HELP! Prolaspe vent with an egg?

[stcroixusvi]

I think the tissue will dry up and the vent will go back to normal. It is important to figure out why she prolapsed in the first place. Do you have plenty of oyster shells available for calcium? We also give back crushed egg shells.

 

[cboriskin]

That is good to hear.

She layed about 7 eggs before this happened. She just started laying. Her first egg was at 25 weeks, so I think she was old enough.

I give the girls free feed of oyster shells. Their egg shells are very hard. I don't think it's the lack of calcium. Could it be genetics?

My friend texted me to let me know the tissue seems to be falling off.
She also let lucy out of the cage and allowed her to free range for a bit. The picture she sent me showed Lucy very happily pecking around.

 

[cboriskin]

Brought Lucy home last night after being out of town. She looks very good. The tissue is much smaller, but there is a hard caselike thing still attached. I am assuming this will fall off. I cleaned her as best I could, but her rear end still is caked with poop. Any suggestions on how to get it off? I tried to cut her feathers away, but it wasn't easy. I think I need to cut more. What do people use to cut them? I tried scissors, but they weren't sharp enough.

 

[tuckertori]

Thanks for this photo. I am only in my 2nd year with chickens so have very little experience. If this were to happen to one of my "girls," I would not know what to do! That is why I read these threads...so I have information before I need it! It is great to see such an image along with information so that should this happen, I will know that a chicken can live through this with the right care. It sure looks painful and maybe lethal...thanks.

 

[stcroixusvi]

Glad to hear she is looking better! I am sure she will be back to normal soon, and whatever it is, will fall off.

Tuckertori, I learned a lot on here, which is why I knew what to do. I think our hen had a high threshold for pain as she merrily ate and drank the entire time. If I thought she had been in pain, I would have euthanized her.

 

[cboriskin]

I am so glad I didn't give up. While washing her up today, the dry tissue fell off and we were able to push her vent back in. She looks normal now and actually took a normal poop. I am still working on getting the dried urine off of her behind. Most of it is off, but still needs work. Will I have to wait for her to molt before her feathers I cut back, go back to normal?

I will keep her in the dark for another week and see how it goes. I'm hoping there will be no infections.

 

[cboriskin]

Lucy is progressing really well except I think she is constipated. While free ranging today, she was straining to poop, but couldn't. I sprayed warm water in her vent and then used Preparation H and poked my finger into her vent hoping it will loosen anything up there. Not sure if it worked or not. I read some posts that suggested giving her olive oil by a dropper. I don't think she's drinking enough. Any suggestions?

 

[Sphynxcrazy]

this exact thing happened to one of my hens. i didn't know what to do, so i broke the egg through the hole it was suppose to come out of and reached in and got all the shell out. she lived for around 6 months then she died all of a sudden.

she layed eggs and was normal after this whole incident.

hope you girl gets better.

 

[chickypenny]

I have had 3 Rhode Island Red chickens die in the last month due to prolapse....I have done some research and was told that it could be the protein - I was feeding them layer pellets with a protein amount of 17%, and now I am feeding the layer mash with 16% protein. Anyone else know about this?

 

[cboriskin]

I was told not to break the egg. There was no vent opening for us to even reach the egg. We had to use a scalpal and slice open the tissue to release the egg. Then, I washed it daily and put Preparation H on it. She seems fine now, except having a hard time pooping.