Help, vent problem! Update..she's gone.

[Tiempo]

It looks like it's coming out and stuck in the passage.

I have her in the living room where it's warm, in a dog crate with some food mash and water.

Tomorrow I think I will shampoo the vegetable oil off, as it's too goopy in her tail and butt feathers, and try to keep it lubed up with bag balm instead..that should keep the lubrication more localized???

 

[basicliving]

Rather than trying to pull it out, just try to break it up with your fingers so that you aren't right in her vent. I would keep soaking her in warm water and massage it/gently break it up with shampoo (baby shampoo, if you have it). A clogged vent is not good. You need to get her vent free.

ETA: Once you've gotten rid of that mass, I'd keep her inside for a day or two and insure she is pooping normally.

Best of luck,
Penny

 

[Tiempo]

Thanks Penny, yes, I've definately been trying to massage it/break it up..not pull it out. I'm so afraid I'll hurt her as I don't know if she's prolapsed or not in all that mess.

 

[silkiechicken]

Just keep working on it from the outside in slowly. Looks like you are getting there. I don't see tissue in the mass yet. If it is a prolapse, you will find what looks like pink squishy tissue, similar to the type in your cheek or inner lip.

 

[basicliving]

Tiempo, I have never dealt with this exact issue, but I have dealt with something that is somewhat similar - I've had a couple of pullets that try to lay soft shelled eggs that burst in the process and the soft shell gets "glued" in their vent by the egg whites hardening.

I don't know if I can explain this properly in a post, but I'll try. First, I wrap them in a towel so that they can not flap their wings. Then I cover their head with a loose towel to keep them calm. I soak their bottoms in warm water and then lather them up with baby shampoo. Then I gently start picking away the hardened areas. It is usually a fairly large area, but if I keep working at it, it will start to chunk off. I work my way to a side of the vent and try to free it. Once I get the side of the vent, I can gently begin to lift the debris from the vent and work my way around it. When you get close, if you start running warm water over the vent area, she will likely start 'pushing' and it will help you free the blockage.

It takes a bit of time, but I think if you go slowly and gently you can free this mass. I would really try to do this tonight. It looks like she's been 'clogged' for a while for it to grow so big. It doesn't take long for that type of blockage to over come them.

Best of luck.
Penny

 

[mypicklebird]

It looks like necrotic (dead) tissue with feces and or egg material stuck in it. I think you have an old prolapse there. Is she passing normal feces around this? The GI tract and the reproductive tract (egg tract) empty into a common chamber right before they exit from the bird. This portion can prolapse, or the reproductive portion can prolapse into it and out. If she can poop around this mess, you have time to try to resolve this. If she is eating, and you have not seen some feces out of her since you have started the soaking & cleaning, you do not have much time.

IF it is just poop- cleaning it out may help, but there is likely something else wrong with her or the area. Fluffy bottoms often get poop stuck in the feathers around and over the vent- but it doesn't get stuck IN the vent (at least that I have ever seen)

As sad as it is, if this is an old and necrotic prolapse- despite she front half of her looking good- she does not have a good future for a productive layer, or a bird that will not need constant care and monitoring. I would cull. Sorry.

 

[Tiempo]

Quote:
I think you're right, this is what it looks (and smells..it smells awful) like to me.

She just made a huge, huge poop in the crate and a bunch of the tissue looking material came off with it, it is pale beige, rubbery and extemely foul smelling, but it came off by itself, the oil soak seems to be really getting it to loosen up.

So, stool can definately pass, she is eating and drinking heartily.

I figure I will keep on working at it the way I have been and keep an eye on her.

If she continues to do ok, and all the material comes off, do you think there is a chance she could survive such a thing?

If she appears to get well again, will regular applications of vaseline to her vent give her a better chance?.

She's not a big layer, I've had one egg from her since July, but she is a pet, I would like to save her if I can.

I'm kicking myself fo not noticing this sooner.

 

[sammi]

I think I would use KY jelly instead of vaseline..
once this mass is cleaned off you'll be able to see what you're dealing with.

hope she makes out ok..

 

[JennsPeeps]

I agree that KY (water-based) is better than vaseline (petroleum-based).

 

[PrisonARNP]

I would use mineral oil, may help soften it up better than KY, more penetration of the mass.