Hi so I do not have pics to show, I don't have social media on my phone so even if I took pics I couldn't upload them because I would have to find the right cord, plug it into the right slot in the desktop computer tower then click all the right things and it's complex and scary and yeah, no. So sorry about that.
As many of you know one of my girls, Helia had prolapse back to back. I was terrified. Literally the only thing standing between her and the axe is my ability to heal her completely. I took in as much information and advice as I could. I saw her prolapse turning kind of blue-grey and my neurotic tendencies went into over-drive. It turns out it was the bruise coming out from severe prolapse twice in three weeks.
I tried to be much calmer and more on top of the situation than last time and she bounced back quickly. She was already eating and in mostly normal posture as soon as I got her on pain meds.
Being as holistic as possible sounds very fancy and expensive. It's just as scary as going to the vet but I do it on the cheap as much as possible.
For anyone who is experiencing prolapse with their bird I will outline my steps, what I did and what I used and how to do it yourself.
First and foremost the second time around we did the bath. I washed her feet in baking soda and water to clean them before the sits bath to keep the muck from contaminating the bath. (I didn't have bleach on hand otherwise I would have done 1 capfull of bleach to about a half gallon or so of warm water.) Although warm water is recommended I remembered the aftermath of birthing three babies and how cooler water felt better down there and I didn't want to add to the swelling so for her sits bath I used about a capfull or two of vinegar to a half gallon or so of tepid water. Towards the end I did warm it up more. When washing I would gently massage her protrusion. I did this three times a day.
I coated her with an oil made of yarrow and plantain that were cut up coarsely and infused in grapeseed oil by a herbalist I met a few years ago. The herbalist had infused the oil by setting it all in a glass bowl and putting it into her dehydrator at about 100 F. I believe plantain is touchy about heat. At 110 F or higher, the properties that it contains start to degrade so you do not want it to boil. (I could be wrong about the heat so please do your own research!) She had it infusing overnight for about 16 hours. (Again I'm saying this from memory so please if you make your own oils, salves and tinctures do your own research!) I also added two drops of oregano oil and two or three drops of clove oil and I mixed it on some dandelion salve that we made with tallow, beeswax, dandelion and some marjoram essential oil to cut the beefy smell of the salve. I bathed and coated her three times a day. She was not happy about it. Oregano oil is extremely antiseptic and clove oil is a huge pain reliever. I also had her on a couple drops of stinging nettle tincture, a couple drops of cleavers tincture and to help her sleep comfortably at night one drop of wild lettuce. Cleavers is a pain reliever, nettle is an antihistamine and anti inflammatory herb it is also considered a super food chock full of nutrients. Altogether I tried to keep her meds under 1 cc a day because the tinctures are made with alcohol and are very strong. At times I would mix it with egg and calcium citrate blended together with celery seed. Why celery seed? High in calcium.
Now the scary part. By day three of the relapse her protrusion started looking bluish and then seemed to develop a soft scabby layer which would come off here and there. Trying not to panic I did a shout out for help but with no available pics no-one was able to tell me anything. That's just common sense. So I scoured the internet and used my own common sense and observation skills, that said if she was terribly sick she would be in worse shape than she was. She'd be listless and not eating. This wasn't the case. The thick rubbery scabby layer is common in prolapse (in humans anyway) and it is not necrotic.( I might be using the word wrong.) At least it said she would need medical attention for assessment and to avoid infection. Okay. I am the vet. I have to be. On my homestead if someone gets sick or injured I am the healer. We just cannot pay a vet up to a thousand + dollars for a back yard chicken or any other pet. So I could tell that it wasn't infected at all but the thick scabby layer (it was kind of rubbery and soft but resembled a white-ish scab) it is from irritation and trauma. However it does prevent the protrusion from going back in. Now her entire vent was protruding just as last time but instead of looking like a tennis ball it was smaller and more cylindrical (if that makes sense). Either way I noticed that when I was able to carefully remove the scabby stuff her vent wanted to retreat back inside. The skin underneath was healthy looking. So I would very carefully peel off bits of this scabby stuff making very sure not to hurt her if I could help it. I took some claw tweezers that I use for bumble foot (all instruments are thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before and after every use, every time!) and carefully pulled off bits and layers being careful to not draw blood. I reasoned that perhaps a thin layer wouldn't hurt but a thick layer was causing problems. So I did this on day four and five. By the end of day six her vent went in and stayed in. After that I continued gently putting the oil concoction inside her to help her recover more quickly, first twice a day, then once now not at all. I kept her separate for another two full days and put her back into main population the night of day eight.
She is now running around with the rest of the flock, thrilled to be with the fam but keeping a wide berth from me, lol!
