My girl's got a Prolapse, keeps popping out. Please help!

[monkeyfish96]

So last night I was out tending my flock and I noticed one of my hens had a huge red ball of poop and gunk coming out of her. I was freaking out and looked online and I've concluded it's a Prolapsed vent. I took her in, gave her a bath, cleaned her area and eventually popped it back in with some Neosporin and a glove. The only problem is that she keeps pushing it back out again! I've stopped feeding her and I'm keeping her in a dog cage away from the others. All night I kept checking on her and pushing it back in. Today I picked up some Epsom salt and Prep H. After a bath and a trim of her feathers, I pushed it back in again with the Neo and Prep. She keeps pushing hard to get it back out. Am I doing something wrong here? I don't particularly want to cull her but if need be I'll do it. By the way I also checked inside to feel an egg with no luck, but I'm no pro at that so maybe some tips would help. Also, she has shown absolutely no signs of distress this entire time. Please help me I'm very worried about her. I'e included pictures to show you all.


WARNING THESE PICTURES ARE NASTY!!!!!
(Click the pictures for a larger image)

Before Cleanup




After Cleanup

 

[mebuff daisy]

I herd that you can put suger on it ?

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. When the prolapse comes back out, just push it back in and hold it there for 5-10 minutes (use a glove.) Honey as well as the Preparation H ointment will help reduce swelling. You can feed her , but reducing her protein level and placing her in the dark for 16 hours a day may help stop her from laying (it takes a few days.) Her vent area looks a little messy like she could have some vent gleet going on as well. The epsom salts do a good job with soaking the vent area. Hopefully it will heal up, but it can recur. Here is some reading for you:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/prolapse-vent-causes-treatment-graphic.html
http://beautyofbirds.com/Prolapse.htm
http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/12/vent-gleet-prevention-and-treatment.html

 

[monkeyfish96]

Thank you for the help but I've actually tried all of that. The problem is that right after I push it in she pushes it back out again! I feel like she thinks she's pooping/laying but she's really only pushing out her insides.

 

[monkeyfish96]

Bump- Please Help any other ideas?

 

[Suzie]

Eggcessive has given you great advice...when you apply honey/prep H you need to hold her vent in position...she should stop pushing against you BUT you need to hold her vent in...as explained in the advice of Eggcessive...ten minutes may sound a long time but patience is what will help her to get better...it is so very frustrating but you have been given the very best instructions in how to help your girl...it took ten days for me to get one of my girls to be back to normal after a vent prolapse...as said by Eggcessive..she needs to be kept in a darkened area ..this will help her to stop laying eggs...while she is recovering...

Wishing you luck!

 

[Wishapup]

I had the same experience in March. My hen fortunately recovered and is doing well. Here is the link:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/864726/prolapse-in-year-old-pullet-resolved

Hope she recovers!

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you for the help but I've actually tried all of that. The problem is that right after I push it in she pushes it back out again! I feel like she thinks she's pooping/laying but she's really only pushing out her insides.

Not all cases of prolapse are successfully treated. Someone recently had a hen who kept prolapsing worse and worse each day, so by the 3 rd day, quite a bit of insides had come out, so she had to put the hen down. I had two sister hens with the same parents recently prolapse when I was breaking both of them from being broody. What they were doing was prolapsing, but it went back inside easily, but as long as I held them and they were struggling, the tissue popped back out. Finally I just left them alone, the tissue went back inside, an they were fine. I hope you can succeed with your hen, but it is a frustrating problem. A vet could put in a pursestring suture into the vent if that is a possibility.

 

[mg15]

Hi,
I hope she gets better.
My girl A+ had quite a time with her prolapse. I have since experienced that use of corticosteroids may help with the inflammation. She was a Leghorn so keeping her in the dark and with less food never worked. The purse string sutures kept the eggs inside, she just continued to produce eggs. On autopsy she had many eggs in her. Due to her prolific egg production it could not be stopped. She also was the smallest of the Leghorns. I have heard that there was another case like A+ and that hen was given steroid type med and the eggs came out just fine and her prolapse was no longer a problem.
Don't give up, be patient.
mg
Pictures here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/894468/surgery-for-prolapsed-vent-today-a-has-serious-prolapse

 

[SugarPlum]

I noticed my pet chicken Aster had a prolapse in April 2014 (probably before that) and with a lot of TLC she is fine now. I learned how to help her here on Backyard Chickens. Everything that Eggcessive & Suzie say here is what I did, they are the experts, so follow their advise.

Just to add what I did, as natural/organic and sanitary as possible. This took more time that I imagined.
Bathed her 2x a day for 20 minutes in Epsom salt, up to her chest. (yes twice a day, she became very relaxed after a few days and almost fell asleep in the bath sometimes & purred
After drying her w/a towel, (I let a heater run in the basement for an hour afterwards)
splashed Thayers alcohol free witch hazel to clean the area. Then using a Q-Tip & my finger local raw honey on the prolapse.
I didn't even try to push the prolapse in for 5 days, the muscles were so weak. But it eventually it just popped back in on it's own.
Had her in my basement in a crate at night to keep her away from the other hens & rooster Elvis.
Kept her in the dark except a couple hours in the am & evening to eat. To prevent her from laying an egg.
She lost a lot of weight during this time and her poop was very little and watery.
It took about 10 days for the prolapse to stay in & I kept her for another 4 days before putting her back with the flock.
I put her on the roost at night and came back early the next morning to monitor her involvement. It went better than expected.
Aster is doing great now.
I hope this helps you, good luck.
-Sharon