prolapse and egg laying after

[Nicki Casher]

My one year old hen had a prolapse that resolved on its own. She is fine now with no sign that she ever had a prolapse. She is eating and drinking normally and living a normal chicken life. The prolapse happened a month ago and she still has not layed an egg since it happened. Will she ever lay an egg again? Since it has been a month I was worried something else happened and she would no longer lay although she is completely healthy otherwise. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[coach723]

It's hard to say. Has she been acting normally otherwise since?
There are a lot of variables, some birds will prolapse once and never again, and return to normal laying. Extra large, malformed, or rough shelled eggs can be a cause, and it can be a one time glitch. Other birds, often due to genetics, will prolapse over and over. There may be more than one reason she hasn't laid again yet. Stress of any kind can put them off laying, heat, things moved around, predators hanging around the coop, illness, endless possibilities. Or there could be an internal reason. If she seems fine now, I would just keep an eye on her, see what happens when she lays next. If she begins to look off and unwell, then something may be going on. I had a young bird prolapse twice in 6 weeks, the second prolapse was pretty bad, and I wasn't sure she would recover. I banded her so I knew for sure who it was in the event it happened again. If she did it a third time I would probably have culled her if it was as bad as the second. She's now over 2 years old and has not repeated it again and has laid normally since.