Please Help - 3y Brahma Hen w/Prolapsed Vent – First-Timer Seeking Advice

[BrahmaMama207]

Morning, folks == I’ve read through the 2022 prolapse article here on Backyard Chickens and have searched the Emergency/First Aid threads for similar cases — so many have been helpful, thank you to everyone who has shared their experiences.


Here’s what’s going on with my girl:


Background:
Ana is a 3-year-old Brahma. Lately she’s had a very poopy backside and has been laying soft-shelled eggs. Otherwise she’s been active, eating well, and her personality hasn’t changed.
I’ve been keeping Brahmas for about ten years (we currently have nine) on our little suburban farm in Portland, Maine, and this is my first experience with a prolapsed vent.


What happened:
Yesterday after work I went out to visit the flock and found Ana with a clear prolapse. I brought her inside right away and gave her a 20-minute warm Epsom-salt soak. During the soak she ate a baby aspirin hidden in a kernel of corn. She passed a soft egg while soaking.


After her bath I applied raw honey to the protrusion and let it sit for about 15 minutes, then rinsed gently and used a water-based lubricant to help me hold the tissue up to her vent. With a few deep breaths together she drew the prolapse back inside, and it stayed put while I dried her off and set her up in a quiet, dark dog crate for the night along with fresh water but no food. I covered it in a beach blanket thinking dark = not laying, but @Wyorp Rock said in another emergency thread that it takes weeks to make that transition and that makes sense to me


This morning:
Her droppings looked normal—good consistency and quantity—but there was a strong odor of urine. Unfortunately, the prolapse had reappeared. There’s now a small string-like piece of tissue (not mucus) hanging from the protrusion.


I gave her a warm compress and gently pressed the prolapse back in; she again drew it inside, but within 15 minutes it had slipped out once more.
I’ve offered water but have withheld food for now to give her vent rest.

I'm thinking some of my next steps might include:
1- remove beach blanket / cloak of darkness from dog crate
2- administer calcium citrate + d3 (on hand I have 400mg calcium citrate + D3 (500 IU)
3- cover protrusion in preparation H or bag balm (which?)

Other Qs:
4- Should I offer a mush of her food so she can keep her strength?
5- How often should I try holding her protrusion to her vent / to take it back in?
6- Anything else I can do to help healing / support this sweetheart while we move through this holiday weekend (aka no vets available)


I’m tagging @Eggcessive and @azygous here also, as you’re also legends who have so generously shared


Any advice or next steps anyone would recommend? I’m hoping to keep her comfortable, prevent infection, and give her the best chance at recovery.


Thank you all so much for your time and experience

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor thing!

I'd give her the Calcium Citrate+D3 now, then once daily for at least a week. Hopefully this will help with contractions, retention and firm up the quality of her shells. Calcium is a crucial part of healing up a prolapse.

The white stringy material looks like urates and a typical material often seen with prolapses. I'm not sure of the whole makeup of it, it can be quite thick and sticky, also it usually will not disappear until the prolapse heals. Mineral oil can help if the white material becomes crusty, that seems to be fairly normal too.

Prep H, Bag Balm, Honey, oil...whatever you have on hand that will keep the tissue coated so it doesn't dry out.

Keep her hydrated and yes, she can eat. Wet mushy feed or her normal dry feed if she's willing. Bits of egg or fish can help with protein. If she's not wanting to eat much, try enticing her with small amounts of watermelon, tomato, etc. Basically, she needs to eat, so whatever she will take. Once she's healed, she'll go back to eating her normal feed.

I think you are doing good. It takes time for these to heal up sometimes, but hopefully this will resolve fairly quickly.

 

[BrahmaMama207]

Poor thing!

I'd give her the Calcium Citrate+D3 now, then once daily for at least a week. Hopefully this will help with contractions, retention and firm up the quality of her shells. Calcium is a crucial part of healing up a prolapse.

The white stringy material looks like urates and a typical material often seen with prolapses. I'm not sure of the whole makeup of it, it can be quite thick and sticky, also it usually will not disappear until the prolapse heals. Mineral oil can help if the white material becomes crusty, that seems to be fairly normal too.

Prep H, Bag Balm, Honey, oil...whatever you have on hand that will keep the tissue coated so it doesn't dry out.

Keep her hydrated and yes, she can eat. Wet mushy feed or her normal dry feed if she's willing. Bits of egg or fish can help with protein. If she's not wanting to eat much, try enticing her with small amounts of watermelon, tomato, etc. Basically, she needs to eat, so whatever she will take. Once she's healed, she'll go back to eating her normal feed.

I think you are doing good. It takes time for these to heal up sometimes, but hopefully this will resolve fairly quickly.

