prolapse, followed by egg bound, now what?

embrown

In the Brooder
10 Years
Apr 18, 2009
90
0
39
I have a 2 yo Isa Brown. About 2.5 weeks ago she prolapsed, so I brought her inside, put her in a dark cage, switched her to chick food instead of layer style, fed her very little but added in scrambled egg, electrolytes in the water, gave her polivisol, and bathed her daily in warm water. Using prep H I would replace the prolapse many times per day. After 8 days, it receeded and she seemed to be fine. I increased the amounts of chick grower crumbles and kept the rest the same. Two days later I heard her grunting and groaning and when I checked, she had an egg stuck. The vent had a hole about the size of a childs pinky finge. So I was worried that when she healed it fused together inside or there was swelling. I put her back in the warm bath and after 30-45 minutes of supporting her bottom, inserting my fingers to stretch things gently, rotating the egg so it was coming out small end first, and talking to her, she finally released the egg all intact and it was very nicely shaped and had a strong shell although she was not eating layer feed for more than ten days. Btw, she also began molting, which she has never done. So, it is a week after the egg incident, she has not laid anymore, new feathers are growing, she has had no prolapse from pooping, and she is still in the dark cage on chick feed.

I need to know what next:
1. How long do I need to keep her in the dark? I believe she is done with the molt there is no more feathers laying around.
2. What is the best feed for her and should I supplement with egg, yogurt or other things to help her meet her protein needs to grow feathers?
3. Once I take the cover off the cage, how long should I keep her separated from the other four hens?
4. How long will it be before she returns to laying and will she have problems because of the prolapse and being egg bound?
5. Is there anything else I should be doing?

Looking forward to answers, I am stuck as to what to do next. She is thin and I need to help her put some weight on, and I hate her being alone. I did not put another hen with her because I did not want them to peck her prolapse or to force the other hen to molt unnecessarily. But I do not think she likes being alone, although she does not complain about it, and we humans to pet and feed her many times per day.

Thanks for your help.

Bethh
 
I believe this may be the best possible situation for her to be in. She has gone into a forced molt likely because she lost so much weight. She may not be losing any more feathers, but it is still going to take some time for her feathers to grow back in, so she may have 3-6 weeks (or more) of not laying. This is probably the best thing for her. She will have plenty of time to recover form her laying mishaps. I would feed her some grower feed with 22% protein. Extra protein is helpful at times of molt to aid in rapid and healthy feather re-growth. Adding some of the other items you mentioned may also be helpful. I think you could probably take her out of the dark and start integrations at any point. Just take it slowly. She is going to be treated like an entirely new bird, and she may not be able to withstand a lot of abuse in her fragile state.

Who can say if she will have continued problems once she starts laying again. Hopefully a nice break is what she needs to get things back in order.

Good luck.
 

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