Prolapse and vent gleet

[speckledhen]

Have you tried Preparation H to shrink the tissues? I had an old hen with a prolapse for a week or so. Her shells became bad when she got up over 10 years old. Urates would dry on the protrusion and we had to put her in an epsom salts bath to loosen it up and it literally came off in a shell. Then, we kept gently pushing it back into the cloaca, soaking again, pushing, then more PrepH, kept her in a semi dark area, etc. It's just one of those things that takes persistence and gentleness. My hen's shells crushed inside and the shell would push out with her straining and we had to gently tug the rest of it out. It takes a lot of time, but is not always successful.

 

[Sandstorm]

I don't have any but I'm going to the store right now to get some. Thank you

 

[Sandstorm]

I coated it with prep h and shes in there resting for now. I really hope it helps.

 

[Sandstorm]

There is blood around vent and she still has not laid the egg what do I do?

 

[casportpony]

Please do not try this unless someone else thinks it's a good idea. If she were mine I might consider sticking a needle in and syringing out the egg.

 

[rebrascora]

I have been loath to comment on this as I too have no experience of dealing with egg binding and prolapse.

A vet really would be the best option.

If that is not possible....
Have you tried again to find the exit hole for the egg. I know it is fragile and you are frightened of it breaking but she is going to die anyway if you don't get it out, I think we can all agree on that. Give her another good soak so she is nice and clean and as relaxed as she can be and slowly work at sliding the tissue over the egg from every angle looking for that exit hole. It might help to do it under the water if you can. If you absolutely can't find it, I would be inclined to make a small incision to get the whole thing out intact but it will probably bleed significantly, so have a product to hand that will help to stem that and she is probably going to need antibiotics afterwards so make plans for getting them now. I'm also not sure how that incision will impact future egg laying and if you would need to try to close it maybe with superglue but it will be very tricky/fiddly to just get it on the bits you want and it might retract once the egg is removed.
You are also going to want to keep her in the dark to try to suppress further egg production at least until she heals. You might also want to review your flock's diet. Prolapse can be associated with the bird carrying too much fat, which can be caused by a dietary imbalance. Treats like scratch/corn/bread/pasta etc that are high in carbohydrates can be responsible or grain mix feeds where the bird can pick and choose which components of the feed they eat. Not saying this is the issue here but just to consider it

 

[rebrascora]

Please do not try this unless someone else thinks it's a good idea. If she were mine I might consider sticking a needle in and syringing out the egg.

The only issues I can see with this is that even with a large gauge needle, it might be very difficult to draw the egg out with a syringe due to the viscosity..... maybe practice on a fresh egg and see how you manage first and also perhaps getting the collapsed membrane and shell out afterwards if you still can't find the hole.
If there is poop/urates seeping out then that should guide you to where to look for the hole and ease the egg towards.

 

[casportpony]

The only issues I can see with this is that even with a large gauge needle, it might be very difficult to draw the egg out with a syringe due to the viscosity..... maybe practice on a fresh egg and see how you manage first and also perhaps getting the collapsed membrane and shell out afterwards if you still can't find the hole.
If there is poop/urates seeping out then that should guide you to where to look for the hole and ease the egg towards.

As I said before this is *way* out of my comfort zone and I have very little experience with these.

The other day I found an egg bound hen that could hardly stand. I brought her in gave her fluids, calcium by injection, meloxicam, and placed her on a heating pad in a dark, steamy room. The next day she had not passed the egg and was deteriorating, so I decided to try the needle aspiration, and you are correct, because even with a 14 gauge needle it was very hard to suck the egg out.

Let me be clear, I am not suggesting doing this unless there is no hope. I have more details if anyone is interested.

 

[rebrascora]

Yes of course I am interested!

 

[casportpony]

Yes of course I am interested!

To date it's one of the craziest things I've done and I'm surprised she's still alive.