Thank you so much @Wyorp Rock ! I’m so grateful for your help and insights I love this naughty little hen and I feel awful for her that I’m a beginner on this. I started feeding her mush yesterday afternoon, infused with rooster booster and save-a-chick — she’s happily eating, so I’ll offer her as much as she wants moving forward and I’ll prioritize keeping her prolapse from drying out

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you so much @Wyorp Rock ! I’m so grateful for your help and insights I love this naughty little hen and I feel awful for her that I’m a beginner on this. I started feeding her mush yesterday afternoon, infused with rooster booster and save-a-chick — she’s happily eating, so I’ll offer her as much as she wants moving forward and I’ll prioritize keeping her prolapse from drying out

Sounds good, keep us posted on how she's doing.

 

[BrahmaMama207]

Sounds good, keep us posted on how she's doing.

Day 3 - Ana's Prolapse

Miss Ana laid an egg this morning! It was hard-shelled, instead of the soft eggs that got us into this mess -- so that's got to be a good thing. I'm so grateful she wasn't bound

I've been keeping up with daily:
- doses of calcium citrate + D3
- warm soaks in epsom
- keeping her prolapse slathered in Prep H ointment
- offering unlimited water and reg pellets, while also offering mush, scrambled eggs, and kernels of corn

I'm worried about her prolapse tissue -- while I've been great about keeping it covered in ointment since learning about that, the first 24h were not quite so consistent. The tissue is crusted in a some places. I'll continue to do what I'm doing -- but is there anything else I can do to support Ana's healing? @Wyorp Rock @azygous @Eggcessive

So appreciate all your help!

 

[azygous]

Keep doing what you're doing, but you can stop the calcium for now. It's done its job. The scabbing of the cloaca is concerning, but keep it moist and it should heal okay.

 

[BrahmaMama207]

Keep doing what you're doing, but you can stop the calcium for now. It's done its job. The scabbing of the cloaca is concerning, but keep it moist and it should heal okay.

Good to know about the calcium! If I understand from your incredible post about prolapse, the intent is to reset the cycle (meaning achieve a hard-shelled egg) — is that right, @azygous?

Also - I’ve been holding her cloaca up to her vent after each warm soak, to help her take that in. She always takes it back in but then pushes it right back out. Should I keep trying or leave it be, do you think?

 

[A Swede in France]

Hi, do you have access to a chicken vet? Sometimes an inflamed prolapse has a hard time healing or even staying 'in'. A vet can help by placing a tiny stitch in the cloaca, keeping things in place until the swelling goes down and things get a chance to calm down. The stitch is then removed.

Being in the US I think you don't have access to deslorelin implants, otherwise that's also a good option - takes them off lay for six months or more to give the whole reproductive system a break and reset. I know there are hormonal injections that do something similar but don't know what they are called. Beyond that and what you're doing, watch out for pecking and flystike on those exposed tissues, give her an anti-inflammatory if you have, and if it looks infected, you could give her antibiotics.

I realise access to chicken friendly and affordable vet care varies enormously between countries and that I'm lucky. That's how I've been able to solve a stubborn case of prolapse.

Oh, and I've what realised that poopy butts often indicate problems with laying since swelling, prolapse and more tends to mean poop lands below the cloaca instead of on the ground. Now I'm always watching out and checking if someone is not clean.

Fingers crossed for you and Ana!

 

[azygous]

Once a normal egg has passed, usually we don't need to continue the calcium, but if the prolapse continues, then continue the calcium until it resolves.

As pointed out above by @A Swede in France it could be weak muscles not allowing the prolapse to retract and stay put, but also it can indicate there is still material in the oviduct that still needs to come out. The calcium can help with that.

We just don't want to overdo this concentrated form of calcium. It's best to try to limit it to two weeks max as it can be a strain on the kidneys.

 

[BrahmaMama207]

Hi, do you have access to a chicken vet? Sometimes an inflamed prolapse has a hard time healing or even staying 'in'. A vet can help by placing a tiny stitch in the cloaca, keeping things in place until the swelling goes down and things get a chance to calm down. The stitch is then removed.

Being in the US I think you don't have access to deslorelin implants, otherwise that's also a good option - takes them off lay for six months or more to give the whole reproductive system a break and reset. I know there are hormonal injections that do something similar but don't know what they are called. Beyond that and what you're doing, watch out for pecking and flystike on those exposed tissues, give her an anti-inflammatory if you have, and if it looks infected, you could give her antibiotics.

I realise access to chicken friendly and affordable vet care varies enormously between countries and that I'm lucky. That's how I've been able to solve a stubborn case of prolapse.

Oh, and I've what realised that poopy butts often indicate problems with laying since swelling, prolapse and more tends to mean poop lands below the cloaca instead of on the ground. Now I'm always watching out and checking if someone is not clean.

Fingers crossed for you and Ana!

thank you so much @A Swede in France i called the vet first thing saturday morning but they are closed until tomorrow morning, so i've been doing what i can to help poor Ana.

b/c her prolapse doesn't seem to be improving, i'm very interested in helping her along with a vet

yes -- i'm also starting to put this poopy butt thing together also but hadn't yet considered that it might be mechanical (poop landing below cloaca) rather than digestive (something about the feed doesn't agree). thank you for sharing this insight!