Prolapse vent and eggbound

[BladeDuck]

Hi all, its been a while! I have a Khaki that has had a prolapse vent for nearly two years now. I tried everything short of taking her to a vet when it first showed up. I put her back with the other ducks and decided I would let her be and deal with additional probelms as they came. I figured she wouldn't make it past that first summer's fly season because of infection. But on she waddled... Fast forward to today she's egg bound. She's struggled getting eggs out since last week when she started laying again. I'm getting an egg every 2-3 days from her. She was in pain when I opened up the coup this morning. I brought her inside to a luke warm tub and got her cleaned up. She's torn a little already. So I let her relax for half an hour. I can feel the egg and see it when she tries to push it out. I lubricated her all up and put her back outside.

What is the next step for getting the egg out? Reach in and pull the egg out??

I don't know, is it time to just put her down?

 

[casportpony]

The calcium will help her muscles with contractions to pass the egg.
Pictures:





-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Does she still have a prolapse? If so, I have read that some people put prep-h on them.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

http://beautyofbirds.com/eggbinding.html
Treatment:
If in doubt as to if the hen is egg bound or not, a few vet sites recommend separation, warmth, warm bath and calcium to all hens in lay that seem distressed.
This is a life-threatening condition and should be addressed by a qualified avian vet. Your vet may discuss:

• Calcium shots - immediate solution to help the egg shell harden allowing the hen to hopefully pass it
• Lupron shots to stop hens from going into breeding condition
• Spaying your hen as a permanent solution

The following are samples of actions that have resolved this problem for some birds (please note: not all hens can be saved, especially if it's critical by the time the problem was discovered and no vet is available or can be reached in time). Egg-bound hens go into profound cardiovascular collapse and may not be able to put in the effort to push the egg out without intervention.

• Suspected egg binding: Keep her in a warm area. Provide supportive care.

• Place the bird into a steamy room, such as bathroom with shower on until the bathroom mirrors and windows steam up. Desired temperature: 85-90 degrees Fahrenheit / Humidity: 60%. Place bird on wet towel. The warmth relaxes the hen so that the vent can dilate more allowing the egg to pass.
  
• A warm water bath can also be of great help (shallow water, of course, you don't want to drown the hen). This relaxes her muscles and often the hen will pass the egg into the water. Make the water as warm as you would like to take a long soak in.
  
• Massage the muscles in that area with olive oil. In many cases, this lead to a successful passing of the egg. Note: there is a risk associated with messaging this area. It could cause the egg inside to break - which is life-threatening. Be very careful! If in doubt, it's always best to have the vet take care of it ...
  
• Even if the cause is not hypocalcaemia in this hen’s case it will not hurt her to have more calcium.
  
• Applying a personal lubricant, such as KY jelly to her vent may also be helpful.
  
• To reduce swelling on her vent, some breeders reported success in applying Preparation H to her vent.
  
• Successful Passing of the Egg: Following passing of the egg keep the hen in a warm and quiet area separate from the others, until she is out of shock and back to eating and drinking well.
  
• Prevention: Provide bird with high-calorie, high-calcium food to help strengthen future eggs and prevent egg binding. Recommendations for pet bird diet / nutrition.

• Also refer to Chronic Egg Laying

 

[casportpony]

Is she drinking? If not, can you try to tube fluids to her? Can you fill your bathroom wih steam and leave her in there for several hours?

-Kathy

 

[Amiga]

It's risky, but if the choice is to do nothing and have to kill her or let her die, or to try something risky, I would do the latter. I am thinking of the syringe method - emptying the egg carefully and extracting it carefully.

Meanwhile, I would be keeping her in a dark area to keep eggs from forming and backing up.

 

[casportpony]

Give her calcium orally and place her in a warm, steamy room for *several* hours. Can you go to Tractor Supply and get some liquid calcium gluconate. You'll find it in the cattle section and will need a needle and syringe to get it out of the bottle. Dose is 0.2ml per pound and you can give it orally from the syringe ( remove needle, of course ). If you can't go to Tractor Supply, you can give regular human calcium or tums - dose is 45mg per pound.

This is the least invasive thing to try, and it's what I would do first.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Do you have any Meloxicam?

-Kathy

 

[BladeDuck]

I don't. What does the calcium do? I will check my local CAL Ranch and IFA today. She still hasn't passed the egg.

 

[casportpony]

Of course calcium is also needed to make shell, but they can deplete their bodies of it making that shell, so try the liquid calcium and several hours in a warm, steamy room.

-Kathy