Prolapse

[ManawaGirl]

Thanks my 5 year old white Orp. I r never had a hen with a prolapse so I think this is what I have but not sure. Did your hen look like this??? Ours started Friday March 31 and we are doing prep H but it seems to slowly be getting worse.

 

[ManawaGirl]

 

[ManawaGirl]

She has never quit bleeding, not bad but a slow leak. Our vet is high prices on farm animals so that is out of the question for us. What made you decide to cull her? That's what we are going back and forth with.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would cull yours. We culled because it was obvious it wasn't going to improve. Usually chickens will after about a few days to a week. I kept hoping mine would get better but after a few days it was obvious she wasn't feeling any better, and would cry out and struggle more each time we pushed it back in.

I think it can work if the tissue isn't damaged, mine had frostbite and pecking on her prolapse. I didn't want to face the inevitable because my hen was young it was her first time laying.

Your hen unfortunately looks pretty bad with all the bleeding. Sorry.

 

[ManawaGirl]

That's what our family decided. I'm dreading going home.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry, unfortunately it comes with keeping chickens. It is what is right, but it's never an easy decision, at least for me, but to end a suffering animals life is a noble thing. I'm always grateful that I gave each bird a good life, no matter how long or short it is.

 

[PeaJay]

Here is one of my bantams that I discovered this morning. She's eating and drinking fine but I don't think this will fix itself. There is a lot of prolapsed area hanging out. I'm guessing I need to cull her before she suffers? I cleaned it up a bit and can see watery stool coming out. I'm pretty sure I got a piece of egg shell and I'm guessing it's due to my Cochin rooster beating her up. Is that possible? I'm debating getting rid of him as well to let the remaining hens live in peace.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

From my experience once the prolapse is damaged in any way the hen will keep pushing it out probably because it feels weird. I think if you catch them early I read some can push it back in and be okay. From my experiences I would have culled instead of being hopeful for days.

If your rooster is a pain I would either separate him or remove permanently. A good rooster looks out for the hens. A rooster that attacks hens gets butchered around here pretty quickly. Once you see a nice rooster interact with his hens you will never tolerate a bad one, or even mediocre one.

Sometimes young roosters can mature into good roosters if removed and penned for a few months where he's forced to interact through a fence. They quickly learn how to sweet talk hens so they come by him.

Sorry about you little hen. For me it's harder when it's a bantam.

 

[ManawaGirl]

I had a horrific prolapse (my first) in one of my very favorite hens. It was graphic and bloody and horrible. We got the ax out twice to end her suffering and I couldn't bring myself to do it. I stuck with her and I'm going to tell you exactly how we fixed her. (Update:she's still alive and kicking ***!) Step One. We soaked her for a half an hour several times a day in a warm bucket of water. After 30 minutes or so i gently washed the poop and blood and hanging tissue off as much as she would tolerate. Then i towel dried her and squirted a TON of Preparation H on her prolapse and tried to push in as much as shed let me. I did this a couple times a day, for two days. By this time she wasn't actively bleeding anymore so I got Vetericyn in a squirt bottle and would squirt her behind with it multiple times a day. By day 4, nothing was hanging out. All this time I kept her in an old dog kennel in my garage with towels in a pretty dark environment. I was scared shed try to pay again and push her stuff back out. After day 8 she looked completely normal and re-intigrated her into the flock. This was over a month ago. She's laying eggs again and is back to get friendly happy self. I did have a friend say my hens are overweight, and that being too chubby can exacerbate a prolapse so I've cut down on their food.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I knew some people were successful at fixing a prolapse. That's why it's such a hard choice. Glad to hear your hen is doing so well.

Too much fat in the diet can cause prolapse, so limit treats like boss and corn. A good ration should be the main diet.