Yesterday I found one of our year-old hens with a prolapse the size of a walnut. This is a first for me and I'm hoping someone can give me some advice. The prolapsed duct also has something attached to it, that looks like it could be a hemorrhoid.
It didn't look as if it had been pecked yet. I separated her from the others, in a crate in a dark room, to discourage egg-laying (she's a very frequent layer). I washed off the prolapse, smeared it heavily with Preparation H, poked it back in gently, and held it in for 5 minutes. I checked again in 10 minutes and it was out again so I repeated the procedure. It did this one more time then continued to repeat it as close to every half hour as I could manage yesterday and today.
Now, the prolapse is much smaller, about the size of a grape. The attached lump is also smaller. But it still isn't staying in.
I've read advice to bandage the vent so it is held in overnight. I can't really tell how this works. As far as I can guess, you place a gauze pad over the vent and wrap Vet Wrap around the hen to hold it in place. But how will she poop???? Someone suggested cutting a slit in the pad but that would seem to defeat the purpose.
Has anyone done this? Should I try the bandage? If so, how exactly should this be wrapped?
Thanks for any help!!!
It didn't look as if it had been pecked yet. I separated her from the others, in a crate in a dark room, to discourage egg-laying (she's a very frequent layer). I washed off the prolapse, smeared it heavily with Preparation H, poked it back in gently, and held it in for 5 minutes. I checked again in 10 minutes and it was out again so I repeated the procedure. It did this one more time then continued to repeat it as close to every half hour as I could manage yesterday and today.
Now, the prolapse is much smaller, about the size of a grape. The attached lump is also smaller. But it still isn't staying in.
I've read advice to bandage the vent so it is held in overnight. I can't really tell how this works. As far as I can guess, you place a gauze pad over the vent and wrap Vet Wrap around the hen to hold it in place. But how will she poop???? Someone suggested cutting a slit in the pad but that would seem to defeat the purpose.
Has anyone done this? Should I try the bandage? If so, how exactly should this be wrapped?
Thanks for any help!!!