and the prolapse pushed back in. Fingers crossed it stays there but there is a likelihood that there will be another egg in her system that may push it back out before the darkness inhibits further laying, so you may need to repeat the process before the problem is fixed. Keep us posted on her progress please.

It also might be worth while giving her an additional calcium boost...you could grind up a calcium supplement tablet (they sell them at quite cheaply at Lidl) and sprinkle it on some moistened pellets or a bit of scrambled egg or some yoghurt mixed into her pellets....whatever she will eat.


Yes the bird flu lock down is a total pain in the backside. I've gone from a happy, harmonious free range flock to frustrated chickens, some of which are intent upon injuring each other. The leghorns are being particularly difficult! Arrgh!