Hen with huge prolapse - suggestions?

[MomotheBest]

I have a nine-month-old hen with a huge prolapse. Every time I push it back inside, she strains and pushes it back out. I felt for stuck egg - nothing. I've been putting zinc oxide on it regularly to try to dry it out. I've been attempting to treat it like this for four days but it's just getting worse. It's gone from penny size to baseball size.

Any suggestions? She's in a lot of pain and I know I might have to put her down, but I'm going to try everything I can first.

 

[MysteryChicken]

@azygous
@Wyorp Rock
@Kiki
@Eggcessive

 

[MysteryChicken]

I have a nine-month-old hen with a huge prolapse. Every time I push it back inside, she strains and pushes it back out. I felt for stuck egg - nothing. I've been putting zinc oxide on it regularly to try to dry it out. I've been attempting to treat it like this for four days but it's just getting worse. It's gone from penny size to baseball size.

Any suggestions? She's in a lot of pain and I know I might have to put her down, but I'm going to try everything I can first.

You wanna keep it moisturized, & get the swelling down. Drying it out can kill the tissue.

 

[MomotheBest]

You wanna keep it moisturized, & get the swelling down. Drying it out can kill the tissue.

What would the best thing for this be?

 

[MysteryChicken]

What would the best thing for this be?

I've heard honey, sugar, or Preparation H without pain relief works.
Giving her Epsom salt baths will help moisturize it too.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post any pictures of the prolapse? You don’t want the red tissue to dry out. Keep it moist with honey to reduce the swelling. But you can also use any kind of mild oil, such as coconut, mineral, olive, etc. Some use hemorrhoid cream or hydrocortisone. Usually soaking once a day in Epsom salts water or just soapy water, and then reapply the oil. Tey to push the prolapse back inside and hold it there for a few minutes holding her on your lap. When they poop or lay an egg, it may come back outside.

 

[LaFleche]

Any suggestions? She's in a lot of pain and I know I might have to put her down, but I'm going to try everything I can first.

If it is already this bad and you tried every home remedy I would have a vet clean the prolapse properly, reposition and fix it with a few stitches on either side of the cloaca so she will not be able to push it out again.

 

[azygous]

Treating the prolapse is, of course, necessary and critical. But something caused the prolapse and you need to figure out what so you can treat that, also.

First, as others have already cautioned you, prolapsed vent tissue must not be permitted to dry out or it will die, and then so will your hen.

Now, look carefully at her vent. Is it dribbling a clear liquid like a leaky faucet? Are her butt feathers constantly wet from this? If so, she may have a collapsed egg inside her that she needs to expel before it causes an infection, if it already hasn't started.

The thing to give her is a calcium supplement like women take for strong bones. Give the whole tablet, at least 400-550mg or more once a day. A Tums will do in a pinch.

Each time the prolapse tissue comes out, use a soft cloth soaked in witch hazel astringent to push it back in and then smooth on some cortisone cream. Prep H has toxins in it that are okay in very small amounts, but large amounts over several days may be necessary to treat this. Hydrocortisone is safer and just as effective.

I had a hen with a collapsed egg inside her and a prolapse. It took around nine days for the prolapse to finally stay inside, and it stayed as soon as she finally expelled the last of the egg remains with the aid of the daily calcium tablet to give her strong contractions. During this time, I also had her on amoxicillin to counter infection caused by the yolk inside her, which is a fertile bacterial growth medium.

If you can find an antibiotic to treat your hen, it would be a good idea in addition to the other treatment.