Prolapse

chickensinLA

Hatching
12 Years
Sep 22, 2007
4
0
7
Hi,

Today I spotted what looked like a pale yellow thin tonge like object sticking one inch our of my chicken. Stupidly I began slowly pulling on it, until my partner said she believed it was actually a part of the hen.

We then referred to a few web resources and one phone call to a friend who had a medical book on chickens...we all concluded Prolapse.

I cleaned it off with water, gently stuck it back in pushing in about inch and half to two inches, she pooped and popped it back out and then I stuck it in again but didn't go much more than an inch. And lastly put Preparation H on her outside and a bit inside.

Her rear was also red and a bit swollen and feathers were missing on her bottom...why i noticed in the first place. She had not lain an egg for two days.

She is a regular large egg layer and has been laying eggs for over a year

I placed her in dark cage as suggested by some to stop egg production.

I am not sure how far and what direction I should have pushed it back in. I pushed mostly straight back and a little down. Tried to let it guide me in there. She did not seem to be in great pain, though she struggled a bit when I stuck it back in. I am assuming that it may happen while she is in "Hospital" and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have scanned this forum for all past prolapse issues as well and found it helpful. But wanted to know how far to push it back in. I also read on this forum that I should use a water based lubricant like KY jelly instead, and some have mentioned honey, though the protrusion was not seemingly swollen itself, just the top of her anus. But looking at a picture of a dissected chicken just now on the net, it looked more like the color of intestine, Maybe it's worse than I thought.

She is eating, love slugs so I picked some for her.

Sincerely Liz
 
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she may have a soft/shelless egg which she is haivng difficulties getting out...
have you tried placing her on warm steamy towels or in a bath?
 
No, but I will do so. This morning I saw the thin little yellow thing poking out a bit, so I again put it back in gently.

Darn I should have thought to take a picture.

Thanks for your advise!
 
A picture would be most helpful as sometimes they will "lay" a very weird "rubbery"thing which is actually an egg gone wrong (happens with internal/false layer on occasion) or else it may be a bit of sloughed off material from the reproductive tract that has been somewhat treated as an egg... when these are very small (sometimes but an inch or two) they would fit the description you gave...however a prolapse is equally or more common... just hard to be sure from just a description though... I would imagine if it were not a prolapse but one of such that it would come out with her next egg...has she stop laying?
 
She has stopped laying.

It's flat thin and yellow and tapers into a tip.

She is red and swollen between the legs area.

She is contracting in that area as well and as her anus is puckering.

Yesterday she was passing poop. Not sure about today.

Still loves slugs. Her mood seems all right, she isn't showing overt signs of discomfort. I gave her a warm bath. She wasn't too thrilled but didn't make it an impossible task.

Oh thank you so much for helping out!
 
you just need to place her in the bath...not bathe her perse...the water should just come above her belly if she squats... a vet would give calcium gluconate and I ran across a tip in a veterinary mag where it was advised in emergency situations to give a TUM (smash this up a"nd give it to her...you can also mix in with a tsp of cooked/cooled oatmeal>mix into two or three bite-sized pellets and dip in olive or salad oil and place in beak> ensure she drinks sufficiently after administration thru either method)... Here are my collected links and articles which may be of help to you:
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=emergencies&action=display&num=1165115215

I would try to discourage her from eating slugs as they are intermediate hosts necessary to infect your bird with nematodes,gapeworm and tapeworm
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/202800.htm&word=helminth,poultry
 
Took Pam to vet. in the waiting room she popped out the egg yolk and all the soft shell. It was the egg shell poking out the whole time, that i kept pushing back in.

Vet said make sure to give her more calcium, didn't feel the need to give any supplements. She was in good spirits the whole time.

Oh and thanks for the slug warning!!

Thanks for all your help and the links.!
 
I'm glad that you got a vet to see her...and really glad that she was able to pass the egg.
The warm bath must've loosened her muscles so that helped her too.
Apple cider vinegar in the water and free choice oyster shell will help too.
 

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