Please help! Prolapsed vent?

[daisychickiemama]

Can anyone recognize what’s going on with my mallard duck? She has a sack hanging off her backside that is a little red on one side, other than that it looks like a sack of poop? It also seems to be dripping a murky water looking substance.

She is still drinking and eating this morning. I have separated her except for her closest companion. Anyone have any advice or know what this is? I’ve never had any of my feathered girls have anything prolapse before and she is my very favorite as I have hand raised her since I rescued her when she was a day old. She is 5 years old now, which certainly isn’t old for a duck.

These pictures aren’t the best. But hopefully they are enough to get an idea. She wasn’t really wanting me to get too close this morning. But I did get one more this afternoon and it seems a little tighter?

I originally posted this in the emergency thread but I haven’t heard from anyone. Hoping to have better luck here!

 

[Jenbirdee]

Get her into a tub of lukewarm water and let her soak a while. A couple hours even then try to take better closer pictures. You’re going to have to try to get it back in. There are several things you can use on it that may help.
I had success with witch hazel and raw honey. Some people use Preparation H on it and it shrinks it enough that you can get it back inside. There may be an article with more information that can help you. I’ll look in the article section. Probably older threads also that have pictures and people’s experiences that will give you more ideas.

 

[Jenbirdee]

This is about chickens, but you do most the same things for ducks.
Holding off on feeding and giving her vitamins is a very good idea
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/prolapsed-chicken-vent.78134/

 

[daisychickiemama]

Thank you for your reply @Jenbirdee ! It took me a while to be able to get ahold of her. we have a pond and every time I was trying to get ahold of her she’d fly off or go for a swim. Here are two pictures of it after I was able to get her to soak in the epsom salt bath. I’m not sure what the mass is. What I was able to push back in, came right back out. I was a little worried about pushing that mass inside her? Now that is no longer the weekend, I’m going to try and get her in with a vet. I imagine that mass might need removed? But regardless I think she’ll need a couple stitches to keep it in. A little help from AI, and we all know how reliable that can be, said the mass might be a fecal impaction stuck in the cloaca/prolapsed tissue. Does anyone recognize this?
It looks painful but right now it seems to be annoying her more than anything. She’s still acting pretty normal, alert, and strong.

 

[Jenbirdee]

View attachment 4323881View attachment 4323882Thank you for your reply @Jenbirdee ! It took me a while to be able to get ahold of her. we have a pond and every time I was trying to get ahold of her she’d fly off or go for a swim. Here are two pictures of it after I was able to get her to soak in the epsom salt bath. I’m not sure what the mass is. What I was able to push back in, came right back out. I was a little worried about pushing that mass inside her? Now that is no longer the weekend, I’m going to try and get her in with a vet. I imagine that mass might need removed? But regardless I think she’ll need a couple stitches to keep it in. A little help from AI, and we all know how reliable that can be, said the mass might be a fecal impaction stuck in the cloaca/prolapsed tissue. Does anyone recognize this?
It looks painful but right now it seems to be annoying her more than anything. She’s still acting pretty normal, alert, and strong.

Oh, that’s great that you could get her in to see a vet. In the meantime, keep it clean and moist. You could put her in a crate on some towels and puppy pads changed frequently and use an antibiotic ointment on it that does not have a painkilling ingredient added. There’s one that I like called silver honey. Please let us know what the vet says.

 

[theoldchick]

https://duckdvm.com/condition/oviduct-prolapse

 

[daisychickiemama]

Thank you! I was able to get her an appointment with the vet this afternoon once he’s done with his surgeries, so I’m waiting for his call. While I wait he suggested putting her in warm water on and off every thirty minutes to make sure it doesn’t dry out too much. He also said I didn’t need to have her fast which I wasn’t sure about as I had read conflicting information.

I’ll update when I return home and get her settled.

 

[daisychickiemama]

So we saw the vet and they got me worried she might not make it through surgery because apparently birds of all types are very sensitive to sedatives, and it cost a small fortune but they got her stitched up, which will hopefully help it scar up and stay together. However, now they’re worried about the tissue staying viable since a little bit of it had started to go necrotic and with her being stitched up it can also make her egg bound. So I’m trying to monitor her closely but also, they suggested getting her

Lupron, basically the duck version of birth control so that she wouldn’t become egg bound. It’s an implant that will cost another small fortune, in part because I need to travel to a vet an hour away in the city and their fee just to see her is $250 but what else am I supposed to do? she’s my baby.