Prolapsed Vent, but chicken acting normal

[RuralChick83]

Hi there! I have a small flock of chickens for almost 2 years and have been continually learning more than I thought each day with them. This Thursday I noticed one of my chickens did not leave the run area when I gave them a little roam time in the yard. I went to check on her and her butt was bloody. I took her into the garage and started cleaning her up. I noticed something was sticking out of her vent. I looked it up on the internet and came up with prolapsed vent. I did a bunch of things listed to do and kept her in a pet carrier in the garage. I went to work on Friday and when I got home she didn't seem that well and figured she might not make it. I cleaned her up and continued the routine. The weekend she started perking up. We only had her in the pet carrier at night, but let her wander a bit in the garage during the day. She mainly stayed in the entrance area. Monday my husband only worked in the afternoon, but said she was going all over the garage and acting like her normal self. He said she pooped a lot too. I thought that was odd, but she didn't poop much in the beginning and on the weekend I cleaned her up after the ones she did because I figured she would be plugged up until I put the insides back. I checked on her on Monday. Looking at her as closely as she'll let me because she is now getting sick and tired of being handled the insides that are sticking out have room for her to poop on the side. I am not sure what to do with her. The closest vet that handles chickens by me is over an hour away and I only found 2 that do. It will cost $130 just for them to look at her and I was originally thinking try my best and hopefully she will get through or not make it. Now, she seems absolutely fine except she still has her insides poking out. She has not laid any eggs, but I am not sure if she even laid an egg on Thursday. Not sure what to do. Do I take her to the vet or is there anything else I can try to keep her insides inside?

 

[MysteryChicken]

@azygous

 

[MysteryChicken]

Hi there! I have a small flock of chickens for almost 2 years and have been continually learning more than I thought each day with them. This Thursday I noticed one of my chickens did not leave the run area when I gave them a little roam time in the yard. I went to check on her and her butt was bloody. I took her into the garage and started cleaning her up. I noticed something was sticking out of her vent. I looked it up on the internet and came up with prolapsed vent. I did a bunch of things listed to do and kept her in a pet carrier in the garage. I went to work on Friday and when I got home she didn't seem that well and figured she might not make it. I cleaned her up and continued the routine. The weekend she started perking up. We only had her in the pet carrier at night, but let her wander a bit in the garage during the day. She mainly stayed in the entrance area. Monday my husband only worked in the afternoon, but said she was going all over the garage and acting like her normal self. He said she pooped a lot too. I thought that was odd, but she didn't poop much in the beginning and on the weekend I cleaned her up after the ones she did because I figured she would be plugged up until I put the insides back. I checked on her on Monday. Looking at her as closely as she'll let me because she is now getting sick and tired of being handled the insides that are sticking out have room for her to poop on the side. I am not sure what to do with her. The closest vet that handles chickens by me is over an hour away and I only found 2 that do. It will cost $130 just for them to look at her and I was originally thinking try my best and hopefully she will get through or not make it. Now, she seems absolutely fine except she still has her insides poking out. She has not laid any eggs, but I am not sure if she even laid an egg on Thursday. Not sure what to do. Do I take her to the vet or is there anything else I can try to keep her insides inside?

Can you get pictures of the hen, & her prolapse?

 

[azygous]

Prolapse needs intense care or the delicate tissue will dry out, get infected and die, then your hen will die.

I wrote this article to help. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ng-from-vent-prolapse-oh-my-what-to-do.76124/

It would help to see the prolapse, and if it's already dried out and infected, it will not heal. It does sound like the hen has passed the obstruction from your description of her behavior, but the prolapse should have retracted. That it has not, is not good news.

 

[RuralChick83]

Update: Since Monday when I checked her and found that she can poop, I would just clean the area and put her in a medium dog cage so she had some extra roam room, but not the whole garage. I cleaned her Tuesday morning as well before work. Tuesday evening when I came home I had plan to take a picture to show what I was dealing with, but her vent was fine. It must have gone in. I checked her this morning and she was still fine. I gave her some scrambled egg and she ate it and she has been pooping more. So far she has still not laid an egg, but I am fine with that. At this point I am thinking about keeping her in the cage for the rest of the week and on the weekend see if I can reintroduce her to the flock. I hope it will go well since its only been little over a week and she is the head chicken of the flock.

 

[RuralChick83]

Update: My chicken that had the prolapsed vent is doing fine, but for the last couple of weeks she has had runny yellow poop in the morning. Her vent is clean and had a little normal poop stuck below it. Not sure what her poops are like during the day. She is eating and drinking fine. She has not laid an egg yet. I have been giving her a little VetRX in her water. Not sure if I should be overly concerned or not. She is doing fine otherwise.

 

[azygous]

Has she laid any eggs since the prolapse?

 

[RuralChick83]

No, but I figured she might still be healing even with the prolapse back in. Its been a little over a month since she prolasped and it took her a little over a week to heal.

 

[azygous]

Has she had a round of an oral antibiotic to treat possible infection from a collapsed egg? The yellow runny poop is one sign of possible reproductive infection. It's not too late to do a round of an antibiotic to address this possibility. If left untreated, it can turn into a chronic infection that resists treatment and can lead to the hen becoming sterile.

 

[RuralChick83]

I just started putting Vet Rx in her water. Is there something else I should be giving her? I don't have a vet that works on chickens in my area, even though I am rural. I would have to go to a place that is an hour away. Are the antibiotics prescription only or can I buy it somewhere? I am okay if she never lays eggs again, but I do want to make sure she is healthy.