Help please!! Egg prolapse or predator attack? newbie chicken owner (graphic pictures)

[amama]

We got 15 hens about 3 weeks ago, they are almost 6 months old and getting 6-7 eggs a day.

I went out to check on the hens this afternoon and found one hen with a bloody poopy mess around her vent, and my first thought was vent prolapse as the hens are just starting to lay and we have had two massive sized eggs laid the past two days. But then I saw the smallest hen and her feathers are matted like something was trying to eat her, so now I don't know if the first one was just attacked, or really does have a prolapsed vent and the others pecked her? It just seems like there are large chunks missing around the vent that I don't see in other prolapse pictures I've tried to look at on the internet.






I haven't done anything yet besides separate those two from the rest of the hens. I didn't want to go pushing things back in if that's not really what happened and I make things worse.



They were cooped last night as always, and I don't see any evidence of predator digging, or large amounts of feathers etc.

I did find a moderate amount of blood in one of the nesting boxes yesterday though, and a couple eggs have small amounts of blood, which I was told is normal for hens just starting to lay.


If it is a prolapsed vent, what percentage of those hens make it? I don't want to sound cold at all because we will do what's best for the hen, but is it worth all the work I see in the steps to heal the prolapsed vent?

I've never bathed a chicken if that's what needs done first, and since we didn't have these hens from birth, they aren't used to being handled unfortunately, esp. the one that's injured, she's really skittish.


I am new to all of this, thank you for your help

 

[nchls school]

No pictures here.

 

[amama]

Sorry, just added the pictures.

 

[amama]

I'm 99% sure it's a prolapsed vent now, and the only thing I can think of is that Baby (the little chicken) roosts under the others, they never let her up on the top one, and maybe blood dripped down on her from the hen with the prolapsed vent.

Let me know though if I'm wrong though, but I'm trying to treat it like one.

 

[nchls school]

I'm 99% sure it's a prolapsed vent now, and the only thing I can think of is that Baby (the little chicken) roosts under the others, they never let her up on the top one, and maybe blood dripped down on her from the hen with the prolapsed vent.

Let me know though if I'm wrong though, but I'm trying to treat it like one.

Sorry. I really thought members with more experience with prolapsed vents would reply. I just had a hen with prolapsed vent-it was due to a malpositioned egg. I was lucky in that the hen did manage to lay the egg, but that left about two inches of her insides hanging out. We cleaned the area, applied antibiotic cream, and then Preparation H. We did not try to push the vent area back into place. The hen was placed in a small dog carrier and kept in the dark (closet). With in a very short time the vent area retracted back into place on its own. The next day she seemed fine and it became apparent that she was going to lay again. I put her back in the coop, the hen went to her nest box and the egg was laid without much problem. A few more eggs were laid and the hen is now broody.
I gave her eggs and with broodiness, her body will have time to completely heal.

Please post a side view of the vent area. With that I can tell you for sure if it is a prolapsed vent. You might want to type PROLAPSED VENT in the advanced search box at the top of this page. More threads on the subject will appear.

 

[amama]

Thank you for posting, I was really surprised when I didn't get any replies. Glad things worked out so well for your hen.

It was a rough day yesterday for me and the hen. A woman at my husband's work had said to just leave her alone and that usually things go back to normal, but by the afternoon there was no way that was going back in on it's own. It got so much worse and about 3 inches were hanging down when she walked.stood up I soaked her for a bit and tried to get it back in, but couldn't by myself, so had her in the kennel in the barn until my husband got home and he was able to get it back in. She seems to not like it though, every time we got it back in she stood right up and worked on pushing it back
out.

I'm going to check on her now, and still not sure if it's worth all this if she's going to do it every time she lays an egg. I just hope I've done enough to stop her laying right now. I don't even know if she can go to the bathroom without causing the prolapse again, so not sure how much/what to feed her either.

 

[nchls school]

Thank you for posting, I was really surprised when I didn't get any replies. Glad things worked out so well for your hen.

It was a rough day yesterday for me and the hen. A woman at my husband's work had said to just leave her alone and that usually things go back to normal, but by the afternoon there was no way that was going back in on it's own. It got so much worse and about 3 inches were hanging down when she walked.stood up I soaked her for a bit and tried to get it back in, but couldn't by myself, so had her in the kennel in the barn until my husband got home and he was able to get it back in. She seems to not like it though, every time we got it back in she stood right up and worked on pushing it back
out.

I'm going to check on her now, and still not sure if it's worth all this if she's going to do it every time she lays an egg. I just hope I've done enough to stop her laying right now. I don't even know if she can go to the bathroom without causing the prolapse again, so not sure how much/what to feed her either.

Keeping the hen in the dark 16 hours a day supposedly will stop them from laying. Also in the dark the hen will stay quite and unmoving. I would suggest keeping her in the dark for a few days bringing her out to eat and drink only. Feed her the normal amount. Let her have all the water she can drink (mine drank a lot and her droppings became very watery). I used absorbent disposable bed pads under my hen-way less messy and more sanitary for the hen. Disposable diapers would work. It's very surprising how much can be retracted on its own.

 

[amama]

After checking on her just now, it's all hanging back out and she doesn't want to eat. She will drink a little, but she's exhausted and sleeping standing up with her head tucked in on her back. She can't quit contracting that area around the prolapse, her tail feathers all look very unnatural the way she's holding them.

When would it retract if it were going to? I would think it would have stayed in at least halfway if it were going to heal but it's all back out? There is about 3 inches out.

 

[nchls school]

After checking on her just now, it's all hanging back out and she doesn't want to eat. She will drink a little, but she's exhausted and sleeping standing up with her head tucked in on her back. She can't quit contracting that area around the prolapse, her tail feathers all look very unnatural the way she's holding them.

When would it retract if it were going to? I would think it would have stayed in at least halfway if it were going to heal but it's all back out? There is about 3 inches out.

I'm sorry. I do not have enough experience to be of help. Looking at threads through advanced search might be helpful. This does not sound hopeful.

 

[Beaky Buzzard]

Are you sure she isnt egg bound as well?