HELP - Prolapsed Vent

[Chelseyb123]

Oh hey! Im in poland

 

[R_Tuggle]

Oh hey! Im in poland

Arundel here!
Seriously... I don't recall ever having a cold snap that lasted as long as this last one did in my entire life!! I thought frostbite was going to be the worst of my concerns... never mind frozen poop on a prolapsed vent!

 

[Chelseyb123]

Nice were a little ways away from each other. And i know! But hey its Maine the weather is crazy here anytime of year. Lol. Today was beautiful though. I did get a little frostbite on the rest of my flock but nothing to bad or any other frozen vents just some frozen poop on the feathers.And i had to bring in a young roo an hen inside because of the weather. So i got a few house chickens an chicks on my basement haha. An i had to make no crow collar to keep the 3am crows down lol here they all are below. Im going to have to relocated the two white ones though in the spring.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

*Soak 3 update*

She's been eating and drinking her vitamin water, strength is much better then this morning... walking around well vs falling over this morning.

I soaked her in the chlorhexidine diluted solution for 15 minutes and then lightly rubbed to clear off the area w/a washcloth to try to debride the area. While I did this, she was trying to 'push' and pooped. The side area that I saw 'seeping' the poop earlier had opened up more and she is passing poop from there. (See red arrow in pic below).
Then tried to clear whatever is in what i thought was her vent (red circle in post #5 above, and blue arrow in pic below)... but it wouldn't dislodged, just seemed to break off a little bit at a time, so I left it.
I rinsed her well, then dried her off w/ a towel and blow dried. Sprayed Vetericyn, then slathered coconut oil over it. She is now dozing next to me wrapped in a towel until she is fully dried.

I have placed new water w/nutridrench in her pen and crushed up a rolaid and added it to her food for when I put her to bed. I'll be covering her pen completely from 8pm to at least 8am.. then partially during the majority of the day.

She doesn't seem to be in distress, and is much better than when I found her this morning... I spoke to hubby and told him we were going to have a house chicken again when he gets back from business travel....I'm "lucky he loves me"

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Thank you!
Do I have to debride all of the dead tissue before I try to push her prolapse back in? Doesn't seem right to push dead tissue back in... especially when I'm not even sure where to push back in from since it almost seems like there are two vent areas with the way this is working out..... :/

How is she doing?

The clorhexidine is good to use when you are going to debrid the necrotic tissue, otherwise use the epsom salts to soak her to help reduce swelling. Once your done soaking, dry her, then generously apply honey or hemorrhoid cream to keep all that tissue moist. Basically what all is sticking out is oviduct and/or intestines, this needs to be kept moist at all times to keep it from dying. I would not use the Witch Hazel if you are using clorhexidine to cleanse the necrotic tissue. Both have alcohol which can be drying. Witch Hazel does have it's place in chicken care, but for a prolapse this severe with dead tissue, personally I would not use it.

Your blue arrow in the photo you mention that what we think could possibly be partial egg shell broke off? It could have dried out - can you generously apply some ointment into where that blue arrow is to help lubricate that?

The red arrow - I'm just not sure, but almost think it has split

 

[MLG1900]

Is it possible that the red arrow is the cloaca and the blue arrow is the oviduct? I think the necrosis is looking worse than the original photo. But it could just be the sloughing of the dead tissue. I had the same thought as another poster about witch hazel being too drying? Keep doing the Epsom soaks and trying to debrid with the wash cloth. Don't be afraid of exposing a little raw tissue or seeing the blood. Blood is good and sign of the healthy tissue and healing. Unfortunately, that dead tissue can keep getting deeper and deeper if not debrided. This is not an easy task. I am glad there are others here who have had successful treatment.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is it possible that the red arrow is the cloaca and the blue arrow is the oviduct? I think the necrosis is looking worse than the original photo. But it could just be the sloughing of the dead tissue. I had the same thought as another poster about witch hazel being too drying? Keep doing the Epsom soaks and trying to debrid with the wash cloth. Don't be afraid of exposing a little raw tissue or seeing the blood. Blood is good and sign of the healthy tissue and healing. Unfortunately, that dead tissue can keep getting deeper and deeper if not debrided. This is not an easy task. I am glad there are others here who have had successful treatment.

