Prolapsed Vent Advice

[Eggcessive]

Urates are the uric acid crystals excreted by the kidneys, and the liquid is excess water that she is drinking. Some of the fluids are coming from the bowel. Do you have a dark closet, basement, extra bathroom, or garage where there are no windows? Her feed does not have to be reduced a great amount, but the protein can be decreased, along with her daylight hours. A vet can insert 2 temporary stitches in the vent opening to hold the prolapse in, but the dark scabby material first needs to come off.

 

[yellowputty]

She's in our porch in a cage (I let her out a couple of times a day to give her some cuddles) which has a blackout cover on it to minimise the amount of light she has a day. Knowing how much light per day to let her have is tricky, but I don't think she's getting more than 4/5 hours. I'll try not to worry about her excess water poops at the moment then - the main thing is she's passing regularly, on her own and without pain.

We're definitely making good progress with the necrotic tissue. I've read a few other threads tonight in which you have been active Eggcessive, and it seems like in a good few of those cases, after the scarred tissue has been fully removed, then prolapse often returns by itself (or with minimal intervention). I shall remain positive!

Thank you again for your continued input

 

[Eggcessive]

She can be in light for 8 hours a day, and in darkness for 16 hours a day (including at night.) In summer it can be hard to make it dark while keeping them from smothering or getting overheated. Good luck, and you are doing a good job.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

to you and your chicken both! I'm so glad you caught this early; you're doing a great job and I have high hopes for your girl. We recently lost one to this, but she was much worse off than yours when we discovered the problem and we couldn't save her. Following to learn, in case there's a "next time."

 

[yellowputty]

to you and your chicken both! I'm so glad you caught this early; you're doing a great job and I have high hopes for your girl. We recently lost one to this, but she was much worse off than yours when we discovered the problem and we couldn't save her. Following to learn, in case there's a "next time."

Thank you, and I’m so sorry to hear that We have had what feels like a small setback this morning as it looks as though some of the pink flesh exposed last night has now got a thin grey layer on it again. I tried peeling some off on my own and was successful until I hit a bit that looked very close to bleeding. Tonight we will try again during her bath but make sure to apply copious amounts of Vaseline/Petroleum Jelly afterwards to make sure that the area is protected against her dribbling urates which I suspect may be burning the tissue and causing the problem. Otherwise, maybe the exposed tissue isn't quite ready to be exposed and thus undergoes some slight scabbing again.

The is the current state of her vent (after I remove some of the scabbed tissue this morning):

View attachment 1872378

I'm fairly certain that the connection from the kidneys is between the puckered prolapsed part and the outer vent itself, hence it's almost as though she is continually peeing all over herself. It is very difficult to get the dried urates off, even in the bath.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that the tissue is grey this morning. Making it bleed a little means that you are seeing healthy tissue though. Prolapses can be very frustrating, and some so not get better. Many do, and it sounds like you are doing all that you can to make that happen. Sometimes people may decide to stop treatment and put the hen down, since it requires so much time and care. Being out of the flock for days and days may make it harder to reintegrate them without getting picked on. They may get well and have another prolapse later. It is always up to you how far to go to try to help her. Anything you decide to do is up to you and supported here. We are wishing you all of the luck in the world that she gets better soon.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sorry that the tissue is grey this morning. Making it bleed a little means that you are seeing healthy tissue though. Prolapses can be very frustrating, and some so not get better. Many do, and it sounds like you are doing all that you can to make that happen. Sometimes people may decide to stop treatment and put the hen down, since it requires so much time and care. Being out of the flock for days and days may make it harder to reintegrate them without getting picked on. They may get well and have another prolapse later. It is always up to you how far to go to try to help her. Anything you decide to do is up to you and supported here. We are wishing you all of the luck in the world that she gets better soon.

Thank you for this very supportive post, @Eggcessive . I was afraid we gave up too soon on our little hen. But she was clearly miserable, and when I inserted a finger, I felt what seemed to be a broken egg. That was way more than we could deal with.

 

[yellowputty]

Thank you for this very supportive post, @Eggcessive . I was afraid we gave up too soon on our little hen. But she was clearly miserable, and when I inserted a finger, I felt what seemed to be a broken egg. That was way more than we could deal with.

I'm sure you did the right thing BigBlueHen53 and it sounds very much like your situation was far worse than we are experiencing here. Although admittedly she had a full egg-bound prolapse a few days ago, she has been fine since and she is also far from miserable. She doesn't seem to understand that something is wrong with her - she is feisty and just wants to be back with her friends! Bless her.

At the moment I am lucky to be in a situation where I can invest time in her, but I am finding it very stressful and spend most of the day worrying about her. I shall update this post in the next day or so if the situation changes. Thank you both for your words of support.

 

[Eggcessive]

@yellowputty, you could try letting your hen visit with her flock a little each day with supervision, or place her in a wire crate next to them for a few hours to keep them all familiar. That way she won’t get her prolapse pecked. I can’t imagine having to do all of the care you are doing with your hen. Especially having to keep her in darkness for 16 hours a day.

Have you thought of asking your local vet to put in a couple of stitches into her vent? I would not recommend anesthesia, but if one would do it without anesthesia, I would go for it. Vets can be so expensive, and many are afraid to deal with chickens.

 

[yellowputty]

@Eggcessive I think that is a great idea. We have a storm at the moment, but we'll take her outside tomorrow. We have a setup where she can have her own space, but separate from the other by some mesh so they can communicate with each other. We have thought about vets but we're a little reluctant for a number of reasons, at least at the moment. If we did eventually go down that route then I agree that we would rule out anaesthesia.

We've just given her another bath (she's getting used to it!) and my wife said there was less tissue to remove and what was there was much easier to remove than yesterday. Here is a current picture of her booty:

We think it looks a lot better, although I suspect the very thin layer light grey tissue may end up re-forming during the night. Now it's the weekend we're making a conscious effort to (while it is soft and moist) to keep re-inserting the prolapse when we see it out. Hopefully this will re-train the muscle as well as reduce the time that the prolapsed material is outside the body, drying up (despite the application of honey/creams) and/or exposed to the drying urates which I have a strong suspicion are the cause of the re-scabbing. I'll provide a further update tomorrow.