Persistent Prolapsed Vent

[Peep-Chicken]

Raven has had a prolapsed vent since Friday. This is the third time it’s happened so far(the other two times were last year). She’s a 6 year old Sumatra hen.

I have done prep. H, gave her baths, pushing it in sevral times a day, and while it has gotten better it still won’t go in. She’s also leaking egg like substance, however I have found no egg inside of her. What else can I do? Going to the vet is pretty expensive... Raven is my pet though. She still acts fine, eating and drinking. Her bum will just not stay together though.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Raven has had a prolapsed vent since Friday. This is the third time it’s happened so far(the other two times were last year). She’s a 6 year old Sumatra hen.

I have done prep. H, gave her baths, pushing it in sevral times a day, and while it has gotten better it still won’t go in. She’s also leaking egg like substance, however I have found no egg inside of her. What else can I do? Going to the vet is pretty expensive... Raven is my pet though. She still acts fine, eating and drinking. Her bum will just not stay together though.

I'm sorry to hear about Raven, it's she a pretty girl!
Does she still lay eggs at all?

Leaking an egg like substance sounds like she may have a reproductive problem on top of the prolapse. Can you get some photos of what's leaking out? Does she have normal firm poops or is it all leakage?

With her age she may have lost some muscle tone there too. If she is still laying eggs, you may want to stop her from laying by limiting the amount of light she receives each day. Let her have about 8 hours of light daily and the rest be dark (16 hours including nighttime). That will stop her from laying after several days. It would be hard on her if she's an active hen.

You can also try a prolapse sling to see if that will hold the tissue in and let her heal. Try an anti-inflammatory cream and give her some extra calcium for a couple of days as well (1 TUMS or 1/2 tablet Caltrate).
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/successful-vent-prolapse-treatment-with-photos.1101406/

The leaking is concerning. If it is egg, then I would worry about infection, you may want to consider antibiotic treatment since she is a pet. Baytril or Amoxicillin would be good choices.

 

[cottagecheese]

I was wondering what you used for her other two prolapses. My hen Bridget is prone to prolapse too. Her first two ones were 'easy', were treated with cold-pressed coconut oil and lasted just a few hours. Number three was more difficult and number four almost killed her. Fortunately, being able to speed-read, I can go through vast amounts of information very fast and this is how I found out that no prolapse can match the astringent properties of the bark of white oaks. If harvested fresh, it's very effective because of the tannin and quercin it contains. Btw, it's really quercin and not quercetin (the well known flavonoid). If you know of an oak around your home, I highly recommend using the bark (I'll post the how-to) because it gives very good results.

Is she able to poop? My hen was having a discharge too, probably because the cloaca wasn't functioning properly.

Please be aware that Prep H has a bad recovery rate and is toxic to chickens (surprise, surprise). Hydrocortisone cream is not a great choice either, due to immunosuppression. concerns

 

[Peep-Chicken]

I'm sorry to hear about Raven, it's she a pretty girl!
Does she still lay eggs at all?

Leaking an egg like substance sounds like she may have a reproductive problem on top of the prolapse. Can you get some photos of what's leaking out? Does she have normal firm poops or is it all leakage?

With her age she may have lost some muscle tone there too. If she is still laying eggs, you may want to stop her from laying by limiting the amount of light she receives each day. Let her have about 8 hours of light daily and the rest be dark (16 hours including nighttime). That will stop her from laying after several days. It would be hard on her if she's an active hen.

You can also try a prolapse sling to see if that will hold the tissue in and let her heal. Try an anti-inflammatory cream and give her some extra calcium for a couple of days as well (1 TUMS or 1/2 tablet Caltrate).
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/successful-vent-prolapse-treatment-with-photos.1101406/

The leaking is concerning. If it is egg, then I would worry about infection, you may want to consider antibiotic treatment since she is a pet. Baytril or Amoxicillin would be good choices.

I will get a picture when I get home.

She hasn’t laid any eggs since she’s been inside. I keep it dark most of the time. She luckily isn’t as restless as my other hens.

