@sesameandginger
Hi
I am so pleased you were able to seek veterinary treatment for your girl and hope it is successful and she makes a full recovery. Did they give her a hormonal implant to prevent laying until she is fully healed?
It just got put back in with the whole and obviously there is the underlying issue of why she prolapsed
Diet is probably one of the commonest causes of prolapse. Larger birds like Cochins and Orpingtons and Sussex etc are more prone to building up fat reserves, particularly if they are fed a diet to high in carbohydrates. These fatty deposits build up in and around the vent and abdomen and slowly reduce the size of the vent opening and it's ability to stretch. This eventually reaches a critical point and as the egg is laid, the vent tissue is unable to retract. The fatty deposits also risk causing many other health issues like Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic Syndrome which can cause the liver to fatally rupture particularly if the bird is straining to lay an egg, as well as minor haemorrhages that can cause ascites. I'm not saying this is the case with your girl but just that it is worth reviewing your flock's diet. Usually too much scratch is to blame for these fatty deposits but some of the less processed grain type feeds (as oppose to pellets or crumbles) have been known to cause it because the bird is able to selectively eat it's favourite components of the feed and not get a balanced diet. If you feed a 16% protein layer feed and a little bit of scratch or corn or other carbohydrate rich foods, this can sometimes be enough to cause problems. An higher (18-20%) protein feed for heavier breeds is better and free range to help them burn off any surplus calories.... but obviously that comes with predator risks.
Feathers hide a lot as regards body condition of a chicken... either too fat or two thin.... so feeling your chickens to assess their body condition occasionally is important. Unfortunately many people have no real idea what too fat feels like or that it can be detrimental to chickens just like any other animal. We are also used to seeing plump supermarket chicken which of course does not have lots of fat, so it's easy to assume that our laying flock should be plumpish too and not realise that it can actually be unhealthy fat deposits.
I have a necropsy photo of the fat deposits on a hen that ruptured and died and the shocking fat deposits in and around her vent. She was a Light Sussex belonging to my neighbour. I can send you a PM of it if you are interested to see it, rather than post it here where people may be offended. It serves as a mental reminder to me not to be overly generous with the scratch.
Apologies if this is not the cause with your hen. I'm conscious that I have wittered on rather a lot but I'm always aware that many others will probably read this thread in the future whilst dealing with a prolapse and if I can go any way towards preventing other suffering due to obesity, it is worth the time it took to type. I had no idea about these things until a couple of years ago when this hen died and I was shocked at how much fat was inside her and started to learn more.
