Prolapsed Vent for 3 days - Where to go from here???

[MuddyBootsPA]

UPDATE: This morning I did our regular treatments for our hen. The gleet doesn't seem to be improved, but the prolapse looked a little better than yesterday. No soft eggs stuck today that I could tell. She is absolutely NOT enjoying being in the hospital crate anymore. When we took her out to do her treatment, she pecked at my 11 yr old who was helping me & gave him a good nip near his eye. She is actively trying to get out of the cage at points this morning. I did let her free range for a quite a while & also let her over by the run so she could visit with the other hens. She looked almost desperate to get back in with them. I am half tempted to just let her out there, spray her butt with some BluKote & see how it goes.

This afternoon when I go out for errands, I am going to pick up some regular human calcium as suggested. Still on the fence about whether or not to cull her, this morning. I know the "livestock" people probably would've culled her already, but the "pet" people would do anything within reason to help her. I find my own philosophy falling somewhere in between. In this instance, it's hard to make the decision because while I know there is a good chance this will reoccur & she may never fully recover, her spirits are high & she has a desire to be healthy & get back to normal. The decision would be easier if she was very very ill & near deaths door. While she is obviously not recovered, I can tell she is feeling better so I am holding out hope she will be one of the lucky ones to beat the odds.

Anyhow... There is where everything is at this morning. Thanks for all the advice & encouragement. Here's to hoping for steady improvement.

 

[Haunted55]

Fingers, eyes and toes crossed for you and your hen.

 

[cboriskin]

One of my hens had a prolasped vent early on and she even layed an egg that was stuck on the outside. We had to take a scalpal to release the egg and then washed her rear end every day for two solid weeks. Everyday, we would spray Vertericyn (a wound antibiotic that I use for my horse) and then put Preparation H on the vent. We kept her in the dark so she wouldn't lay any more eggs. We would allow her to graze by herself after two weeks for a few minutes. Some sort of scab developed and eventually fell off with some help. Once the scab fell off, the vent went right back in and she started laying again. Her eggs are a lot lighter in color, sometimes odd shaped and usually have poop on it, but other than that, it's fine. We always know when Lucy lays (her name is Lucy).

 

[Lisa-Kama]

Hi! I don't know if this is too late to reply or not... but I didn't see any posts that mentioned the best thing I found for prolapse. I have a Rhode Island Red who is 5 and a half years old and she is still a great layer. In her second season she developed a prolapse. Maybe someone mentioned it earlier, but what do we humans use when we want to shrink a large squishy thing that shouldn't be near our tushy? Preparation H! It worked wonders for my Rhodie!

 

[Haunted55]

Hi! I don't know if this is too late to reply or not... but I didn't see any posts that mentioned the best thing I found for prolapse. I have a Rhode Island Red who is 5 and a half years old and she is still a great layer. In her second season she developed a prolapse. Maybe someone mentioned it earlier, but what do we humans use when we want to shrink a large squishy thing that shouldn't be near our tushy? Preparation H! It worked wonders for my Rhodie!

http://www.ask.com/wiki/Phenylephrine
Drugs Facts


Active ingredients


Purposes
Mineral oil 14% Protectant
Petrolatum 74.9% Protectant
Phenylephrine HCl 0.25% Vasoconstrictor
Uses

• helps relieve the local itching and discomfort associated with hemorrhoids
• temporarily shrinks hemorrhoidal tissue and relieves burning
• temporarily provides a coating for relief of anorectal discomforts
• temporarily protects the inflamed, irritated anorectal surface to help make bowel movements less painful

Warnings

For external and/or intrarectal use only
Ask a doctor before use if you have

• heart disease
• high blood pressure
• thyroid disease
• diabetes
• difficulty in urination due to enlargement of the prostate gland

This is some of the info on the back of a PH package. The link is to the drug that they are now adding to Preparation H. Please be aware of what you are using on your birds. The active drug now isn't something to fool with and can cause harm if used improperly. This is why I used vitamin E to shrink the prolapse and not this stuff. Just my opinion.

 

[westportchick]

Preparation H, for the swelling, extra calcium, either oyster shell or liquid calcium to strengthen the muscles, reduce feed or keep in the dark so she doesn't lay, and isolate her so she is not cannibalized by the other birds. I treated a bird with a mild prolapse this way recently, and she is good as new. Good luck

 

[FenikT]

Old farm remedy for prolapsed vent is sugar. Somebody mentioned honey, which is inline w/ this thought.

Clean vent and prolapse, apply sugar to prolapse (coat), and gently replace prolapse into bird.

As for the gleet, there are two trains of thought. You could go the probiotic route (e.g., Floragen, Activia yogurt) and hope for the best or go the chemical route and worry about reestablishing a healthy flora balance after. Drug-wise, cut a Monistat ovule into bite size pieces and feed one ovule per day for 3 days.

 

[losvegas]

Two yrs ago our Silver Wyandotte had a prolapse vent as well. After trimmming away the poopie feathers, we isolated her from the rest of the ladies, kept her in the dark for a week so she would stop laying, gave her 20min warm baths with a bit of betadine twice a day (she really seemed to like that; really relaxed her. I was surprised), applied Prep H after each bath & when needed, gently pushed her vent back in (sometimes it took several tries). It took 4-5 days until it finally stayed in. We waited another 4 days til we reintroduced her back to the other ladies. She has been a happy healthy girl ever since...no problems laying & no prolapse.

 

[Haunted55]

Okay, I too tried honey for my goose and while it kept everything moist and sanitized, as honey has antimicrobial properties, it wasn't a fast method of treatment. If it's all you have then go for it, but...if the bird does have Gleet, this is a yeast infection. We all know what happens when you add sugars to yeast. I am not saying you should try the vitamin E, I mentioned, that would be your own choice. What I am saying is please think it through before you do any treatment. Sugar, honey and yeast? If we were making bread we'd be in fine shape, but for treating prolapse with possible Gleet?? I'd rather see you doing a flush with white vinegar and water, at least that would knock back some of the yeast cells and some of the swelling because of that. Please think about what you are doing is all I am asking. The comfort and life of your bird is at stake here.

 

[jamie78]

I have a year old RIR that prolapsed a few months ago. I tried all the home remedies, kept her in the dark, bathed her, cleaned her up, applied prep H and honey, etc and nothing was working. But she was in great spirits and I just didn't have the heart to put her down if she was so peppy. So I continued the daily baths and cleanup for THREE weeks!!! Her vent went back to normal about halfway through this period, but was back out with her first egg. And I should interject that she did lay a few eggs even with the prolapse. :/ I was ready to have my husband do her in when the NEXT day she was suddenly back to normal! She has been fine ever since. Just keep that in mind, it could take a while. Good luck with her!!