Prolapsed vent??? HELP!

[Abbkayx]

Hi!

So I came out to visit my girls this afternoon... and noticed my one hen was having a real hard time in the nesting box. She had a lot of caked / poop, so we took her in... gave her the spa treatment and got her mostly cleaned up. BUT her vent doesn’t appear normal to me. Is this a prolapsed vent? She seems to be acting normal otherwise, eating drinking etc

 

[azygous]

Observing symptoms without considering behavior tells only half the story.

Your hen has a very swollen, irritated vent. We need to figure out why. Her behavior can provide important clues.

-Is she pooping (besides on her butt feathers)? Can you post a photo of her most recent poop?

-Is the poop watery? What color is it?

-Is she drinking more water than usual in place of a normal appetite?

Try smoothing some coconut oil on her vent to reduce swelling and discomfort until you figure out her real issue.

-Have you felt her crop?

-Has she spent more time than usual in the nest without laying an egg?

-If she's walking around the run, is she standing often in one spot, pumping her butt up and down? Is she squatting and straining, appearing to try to poop?

Depending on these questions, your hen could have impacted crop or gizzard or is egg bound. Treatment depends on which she's suffering from.

 

[Eggcessive]

Her vent looks a bit swollen and pecked at possibly by the chickens or irritated. But it doesn’t seem to be prolapsed at this time. She may have had one, and the red tissue has gone in on it’s own. I would glove up and insert a lubricated finger inside the bent to check for a stuck egg or poop. She might be egg bound, or just have a little leftover swelling from straining. I would put a little hemorrhoid cream or some cortisone cream on it. Check her often in case it comes back out, especially if she lays an egg.

 

[Abbkayx]

Observing symptoms without considering behavior tells only half the story.

Your hen has a very swollen, irritated vent. We need to figure out why. Her behavior can provide important clues.

-Is she pooping (besides on her butt feathers)? Can you post a photo of her most recent poop?

-Is the poop watery? What color is it?

-Is she drinking more water than usual in place of a normal appetite?

Try smoothing some coconut oil on her vent to reduce swelling and discomfort until you figure out her real issue.

-Have you felt her crop?

-Has she spent more time than usual in the nest without laying an egg?

-If she's walking around the run, is she standing often in one spot, pumping her butt up and down? Is she squatting and straining, appearing to try to poop?

Depending on these questions, your hen could have impacted crop or gizzard or is egg bound. Treatment depends on which she's suffering from.

Observing symptoms without considering behavior tells only half the story.

Your hen has a very swollen, irritated vent. We need to figure out why. Her behavior can provide important clues.

-Is she pooping (besides on her butt feathers)? Can you post a photo of her most recent poop?

-Is the poop watery? What color is it?

-Is she drinking more water than usual in place of a normal appetite?

Try smoothing some coconut oil on her vent to reduce swelling and discomfort until you figure out her real issue.

-Have you felt her crop?

-Has she spent more time than usual in the nest without laying an egg?

-If she's walking around the run, is she standing often in one spot, pumping her butt up and down? Is she squatting and straining, appearing to try to poop?

Depending on these questions, your hen could have impacted crop or gizzard or is egg bound. Treatment depends on which she's suffering from.

- I’m not sure if she’s pooping, I observed her for about 30 minutes and she didn’t poop. When we checked if she was egg bound, upon removal poop came out when finger did (sorry). I attached a photo of it here.

- I haven’t noticed her drinking more than usual, no.

- Her crop appears / feels empty.

- Yes she has been in and out of her nest all day, no eggs (as far as I know). Before I brought her in for her spa treatment she spent about 45-50 mins in the box with no egg, but she does get in and out of it frequently. We did check to see if she was egg bound, and didn’t feel that she is. She has been very very vocal while she’s in her box, and flips around in it as if trying to get comfortable.

- She appears to be pumping her bottom, her vent was pushing in and out constantly, but didn’t seem to be straining to poop. No squatting down or anything.

She was slightly holding her beak open while we were giving her, her spa treatment as well. We also lathered her with coconut oil when we took her out.

 

[Abbkayx]

She seems to have more feathers on her rear end than my other birds (she’s my only female Brahma so comparing to the others). So we gave her the best trim we could so hopefully to prevent anymore caked poo and ease of viewing any issues.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would keep her confined to a dog crate in the house or out in the coop if she is good and dry, on a towel or puppy pad, to make sure that she is able to poop. If they get an egg stuck, it might prevent her from pooping. I would give her some calcium (human calcium tablet, Tums, crushed egg and shell) just in case she had a prolapse or is egg bound.

 

[Abbkayx]

Thanks!

I brought her out some warm soup and calcium, she ate it great and when I came out she had laid an egg. She’s still pumping her vent, though.

 

[Eggcessive]

That is good. Hopefully she will feel better soon.

 

[Abbkayx]

She just pooped as well! Thanks so much for all of your help, also attached a photo of this poop lol. Hopefully she is on the mend now.

 

[azygous]

Ah, success! Giving a calcium supplement immediately upon suspecting a hen is having trouble passing an egg almost always produces results, sometimes very quickly.

However, I caution not to assume she's finished. Sometimes the cause of a stuck egg is another egg, usually shell-less wrapped in only a membrane, traveling down the reproductive track close behind the first egg. Continue to monitor her.

If she's clear and no more eggs are clogging up her works, she will behave like a chicken reborn, happy, free, and back to the business at hand. On the other hand, if she has another egg to get out, she will continue to behave in a lethargic manner, usually holding her tail flat and low due to pain and discomfort. Another calcium tablet is then in order along with moist heat to relax laying muscles.