Prolapsed Vent/Egg Bound Pullet!

[cochinswede]

Please help! One of my hens looks like she has a bound egg and prolapsed vent! We tried pushing it in, but it keeps coming out. We’re soaking her in our sink with warm water. We have Prep H and sugar. We are deep in the Swedish countryside and no access to a vet, what can we do? Can we save her at all??

 

[cochinswede]

Bumping for visibility. We made a call. There was no exit point in the oviduct we could see no matter how much we looked. We made an incision to remove the bound egg. It was her first. Minimal bleeding, we incised the thinnest part to remove the egg. Inserted the prolapse, coated in olive oil, sugar and preparation H. She is resting in the crate beside the fire now. I still need help and advice. I believe she would be dead either way, but more so if we didn’t intervene at all. Please if anyone out there can help me, I would be so appreciative.

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry no one answered your thread earlier in the day. Glad that you could get the egg out. I normally would not try to cut an opening, but a vet might do that. Was it a hard shell or soft shell egg? The prolapse may come back out if she strains to poop or if another egg comes. If or when that happens keep the prolapse tissue from drying out with oil, petroleum jelly or honey. It may become swollen and not go back in so easily. If you can get human calcium tablets with vitamin D, give her one (300-600 mg) orally to swallow. That can help with muscle contractions. Many times the prolapse may recur. Let us know how she gets along.

 

[cochinswede]

So sorry no one answered your thread earlier in the day. Glad that you could get the egg out. I normally would not try to cut an opening, but a vet might do that. Was it a hard shell or soft shell egg? The prolapse may come back out if she strains to poop or if another egg comes. If or when that happens keep the prolapse tissue from drying out with oil, petroleum jelly or honey. It may become swollen and not go back in so easily. If you can get human calcium tablets with vitamin D, give her one (300-600 mg) orally to swallow. That can help with muscle contractions. Many times the prolapse may recur. Let us know how she gets along.

What I noticed initially was the poop vent was visible, but not the oviduct. Every way we turned showed that the exit for feces was pressed out against the egg that was forming behind it. The egg was the texture of sandpaper, with thin shell and a tougher membrane. At this moment, about 3 hours after the surgery, 2am our time, she took some few drops of water from a Q-Tip, and ate a single mealworm. I reapplied olive oil to the vent which is less prolapsed but still showing slightly. She preens when the light is on, she is still damp from her warm bath, but we intend to keep her inside the next few days in the dark to discourage laying if we can. I am terrified, and am going through enormous stress at having to do something I have no experience in. She is of course my favorite hen too…

In the morning I’m going to give her an Epsom salt bath and disinfect the vent as best I can and keep it clean through the day with a saline solution. I’ll give her a calcium tablet as well.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would hold a small cup or tuna can up to her beak to her beak, and dip her beak into it. See if she will take some. Mix a little mushy water chick feed and offer that as well up to her beak. Is she passing any poop? Calcium tablet with vitamin D can be placed into her beak to swallow today or in the morning. I would hold off on a soak until she poops, and do that once a day to help her heal and clean her. Do you have any chlorhexidiene disinfectant or can you make some saline to rinse her vent area before you apply more oil? Saline is 2 tsp or 9 grams of table salt mixed with 1 liter of water, and dissolved. Spray it on or dab it on.

 

[cochinswede]

She’s not passing at the moment. She’s hardly had anything to eat for 10 hours. The last time she passed was when we first attempted to push in the prolapsed egg before intervention (the time I first made this post). We made saline (exactly as you described as well) for the surgery. Cleaned the area well after the egg was removed. We had first aid disinfectant wipes as well to clean up the vent about 2 hours after the fact as well. I will try tuna tomorrow, I would like to see her drink more first.

Thank you so much for your help and for answering me. I’m so appreciative of your time to do so. I will provide an update on her condition tomorrow.

 

[Eggcessive]

I will check back in the morning.

 

[cochinswede]

She survived the night. When I went to check on her in the morning, she was standing expectantly, facing me at the door like she was ready to leave the coop. She pooped. It was soft, not hard at all, a rather significant amount like she had been holding it in all night. She’d had some blood in the prolapse but not even a dark drop, it was more of a small streak, the prolapse was a little bit out, but we had disinfectant wipes to clean the area, saline solution for wound care that my husband found in his work car. We cleaned the area of feces, washed everything out in a saline solution, applied disinfectant as we held in the prolapsed egg before for a few minutes, and then sugar to draw it in, olive oil to keep it moist, and preparation H to reduce swelling. We’re giving her 6 hours of sunlight before we put her in darkness again. She’s rather alert. She’s free ranging our living room right now, vocalizing, preening. She seems rather normal, but we’re not taking any chances right now and will have her on a strict regime. I took your advice to hold off on the Epsom bath, I think I will leave this to later before we put her in the crate to rest.

 

[Eggcessive]

That is wonderful news. It sounds like she will recover. It can take several day of darkness for 16 hours a day (I would do it overnight while you are sleeping) to stop her from laying. She can be in daylight for up to 8 hours. I hope that she continues to do well.