no hope for poor luna! update page 2

[bangor777]

my luna was acting odd this morning, didn't want to leave the coop. looked for her this afternoon and found her beneath a shrub. She was severely egg bound ( I think this was her first egg). The egg was out, but covered in a membrane, she was pushing and pushing and as a result her anus/rectum had prolapsed as well. i brought her in and placed her in a warm bath for 1/2 an hour, I tried lubricating her entire rear area with vaseline....no luck. We wrapped her in a towel and layed her on her back to closely examine what was going on. upon close inspection (it was really difficult to see what was what) the egg was out of her body but enclosed in a membrane, I could find NO opening in this membrane no matter how hard I searched.
her anus was prolapsed, I was able to find the opening to the anus, I am sure this was her anus, I lubricated a glove finger and explored this but there was no access to the egg. We tried everything, she kept straining and the prolapse was just getting worse....so I snipped the membrane encapsulating the egg...just a few snips, not even an 1/8th of an inch, and with the help of lubricant got the egg out of the opening. Afterwards I applied warm compresses and antibiotic cream. The prolapse is still there, but not as bad, she's in the house in a warm box for the night. Do you think she'll make it????? She was eating and drinking after the procedure, wasn't walking much, but looked a thousand times better than when I found her.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Poor girl.

OUCH! It sounds like you did good. I wish your hen a speedy recovery.

 

[cjeanean]

This will be the third time I've suggested this, I feel like a broken record. But from what I've read on here, the best thing to do when you have a chicken recovering from an egg laying problem is to keep them in a dark room with no more than 8hrs (probably less, even) of light so that their egg laying cycle will stop. If she lays another egg tomorrow she may end up with some problems. I don't know what else to say, it sounds like something may have gone wrong with her development and her body didn't allow an egg laying hole! (BTW, it's called a vent! LOL!)

Good luck!

 

[bangor777]

update on luna.....this morning she was looking alert. her vent is looking much better. her rectum though is still prolapsed, less so than last night, but still bad. She spent the night in the house, but this morning I let her outside to free range with the big girls. She's eating and drinking, walking a little waddled. Should I start her on antibiotics? i'm worried because i did cut her to free the egg. I'm afraid that if she makes another egg she'll be in big trouble. Any advice???? Thanks you so much!

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
I am not sure I am understanding what you mean. Are you telling us your chicken has 2 openings?

Chickens have a vent - this is one opening. It is used for eliminating and for the egg laying. They don't have a rectum and an egg laying opening.

 

[bangor777]

hmmm.....sorry I'm not an expert on chicken anatomy. Last night, she was near death. The egg was out but encased in a membrane....I placed her in warm water, lubricated her rear end. Explored carefully...finally was able to get a finger (lubricated) into the only opening I could find....which was lost in the swelling and prolapse......I gently explored this opening and was never near the egg which was out of her body but not accessible through the hole. Does this make any sense? I'm worried that she is anatomically defective, that perhaps the tube through which the egg is layed is not open to the vent. i'm a nurse, but not an expert on chickens for sure. She was gasping, pushing and becoming more prolapsed by the minute. We ended up making a small opening with a razor in the membrane enclosing the egg and gently pushed the egg out through this opening. Afterwards I washed her and tried to 'reduce' the swollen vent. Arghhh....this is so hard! any ideas??????

 

[M@M@2four]

I would put her in a nice quiet, warm spot to heal. try not to give her too much space to get too active. And I would lather her wound in Neosporin and try not to mess with it too much...it could irritate the area more. That stuff does wonders and heals things fast! I would also give her a little medicated chick feed mash if you have it handy. Make her some warm rice or scrambled eggs. I think chickens find comfort in things like this...call me crazy!

 

[speckledhen]

A BYC member did exactly what you're describing. I believe it was Robin416. I'll email her and see if she can comment on it.

 

[bangor777]

oh thank you so much! I'm so worried for her! She seems fine but sore today....I'm terrified that another egg will kill her!

 

[robin416]

Cynthia emailed me this morning concerning your poor girl's plight. Yes, that is the surgery I did. She went on to be fine for another year but something happened after that. X-rays showed a diffuse calcified deposit scattered through out her left abdomindal cavity from just above the "hip" to just under her ribs. I should have requested a necropsy but at the time I was struggling with the decision of telling my vet to put her down.

This is not a surgery that should be done routinely. There are differences in what tissues the egg has pushed out of the body. Most prolapses that we are most familiar with do not involve the uterus which does not have the blood supply that allows for doing this surgery and not have the bird bleed out.

Bleu stayed in the house with me for one day. Once the egg was removed any hint of prolapse was gone and I felt she was best out with her flock.

The fact that you are a nurse, Lori, helped you in your decision.