Prolapsed intestine / chicken died

[AllyRose]

I’m traumatized by the death of a chicken just now. Here’s what happened:
2-3 of our hens have a dirty butt. One was particularly bad. It’s below freezing here so instead of a bath I opted to trim some of the dried poop from below her vent. My husband was holding her while I gently trimmed. We have done this successfully before (to other hens) but this one was struggling quite a bit. I noticed a bulge beginning to happen on her vent and suddenly, she prolapsed her intestines. It literally exploded out. (Gross, I know). I have researched a prolapsed vent and this was NOT that. The amount was so large that there was no way we could push it back inside. She died within 2-3 minutes - thankfully it went so fast. We are stunned and trying to figure out why it happened and if we caused it. Is this a common problem? I am open to any comments and advice so it doesn’t happen again, if avoidable. Thank you.

 

[MysteryChicken]

@azygous

 

[MysteryChicken]

@Wyorp Rock
@Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. A vent prolapse can occur when straining to lay an egg or poop. The the intestines can possibly come out. That doesn’t happen though with most prolapses. There have been posts where people have discovered an intestinal prolapse, and sometimes when a vent prolapse is picked at by other chickens, they can pull out the intestines. I have never heard of a hen prolapsing her intestines just when being examined or treated. It probably just was a freak thing. Sorry that it happened.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is another thread with pictures where a hen was found with intestines hanging out:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help.1323708/

 

[azygous]

Oh, this is just a horrible experience and yes, very traumatic. But, it was entirely coincidental. In other words, unfortunate timing.

The poop on this particular hen was likely caused by being egg bound. She had probably been straining for quite a while before you picked her up to wash her. The handling and the stress of that along with the egg binding probably caused her to make a mighty push that unloaded her guts with the prolapse that was getting ready to happen.

I know how traumatic this was, and that you probably can't think of anything else right now other than to get that experience as far behind you as possible. But maybe your husband would feel up to opening up this hen and seeing if there is a stuck egg. That might set your mind at ease that this wasn't caused by washing her.

 

[AllyRose]

Oh, this is just a horrible experience and yes, very traumatic. But, it was entirely coincidental. In other words, unfortunate timing.

The poop on this particular hen was likely caused by being egg bound. She had probably been straining for quite a while before you picked her up to wash her. The handling and the stress of that along with the egg binding probably caused her to make a mighty push that unloaded her guts with the prolapse that was getting ready to happen.

I know how traumatic this was, and that you probably can't think of anything else right now other than to get that experience as far behind you as possible. But maybe your husband would feel up to opening up this hen and seeing if there is a stuck egg. That might set your mind at ease that this wasn't caused by washing her.

Thank you so much for the kind response. The possibility of her being egg bound resonates with me. Perhaps the stuck egg cracked/broke inside of her. The shocking part was how quickly she died - it was almost instant. I’ll see if my husband is up to doing an autopsy. I’m certainly not!
Thanks again

 

[AllyRose]

Oh, this is just a horrible experience and yes, very traumatic. But, it was entirely coincidental. In other words, unfortunate timing.

The poop on this particular hen was likely caused by being egg bound. She had probably been straining for quite a while before you picked her up to wash her. The handling and the stress of that along with the egg binding probably caused her to make a mighty push that unloaded her guts with the prolapse that was getting ready to happen.

I know how traumatic this was, and that you probably can't think of anything else right now other than to get that experience as far behind you as possible. But maybe your husband would feel up to opening up this hen and seeing if there is a stuck egg. That might set your mind at ease that this wasn't caused by washing her.

Thank you and yes, this sets my mind at ease a bit.

 

[AllyRose]

Here is another thread with pictures where a hen was found with intestines hanging out:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help.1323708/

Ours looked entirely different but I’m fairly certain it was intestines. Maybe I’ll try to take a post-mortum photo.