Good question. I'm not a vet or anatomy expert, so you will have to excuse my non medical words. The large intestines and the oviduct basically "connect" to the cloaca. To me the blue is where the "vent" really is. I still feel like there is a soft shell egg or something in there. Pressure, pushing/straining has caused a prolapsed vent. The red, I fear is actually torn or split - and is allowing waste to seep out, since the vent is essentially blocked. But I would worry that some (waste) is going into the body cavity. I could be wrong (I do hope I'm wrong). Just my thoughts.

More photos http://articles.extension.org/pages/65922/cloaca

 

[Eggcessive]

You have been given very good advice from everyone. I agree with using the chlorhexidene for debriding, since it will help prevent infection. Then I would use plain neosporin or 3x antibiotic ointment afterward. Do not push the vent back inside while it has the dead tissue on it, since it will cause infection. It looks like a fissure has occurred where the dead tissue to the side where the tissue is still healthy.

I don’t know if you would consider getting help from a vet to debride the tissue surgically, but not under anesthesia. I am against putting chickens to sleep to do procedures, since many do not survive anesthesia. A vet could get the black tissue off quickly, but it would be expensive, and may not be available or an option.
You are to be commended for giving this a good try to help.

I am not sure that she can ever have normal vent control again, either with laying or having normal droppings. I am not a vet, but I can imagine that she might have a chronically messy vent, or possibly become easily egg bound in the future, even if you can save her life.

Good luck to you, and I will follow your ongoing treatment.

 

[R_Tuggle]

Thank you all!

I just finished giving her another soak in the warm water/chlorhexidene for about 20 mins.. and did some debriding. I was able to remove some of the dead tissue.. there was actually a small feather stuck in there and when I pulled that up, I was able to peel some of the dead off... still purplish underneath in those spots, but gave me hope.

I think @Eggcessive & @Wyorp Rock are correct about the 'split' area in the red above... It is definitely not her vent and it is where here poop is coming out. The 'greyish' tissue around that split is thick and dead. The dark spots almost appear to be a big scab that actually starts to come up a bit around the edges when I'm cleaning and debriding.

I put my finger into her vent to see what was up w/that 'tissue/shell' (Pick w/blue) that is hanging out.. and there is definitely something in there less than 1/2" in blocking things.
Not sure what to do about that :/

How often should I do the soak/debriding treatment each day? I don't want to do it too much or too little. Should I be randomly cleaning it during the day w/a damp cloth and re-applying treatment? Today I'm trying honey and as @Wyorp Rock mentioned, even put a bit inside her vent. (I need to buy a bigger tube of triple antibiotic ointment... all I have are the pain relief version outside of tiny packets in my first aid kit) Should I put a chicken diaper on her to help keep it moist?

I have a feeling if we get to the other side of all of this, I'm going to have a house chicken...and whenever she hears the blow dryer, she is going to come running... I swear she would sit there and let me blow dry her all day... lol

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I put my finger into her vent to see what was up w/that 'tissue/shell' (Pick w/blue) that is hanging out.. and there is definitely something in there less than 1/2" in blocking things.
Not sure what to do about that :/

It sounds like you are doing everything you can - Good Job!

If you think something is in there, try to work it slowly, but I would try something like mineral oil or even kyjelly to lubricate that - you may need to insert a finger and lube her up. Then try to work it out - I really don't know what else to use but fingers. Someone a while back had a constipated chicken and was successful with using a popsicle stick to help dig out the blockage (sometimes desperate times calls for desperate measures).

I would think epsom salts soak 1-2times a day along with daily debridement. Kim (@Eggcessive ) may have a better suggestion.

 

[Michael Propst]

Today I'm trying honey and as @Wyorp Rock mentioned, even put a bit inside her vent. (I need to buy a bigger tube of triple antibiotic ointment... all I have are the pain relief version outside of tiny packets in my first aid kit) Should I put a chicken diaper on her to help keep it moist?

One product I have had great success with for wound treatment is Green Goo Animal First Aid Salve by Sierra Sage. You may not have time to get any for this case but it is a great product to have on hand.