Noodleyman
Hatching
- Jun 5, 2018
- 4
- 7
- 6
Hi All,
I've recently had a problem with one of my older hens who suffered a prolapsed vent. I've been treating it for around two weeks and there are some improvements but still many issues. I wanted to draw upon the community knowledge to see if there are any other steps I could try.
Firstly, My hen is a Pekin Bantam and her average weight at the moment is 700 grams and she's roughly 4 and a half years old, we're in the UK. She's one of a flock of 5 hens and all my other girls are OK. She's always had a "bit of a weird arse", meaning we've often seen her standing with a stretched neck and wide stance wiggling her bum whilst producing waste. This has been partially normal for her over her lifetime. She's not the best layer and often produces soft shelled eggs even though she is getting all of the calcium / minerals she needs.
A couple of weeks ago I noted she had a very messy bottom, aka vent gleet. Upon a closer inspection I found a prolapsed vent. the other hens had left her alone, there has been no pecking or damage caused to the vent by other hens. She's been in the garage since that day and I've been working on treating her. Each day she is getting:
1) A warm water bath where I clean her up and dry her off. (She's come to enjoy this!)
2) After taking advice from a local vet, I'm treating her vent area with hibiscrub (a skin antiseptic), and then after putting things back in place using vaseline to moisturise the clean area
3) I've also started to use a witch hazel based gel this week as not only as it got an antiseptic property, but also an anti inflammatory property.
She was also starting to be broody at the time she was isolated, which isn't a bad thing as it stopped her laying during the height of her problem.
After a few days in her cage I noted she had an inflamed crop. I started to lightly massage her crop and also added ACV to her water. A day later, the crop had started to return to normal but I noted wriggling in her poop. Yup, round hair worms. I suspect the crop inflammation was caused by the worms and the increased acidity from the ACV made the crop a less fun place to be so they started to migrate backwards. I started all of my hens on a cycle of wormer (flubenvet) and over the next few days noted she was passing dead worms, so it's doing what it should.
Note: not sure how she got so many so quickly as I do worm frequently.
All my hens finished their wormer treatment and I will be following up with a second round in a couple of weeks time.
Overall, my prolapsed hen is her normal self. same personality, eating and drinking as per usual. I'm checking her every 30 mins to an hour and putting things back where they belong when required (battle of the stubborn hen v's the stubborn owner) . I'm noting she's pushed everything back out again usually within 2-3 hours, typically after pooping. We've been doing this routing for a couple of weeks and I'm wondering what my alternative options are. She's got a calcium booster and mineral booster in her food, she's getting extra protein each day as well.
Since being isolated she's layed two soft shelled eggs (She often lays soft shelled eggs and has all her life). The first was a struggle for her and the egg was covered in blood. the second she passed with ease, no blood and no apparent struggle.
So, although she's got a prolapsed vent, she is able to poop and lay eggs.
I assumed most of her issues started due to the worms and hoped as she recovers from that problem things may return to her usual level of normal however as time goes on I'm not sure it will, so I'm wondering if there are other options or at what point do you call it? I'm very reluctant to cull her because she is her usual self in all aspects other than the prolapse.. She isn't in distress (even whilst laying her last egg, but the first was definitely not pleasant for her) etc.
If you had this situation, is there anything you would be doing differently? What would be your thoughts a couple of weeks into the process?
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
I've recently had a problem with one of my older hens who suffered a prolapsed vent. I've been treating it for around two weeks and there are some improvements but still many issues. I wanted to draw upon the community knowledge to see if there are any other steps I could try.
Firstly, My hen is a Pekin Bantam and her average weight at the moment is 700 grams and she's roughly 4 and a half years old, we're in the UK. She's one of a flock of 5 hens and all my other girls are OK. She's always had a "bit of a weird arse", meaning we've often seen her standing with a stretched neck and wide stance wiggling her bum whilst producing waste. This has been partially normal for her over her lifetime. She's not the best layer and often produces soft shelled eggs even though she is getting all of the calcium / minerals she needs.
A couple of weeks ago I noted she had a very messy bottom, aka vent gleet. Upon a closer inspection I found a prolapsed vent. the other hens had left her alone, there has been no pecking or damage caused to the vent by other hens. She's been in the garage since that day and I've been working on treating her. Each day she is getting:
1) A warm water bath where I clean her up and dry her off. (She's come to enjoy this!)
2) After taking advice from a local vet, I'm treating her vent area with hibiscrub (a skin antiseptic), and then after putting things back in place using vaseline to moisturise the clean area
3) I've also started to use a witch hazel based gel this week as not only as it got an antiseptic property, but also an anti inflammatory property.
She was also starting to be broody at the time she was isolated, which isn't a bad thing as it stopped her laying during the height of her problem.
After a few days in her cage I noted she had an inflamed crop. I started to lightly massage her crop and also added ACV to her water. A day later, the crop had started to return to normal but I noted wriggling in her poop. Yup, round hair worms. I suspect the crop inflammation was caused by the worms and the increased acidity from the ACV made the crop a less fun place to be so they started to migrate backwards. I started all of my hens on a cycle of wormer (flubenvet) and over the next few days noted she was passing dead worms, so it's doing what it should.
Note: not sure how she got so many so quickly as I do worm frequently.
All my hens finished their wormer treatment and I will be following up with a second round in a couple of weeks time.
Overall, my prolapsed hen is her normal self. same personality, eating and drinking as per usual. I'm checking her every 30 mins to an hour and putting things back where they belong when required (battle of the stubborn hen v's the stubborn owner) . I'm noting she's pushed everything back out again usually within 2-3 hours, typically after pooping. We've been doing this routing for a couple of weeks and I'm wondering what my alternative options are. She's got a calcium booster and mineral booster in her food, she's getting extra protein each day as well.
Since being isolated she's layed two soft shelled eggs (She often lays soft shelled eggs and has all her life). The first was a struggle for her and the egg was covered in blood. the second she passed with ease, no blood and no apparent struggle.
So, although she's got a prolapsed vent, she is able to poop and lay eggs.
I assumed most of her issues started due to the worms and hoped as she recovers from that problem things may return to her usual level of normal however as time goes on I'm not sure it will, so I'm wondering if there are other options or at what point do you call it? I'm very reluctant to cull her because she is her usual self in all aspects other than the prolapse.. She isn't in distress (even whilst laying her last egg, but the first was definitely not pleasant for her) etc.
If you had this situation, is there anything you would be doing differently? What would be your thoughts a couple of weeks into the process?
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