I’ll check out that sling.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

I was wondering what you used for her other two prolapses. My hen Bridget is prone to prolapse too. Her first two ones were 'easy', were treated with cold-pressed coconut oil and lasted just a few hours. Number three was more difficult and number four almost killed her. Fortunately, being able to speed-read, I can go through vast amounts of information very fast and this is how I found out that no prolapse can match the astringent properties of the bark of white oaks. If harvested fresh, it's very effective because of the tannin and quercin it contains. Btw, it's really quercin and not quercetin (the well known flavonoid). If you know of an oak around your home, I highly recommend using the bark (I'll post the how-to) because it gives very good results.

Is she able to poop? My hen was having a discharge too, probably because the cloaca wasn't functioning properly.

Please be aware that Prep H has a bad recovery rate and is toxic to chickens (surprise, surprise). Hydrocortisone cream is not a great choice either, due to immunosuppression. concerns

For the other two prolapses, I did what I was doing now. They went in by the second day though.

I didn’t know that about the bark. That would be an interesting read and I am willing to try whatever will help.

She can poop. It doesn’t look ‘normal’ although her diet has been limited.

Ah I didn’t know that about the prep H :/.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

Image

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor Girl!

The leaking seems continuous? I would try antibiotics to see if that helps with that or atleast helps prevent infection. If that is egg then her shell gland is not working (I would assume). Could be that once the prolapse is taken care of, it will all begin to function properly.
I would try stopping her from laying/ovulating - 16hrs of total darkness every day - only 8 hours of light.

 

[cottagecheese]

That looks like egg and means that the darkness is not absolute, pitch-black darkness, OR she's an overachiever who still produces 'eggs' even with 8 hrs of light. I had to reduce the light further.

There isn't much to read about the bark, I just caught the faintest whisper in the wind........What there is, is my own attempt to inform fellow poultry owners (caregivers) of this solution, which works best with freshly harvested bark. Made an account here and presented the information numerous times and..... the mystery of why it was so difficult to find this info to begin with..... was finally elucidated for me. It's baffling really, but most people just would not consider traveling by any other road than the well-lit, well-paved road, even if it can (more often than not) lead to an undesirable destination. A foot path is ....a no-no (for most people). Here is a link to my story (in a thread where it was well received) :

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/advice-wanted-prolapsed-vent-follow-up-treatment.1301970/

Oaks are easy to identify in summer, autumn and winter. Now it would work if you already know of an oak, maybe even on your property or close.

Bridget had blood, 'well-cooked' poo (for more than 24 hrs) and no infection. One week later, she restarted the laying with a shell-less and membrane-less egg, still no infection. If they are generally healthy, their immune system will mop up any trouble. The last egg was normal? The ones before too?

 

[Peep-Chicken]

That looks like egg and means that the darkness is not absolute, pitch-black darkness, OR she's an overachiever who still produces 'eggs' even with 8 hrs of light. I had to reduce the light further.

There isn't much to read about the bark, I just caught the faintest whisper in the wind........What there is, is my own attempt to inform fellow poultry owners (caregivers) of this solution, which works best with freshly harvested bark. Made an account here and presented the information numerous times and..... the mystery of why it was so difficult to find this info to begin with..... was finally elucidated for me. It's baffling really, but most people just would not consider traveling by any other road than the well-lit, well-paved road, even if it can (more often than not) lead to an undesirable destination. A foot path is ....a no-no (for most people). Here is a link to my story (in a thread where it was well received) :

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/advice-wanted-prolapsed-vent-follow-up-treatment.1301970/

Oaks are easy to identify in summer, autumn and winter. Now it would work if you already know of an oak, maybe even on your property or close.

Bridget had blood, 'well-cooked' poo (for more than 24 hrs) and no infection. One week later, she restarted the laying with a shell-less and membrane-less egg, still no infection. If they are generally healthy, their immune system will mop up any trouble. The last egg was normal? The ones before too?

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, normal eggs from her the last she laid.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

I have good news. Two days ago, I gave Raven an hour long bath. Then brought her outside to play with my other chickens and let everyone free-range. Every time her butt fell out, I caught her and pushed it back in. I did this for several hours. Her butt stayed in the entire night! And it's still in two days later. I still bring her in at night, and don't put her outside until the afternoon so she can rest and not lay eggs. I can't do that forever though, I wish there was an easy way to spay a hen.