Prolapse recovery (graphic photos)

[paulinachickies]

Hi everyone,

Wanted to share our hen’s prolapse journey and get some thoughts on how to proceed to prevent future incidents. Specifically, when to move her back outside to the coop.

This is Bowie, our brabanter x polish mix hen who is a delight (and the loudest in the bunch!). She is 1 year and 2 months old, and quite tiny. I found a bloody egg on Friday mid-morning and, after bum checks, found that she had a prolapsed vent This is a first for her (she lays ~5 times a week despite her small size) and in my flock.

I have quarantined her in my room in a roomy kennel covered with towels in relative darkness (only out to feed, do bum check, give cuddles). Her oviduct came out every 20-30 minutes on the first day or whenever she pooped, so I got prep H, cortisone cream, and vetericyn and diligently attended to it. I set an alarm in the night (so every 4 hrs or so) so I could ensure it was not going to dry out. She actually laid a soft shell egg into my hands around 2am, which was very sad. Also, I’ve been giving her reduced feed (breaks my heart!) and kale and cucumber / a few grapes on the side.

I also tried the “sling” technique that’s posted on this site as well, but It didn’t work quite well for me. Not sure if I had to fasten it more tightly, but she just seemed uncomfortable.

^ what it looked like for the first 24 hours

Starting Saturday late afternoon/evening (about 30 hours after first finding her with a prolapsed vent), I noticed that she had a poop in her kennel but no prolapse. Now it’s Sunday night and she hasn’t had Prolapses since then, so for over 30 hours.

Now, I am going to get a vet appointment to see if we can get a hormone implant for her to stop laying sometime this week. In the meantime, should I reintegrate her with her friends out in the coop? Should I just keep her in the dark until the implant + a few days for the hormone to kick in? The days are getting longer, which is making me nervous about putting her out there and her laying another egg.

I want to give her the best shot at recovery, so would love to hear your thoughts on what people have done before - move hens right out as soon as the prolapse is in, separate in darkness for a while, etc. but I can see she is getting antsy to go outside, so want to weigh the risk.

Thanks in ad

 

[azygous]

What a cutie! She looks like a tiny woman in animal print apparel.

My experience with prolapse is that it will resolve once the obstruction clears. Once her egg came out, that relieved the pressure on her cloaca so it sprung back inside. You can put her back with the others now without worry unless she has another shell-less egg coming down, which isn't uncommon.

My treatment for prolapse and soft eggs is calcium citrate. That may be the route to try before the expense of a vet visit and hormone implant therapy.

Here's an article I wrote about my experiences with prolapse and how I treat the condition.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ng-from-vent-prolapse-oh-my-what-to-do.76124/

 

[paulinachickies]

Hi Azygous,

Thanks! I have been giving her calcium gel (+ vitamin d), about 600 mg a day. The brand I have is calcium carbonate, it seems like. I'll look into calcium citrate.

Thanks for writing about your experience in such detail. What implication does cecal poop have? She has had a few cecal poops already. Does that mean things are working "properly"?

I just put her outside with her friends, and she went straight to the coop. I'll see if she lays another shell-less egg or what happens with her vent.

 

[azygous]

The role of cecal poop in a reproductive tract obstruction is as an indicator of whether the tract is blocked or unblocked. The cecum is where cecal poop is produced, but it's also where fluids not absorbed in the intestines gets distributed to the rest of the chicken's tissues. When the reproductive tract is blocked, so is the cucum in many instances. The result is the cecal poop is blocked and excess fluids are then discharged out of the vent, resulting in a watery discharge.

Once the obstruction clears, you will see the watery discharge abate and cecal poop again appears.

 

[paulinachickies]

Thank you! That is interesting to learn about re: cecal poop. She did lay another egg this afternoon, with a bit of blood on it but not as much as the one that caused the prolapse. She doesn't seem to have a prolapse vent now. I'll continue to supplement with the calcium pills for the next few days and see what happens.