Please help, What is wrong with my hen??

[Judy]

Could the yellow stuff be the yolk of a broken egg? It is not at all unlikely that what you are dealing with is a stuck egg that has broken. Sometimes people do try to get the egg out, but the broken shell can cut them pretty badly, if it is not soft shelled. I suspect the hard thing you feel is a stuck egg. Whether to try to get it out manually is a decision only you can make. I'd sure try everything else first.

I don't mean to offend, but perhaps I should explain that the egg and the poop come out of the same hole. There is a "Y" just before the external opening (cloaca). One side leads to where eggs are made, the other to the intestine/digested food. To put it simply, again. If you already knew this, please don't be insulted; I've seen the question asked on here many times, whether the egg and poop come out of the same hole.

If you have a stuck egg, it is quite possible it is above the "Y," that is, not in the intestine at all.

 

[Dev]

Not offended at all. I knew that they both came out the same basic area but wasn't sure exactly how they came together inside, if you know what I mean.

I soaked her again, this time in epsom and sugar water. The right side looks deflated now but I am now almost sure there is an egg in the left side.

After I soaked her I see the creamy white stuff oozing again but it is oozing from several points almost as if it is oozing through the skin of the prolapse. Not sure if that is possible or not. The roundness of of the egg, if it is an egg, feels still round, not broken. When I pick the left side up to examine it looks like a perfect little egg shape and it is heavy feeling, imagine what a boiled egg would feel like inside the prolapse, the feel and weight...that is the best I can describe it. I applied a liberal amount of vaseline and tried to push it in but she squirms and makes a noise as if it is hurting her and I was afraid if it was an egg I would break it.

If there is an egg, will it absorb back in?

This is so heart wrenching as she is my favorite now that I lost my polish a few weeks ago. She is the only one that will let you pick her up and just hold her and carry her around, she seems to love it. My husband wanted chickens for eggs, they are pets to me. He got his two eggs this morning from the RIR hen that seems to be doing fine with laying. I really don't think this black cochin has got to lay yet but was in the process when this happened.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Can you get her into a vet tomorrow? Because if there is an egg in there, it will probably need to be cut out. An egg may be wrapped up in the skin. Back again to my example, my hen prolapsed with an egg that came out but it was enclosed in the prolapsed skin. It was clear and obvious. i felt around and tried to find an opening to pull the egg out, but couldn't. My instincts were to make a small incision and pull the egg out. Luckily, my vet was open and i got her in right away. She did exactly what i would have done, small incision to extract the egg.

Seems like you worked out the sugar and epsom salt ratio. i don't have any measurements exactly. Just a warm tub of water (i use the small rubbermaid dishpans) then dump in some sugar and epson salts, maybe a quarter to a half cup each? On the drizzle, maybe a 25 percent ratio of sugar to water? Mix it and put it in the fridge, i think the cold helps.

If the yellow stuff coming out isn't egg yolk, could it be poo? Just wondering. And, if you don't have KY, vasoline is fine. i was just told the KY was best, so keep it in mind for your chicken emergency kit in the future.

On your other question, i don't know for sure, but don't think an egg would absorb back in if it is stuck this far down. i think you're going to have to find someone to surgically cut it out. Once it's out you should be able to get the prolapse back in. And once that's done you will want to keep your girl in a dark place for at least a week to keep her from laying while she heals.

So sorry you're going through this. It's a very scary thing.

 

[Judy]

No, the egg won't absorb. It has to come out, one way or another, if she is to survive.

If it feels like a boiled egg, could it be a soft shelled egg? If she were mine and I was convinced it was soft shelled, I would break it for sure. No guarantee that that would save her, but.... For sure, it is harder for them to pass a soft shelled egg than a regular one. Sounds odd, but if you think about it, when they push and it just half collapses, it makes sense.

I would think the stuff that looks like it is coming out the skin of the prolapse is actually coming out the usual hole and running along the tissue that is outside. But it could be doing what it looks like; I have no idea.

Maybe with some more soaks she will finally pass it on her own. I sure hope this turns out ok.

 

[Dev]

There is no vet here in my area (Bolivar, Missouri) that would see her because when my turkey broke his toe I tried to get one of them to see him and they all said they don't work on poultry.

I'm not sure at all that it is a soft shell because with the membrane of the prolapse covering it I feel a firm oval shape but can't tell if it is hard shelled or soft shelled. The firmness makes it seem as if it may be hard shelled but when I press on it it goes in like it slightly like it could be soft shelled but is that the shell giving or the membrane...I can't tell.

I've thought of maybe placing an ad on Craig's List in my area to see if there is someone around here experienced with chickens and that knows how to take care of a prolapse.

Thanks to you all for your continued guidance and help, appreciate.

 

[chkn]

I had to deal with the prolapse once, I gently pushed it back in. I had to repeat a little while later, just carefully form fitting it back up in there the best I could. It did work.

 

[Dev]

Hi, just an update and added questions.

The hen is still alive. It was a soft shell egg that was in the prolapse. I ended up having to cut a 1/4 inch cut into the membrane to get the egg out because when I went in through her vent to find the egg I could find it but there seem to be a membrane between it and me and I could not find an opening to get to it. I think she ruptured and the egg went into a pocket like a hemorage or something. After cutting the egg poured out, first the white then the yolk and then I was able to pull the whole soft shell through the small cut. I cleaned her up, put antibiotic creme on the cut and everywhere else and vetercyn to prevent infection. I tucked the membrane back in but she kept straining really hard and pushing it back in every time, so I left it out. I applied prep-h and got her to drink a few drops of sugar water. I gave her pedilite today but she is not taking drops of water now..she is pretty alert and moves around so she may be drinking from her water bowl. She is now in a bin on the closed in porch. I put food in with her and this morning it was spilt so I don't know if she ate any of it or not. She doesn't appear to be weak though, not yet. I am hoping for the best.

Ok here is the question. The prolapse, even though I put antibiotic creme and spraying with vetercyn, it appears to be drying up as it has crusty stuff in spots on it and turning really dark like it is dying. I can't picture this going back into her and being healthy. She is still pooing some but it is a greenish color and she seems to be very sore because when I soaked her this morning and was cleaning it she moaned like it was hurting.

Is there anything I should be doing to help the membrane/prolapse to become healthy tissue again. Is there a way to keep a chicken from laying? She is in a darkened bin but I can't keep her in the dark forever. I can't picture she will ever lay right after this if she makes it. Shouldn't she be on antibiotics?