prolapse, situation getting much worse, need input

[embrown]

Okay, I have read many, many posts and searchs about prolapse but things may be worse now, and I need more feedback than I have found in my searching.
Wednesday we went outside, mid-afternoon and found her with a prolapse. She was fine in the morning, although we did notice some spotty blood on the board under the roost. All the pooh looked normal, so we thought it might have just been something minor with one of the girls. Last weekend we were gone and the girls...there are 5...were cared for by our neighbors because we had a funeral. When we got back we noticed that this girl had all the feathers missing on her rump, sattle, and around her tail, but she was healthy, happy, and acting normal. I am not sure if they got pulled out by others or herself maybe because she was fussing with her back end as this problem was arising.


Here is what we have done so far:
1. Immediately separated her from the flock. Brought her inside, put her in a small pet carrier and covered it with a blanket and have kept her in the dark except for the time we have taken her out to care for her.
2. Wednesday night we gave her only water with electrolytes because I did not want her to have too much poop because pooping seemed to make it come back out. But yesterday morning I felt so badly for her so I gave her some chick grower food, in a mash. We have continued the water with the electrolytes. Then last night and this morning I have scrambled one egg and gave that to her. I do not want her to starve, that seems cruel. But I need to know how much an how often to feed her.
3. When I picked her up yesterday morning she felt very, very thin. I can feel her bones in the sattle area, the bones on the sides of the vent or sticking out.
While her neck looks very fluffy, it is really super thin. I can feel her keel bone quite significantly.
5. Yesterday, I gave her a warm bath. She did not seem to mind. After I got everything cleaned off, I noticed that the prolapse has some crusty whitish scab, calcium, diing tissue...I am not sure what. It is at the end of the prolapse. I could not get it to soften to come off and picking at it seemed to hurt her so it may be necessary, but I am concerned that inside her that is rough and irritating thus making her just push it out again.
6. I have tried the honey, prep H, an sprayed her bottom with provodine iodine to clense the area. I have pushed the prolapse back in about six times, it just will not stay in more than a few minutes. She strains against my efforts to replace it and even sort of cries although she will let me do it, I feel like I am hurting her.
7. Her pooh is watery, whitish, with normal brown lumps too. It looks pretty normal whith maybe slightly more white to it.


What to do now and my questions:
1. Is the small cage good enough or is that confining going to be worse for her, I do have a very large dog cage, but it would give her a lot of space to move around and would be harder, not impossible, to keep dark. It would allow her to roost properlyk, or is it better she stays on the floor.
2. What do I feed her and how much. I read something about greens, but not sure which kind or how much, any suggestions would be appreciated. I am very concerned about her wait loss, what would keep wait on so she is strong but reduce her need to strain for elimination.
3. She now seems to have a fever, her skin feels warm and when I tried to replace the prolapse it felt much warmer than in the past. Possibly use an antibiotic, and if so, I knowing about dosage or kinds, so if you could suggest something and how to get it, I will do that. There is a TSC here in town, but no other store to buy farm meds that I know of.
4. Her crop was empty this morning, so I think she may need to eat, is the egg good or what else should I feed her. She is pecking around a lot. is that just her need to peck because she is a chicken, or is she just despirately looking for food.
5. She now keeps trying to reach her bottom to peck at it, but really can't reach it well.
6. Should I try the bath again.
7. I did read that some just left the prolapse out, kept it clean and it eventually went back inside as the tissue heeled and shrunk. But then I also read that if you leave it out it can dry, scab, get dirty and there is a risk of infection. Which is better?
8. What is my best course of action at this point? I neither want to cull her or let her suffer, so I guess I would like a course of treatment and if I am sure I have covered all the basis, then we will do what is best for her.
9. it seems that her body must be not functioning properly, she is thin, and has a prolapse, so I need treatment that will address both so she can get better if it is possible.

You all have been helpful in the past, and we have gotten past all the issues through your help. So, I am hoping you can help me again.

Thank you for your suggestions.

Beth

 

[Miss Lydia]

I found this as I was searching, hopefully you can gleen some info from it that may help, All the best and I hope your hen recovers..
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/876054/

 

[CMV]

Sometimes prolapses are bad enough to require a temporary purse stitch. This is something that will need to be done by a vet.

1. A small, dim cage is best. She doesn't need to be moving around too much at this point.
2. I'd feed her as much egg as she wants. I'd stay away from the greens because of the amount of fiber in them. I think I would also hold off on her regular feed until the prolapse is resolved.
3. Pen G is available at the feed store in the fridge. That is what is recommended for wounds. You will need to get syringes, too.
4. She's probably picking about because that's what chickens do. She may also be looking for food if she is as thin as you say.
5. She will pick at her own self if she can reach it, so be aware of that. It must be bothering her.
6. Definitely. In fact I would be doing the bath at least twice a day.
7. You will need to decide which is right for you.
8. If you don't want to cull or let her suffer then I'd bring her to a vet.
9. Sometimes some birds are frailer than others. This could just be bad luck or it could be that she has underlying health issues. Unfortunately, there is really no way to know for certain.

I hope this helps. Good luck with her.

 

[embrown]

Well, she is still hanging in there. But, the prolapse is still coming out alomost as soon as I put it in. She does not mind the baths, which I found odd, and she loves the blow dry afterwards. She is very happy eating the scrambled eggs, and the little bit of chick feed. The end of the prolapse is very scabby and I have to think that she pushes it back out because that scab has to be scratchy and uncomfortable when it is inside. I guess we will keep up with what we are oing. hoping something will change for the better and that nothing will get worse. She seems relatively happy in her little cage, being in the house, and does not seem uncomfortable or unhappy. She is perky when we look in on her. I just wish we could get the prolapse to stay in.

 

[RustyHen]

You could try this, it is an old time ranchers first aide. while the prolapse is moist sprinkle some granulated white sugar on it, it should shrink it fairly quickly. I know this has been used on mammals so it would be worth a try on chickens. hope this helps
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[dixiechicks3]

We just got our first chickens in November and everything has gone great until we got a year old Leghorn hen last week. She was missing so many feathers and we thought we were doing a good thing bringing her in with our other girls. Yesterday afternoon I noticed she had a prolapse. We have been giving her warm baths and tried the vasoline and sugar. Like you, we have tried pushing it back in, but she pushes against us and it pops right back out. It is turning black and I am wondering if there is anything else we could be doing to help her. She is not moving much and we do have her separated from the others and keeping her in a dark area.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!