Huge blowout on hen that won't be pushed back in?

[Blackberry18]

One of my Leghorns has recently had a blowout. She's almost three years old, and is still laying eggs. I'm not sure when it happened, I just noticed yesterday. I separated her from the others and have tried to treat it. One of my Barred Rocks had a blow out a couple of years ago, and I was able to cure her by consistently pushing the tissue back in - she survived several years before a tapeworm infested the flock - but hers was smaller. In my Leghorn's case, when I tried to push it back inside after cleaning, it won't budge. I don't want to damage the tissue by forcing it inside, but I'm at a loss of what to do. Any advice?

Here's a couple of pictures, I apologize for the quality. The tissue that came out is, size-wise, considerably bigger than a golf ball. My hen isn't acting too badly, just not walking a ton, which makes sense because of her condition. Any ideas of what to do?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Try soaking her in a warm epsom salts bath, clean the prolapse of discharge/poo, apply some hemorrhoid cream or honey to help reduce swelling. Then try to gently push it back in.

Provide her with extra Calcium - you can give her a crushed Tums or liquid calcium (1cc or whatever your package says). If you don't have either of those offer some plain yogurt and see if she will take some oyster shell free choice. Also if you have it, poultry vitamins would be good at this time as well. Make sure she has plenty of water available - keeping hydrated is key to healing from prolapse.

Keep her isolated in low light if you can and keep her fairly warm.

Let us know how she is doing.

Here's a more detailed article:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/prolapse-vent-causes-treatment-graphic.html

 

[BantamLover21]

Wyorp Rock gave you some good advice. Does the prolapse feel hard, like there is an egg stuck in it?

I would just keep soaking her with very warm (95-100 degree Fahrenheit) water, applying honey, witch hazel, and/or or Preparation H, and trying to push the prolapse back in. Those substances should help shrink the tissue, making it easier to retract and stay in.

I've only ever had one hen with prolapse. Hers wasn't as big as your hens, but it still took several days to go back in. I kept applying witch hazel and honey and pushing the prolapse back inside the hen's body. It just kept coming out, though. Then, suddenly, as I was soaking her (on the third day), the prolapse completely retracted and never came out again--I guess the tissue finally got moist and small enough to be securely drawn up.

 

[Blackberry18]

Thanks so much for the great advice! No, the prolapse doesn't feel like it has an egg in it. I cleaned her up today as best I could, and soaked her in an Epsom salt solution (she fell asleep in the warm water, haha). I think it have retracted inside a little while she was in there, because she wheezed all of the sudden like she was pushing it back out. After I took her out and dried her off a bit, I but antibiotic ointment on (didn't have any hemorrhoid cream) and tried to push it back it. It worked, and I was able to push it all the way back it. She pushed it out again (with the same aforementioned wheezing noise). I repeated it several times (she always pushing it back out) and then put her back. I didn't want to strain her too much. I'm planning to do the same thing tomorrow. She's currently in a little kennel with the others (I don't have a separate area for her, and she wanted to be with the flock) with food and water. Should I give her some electrolytes or anything? She also hasn't been laying, which is good.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Give her some extra calcium, as mentioned in the previous post. Calcium should help her retract the prolapse. If she is wheezing when you push it in, then she may have some type of blockage. Is she pooping?
You can give her some electrolytes if you have them or poultry vitamins in her water. Just do whatever you need to do to keep her hydrated.

If the prolapse is still "sticking out" keep it moist with ointment , you don't want that tissue to dry out.

Thank you for the update, keep us posted.

 

[Blackberry18]

All right, thanks. I put some crushed up Tums in her food, so hopefully that helps.

She is pooping, practically none stop, but still makes that wheezing noise when she does. Besides normal poop, she also keeps discharging a white liquid, which makes her smells awful and sickly. Anyone know what it is (seen in the pictures below). There seemed to be some dried up poop or blood sticking onto the prolapse, which was making it hard to push back it, so I carefully took it off. I'm still trying to push it back in, but she still won't take.

Here's some recent pictures:

 

[Wyorp Rock]

All right, thanks. I put some crushed up Tums in her food, so hopefully that helps.

She is pooping, practically none stop, but still makes that wheezing noise when she does. Besides normal poop, she also keeps discharging a white liquid, which makes her smells awful and sickly. Anyone know what it is (seen in the pictures below). There seemed to be some dried up poop or blood sticking onto the prolapse, which was making it hard to push back it, so I carefully took it off. I'm still trying to push it back in, but she still won't take.

Here's some recent pictures:

Can you take her to a vet?

I really don't know why she wheezes when she poops, except that something may be pressing on her air sacs. The discharge could be a mixture of urates and possibly vent gleet (like a yeast infection). If it smells bad, then she most likely has an infection. Vent gleet is usually treated with anti-fungal medication, but you may need antibiotics as well.

 

[Blackberry18]

Can you take her to a vet?

I really don't know why she wheezes when she poops, except that something may be pressing on her air sacs. The discharge could be a mixture of urates and possibly vent gleet (like a yeast infection). If it smells bad, then she most likely has an infection. Vent gleet is usually treated with anti-fungal medication, but you may need antibiotics as well.

Yes, I do have a poultry vet that I've taken my chickens to. The last time I took in a hen with a blowout, he told me what to do, which I have been doing. I'll bring her in soon and see if he can give me some antibiotics.

 

[Blackberry18]

Thank you guys very much for your information! Fortunately, my hen seems to have made a full recovery, and I didn't have to call the vet. Everything seems to have gone back inside her. I'm going to keep her separated for another day to make sure it doesn't come back out, and then put her back with the others. I'm going to clean her up, she's pretty poopy, but her feathers on one side soaked up a lot of blood, all the way up her shanks and flight feathers. I don't want to put her back like that, so what is the best way to clean the blood off her? Any products I should use? Thanks.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you guys very much for your information! Fortunately, my hen seems to have made a full recovery, and I didn't have to call the vet. Everything seems to have gone back inside her. I'm going to keep her separated for another day to make sure it doesn't come back out, and then put her back with the others. I'm going to clean her up, she's pretty poopy, but her feathers on one side soaked up a lot of blood, all the way up her shanks and flight feathers. I don't want to put her back like that, so what is the best way to clean the blood off her? Any products I should use? Thanks.

I'm glad to hear she is doing well

For washing the blood/poop off the feathers, personally I would use dish detergent, just place her in shallow tub and work the warm soapy water through the soiled feathers. For the shanks, an old soft toothbrush should work nicely.

Thank you for the update and keep us posted.