So this is my adventure. I hope to NEVER see another one. I want to give a huge shout out to Eggsessive and Wyorp Rock for their advice and the overall support I have gotten from this community. From the bottom of my heart, Thank you so very much!
As many of you know one of my girls, Helia had prolapse back to back. I was terrified. Literally the only thing standing between her and the axe is my ability to heal her completely. I took in as much information and advice as I could. I saw her prolapse turning kind of blue-grey and my neurotic tendencies went into over-drive. It turns out it was the bruise coming out from severe prolapse twice in three weeks.
I tried to be much calmer and more on top of the situation than last time and she bounced back quickly. She was already eating and in mostly normal posture as soon as I got her on pain meds.
Being as holistic as possible sounds very fancy and expensive. It's just as scary as going to the vet but I do it on the cheap as much as possible.
For anyone who is experiencing prolapse with their bird I will outline my steps, what I did and what I used and how to do it yourself.
First and foremost the second time around we did the bath. I washed her feet in baking soda and water to clean them before the sits bath to keep the muck from contaminating the bath. (I didn't have bleach on hand otherwise I would have done 1 capfull of bleach to about a half gallon or so of warm water.) Although warm water is recommended I remembered the aftermath of birthing three babies and how cooler water felt better down there and I didn't want to add to the swelling so for her sits bath I used about a capfull or two of vinegar to a half gallon or so of tepid water. Towards the end I did warm it up more. When washing I would gently massage her protrusion. I did this three times a day.
I coated her with an oil made of yarrow and plantain that were cut up coarsely and infused in grapeseed oil by a herbalist I met a few years ago. The herbalist had infused the oil by setting it all in a glass bowl and putting it into her dehydrator at about 100 F. I believe plantain is touchy about heat. At 110 F or higher, the properties that it contains start to degrade so you do not want it to boil. (I could be wrong about the heat so please do your own research!) She had it infusing overnight for about 16 hours. (Again I'm saying this from memory so please if you make your own oils, salves and tinctures do your own research!) I also added two drops of oregano oil and two or three drops of clove oil and I mixed it on some dandelion salve that we made with tallow, beeswax, dandelion and some marjoram essential oil to cut the beefy smell of the salve. I bathed and coated her three times a day. She was not happy about it. Oregano oil is extremely antiseptic and clove oil is a huge pain reliever. I also had her on a couple drops of stinging nettle tincture, a couple drops of cleavers tincture and to help her sleep comfortably at night one drop of wild lettuce. Cleavers is a pain reliever, nettle is an antihistamine and anti inflammatory herb it is also considered a super food chock full of nutrients. Altogether I tried to keep her meds under 1 cc a day because the tinctures are made with alcohol and are very strong. At times I would mix it with egg and calcium citrate blended together with celery seed. Why celery seed? High in calcium.
Now the scary part. By day three of the relapse her protrusion started looking bluish and then seemed to develop a soft scabby layer which would come off here and there. Trying not to panic I did a shout out for help but with no available pics no-one was able to tell me anything. That's just common sense. So I scoured the internet and used my own common sense and observation skills, that said if she was terribly sick she would be in worse shape than she was. She'd be listless and not eating. This wasn't the case. The thick rubbery scabby layer is common in prolapse (in humans anyway) and it is not necrotic.( I might be using the word wrong.) At least it said she would need medical attention for assessment and to avoid infection. Okay. I am the vet. I have to be. On my homestead if someone gets sick or injured I am the healer. We just cannot pay a vet up to a thousand + dollars for a back yard chicken or any other pet. So I could tell that it wasn't infected at all but the thick scabby layer (it was kind of rubbery and soft but resembled a white-ish scab) it is from irritation and trauma. However it does prevent the protrusion from going back in. Now her entire vent was protruding just as last time but instead of looking like a tennis ball it was smaller and more cylindrical (if that makes sense). Either way I noticed that when I was able to carefully remove the scabby stuff her vent wanted to retreat back inside. The skin underneath was healthy looking. So I would very carefully peel off bits of this scabby stuff making very sure not to hurt her if I could help it. I took some claw tweezers that I use for bumble foot (all instruments are thoroughly cleaned and sanitized before and after every use, every time!) and carefully pulled off bits and layers being careful to not draw blood. I reasoned that perhaps a thin layer wouldn't hurt but a thick layer was causing problems. So I did this on day four and five. By the end of day six her vent went in and stayed in. After that I continued gently putting the oil concoction inside her to help her recover more quickly, first twice a day, then once now not at all. I kept her separate for another two full days and put her back into main population the night of day eight.
She is now running around with the rest of the flock, thrilled to be with the fam but keeping a wide berth from me, lol!
So this is my adventure. I hope to NEVER see another one. I want to give a huge shout out to Eggsessive and Wyorp Rock for their advice and the overall support I have gotten from this community. From the bottom of my heart, Thank you so very much!
