Prolapsed vent

[Ahborowski]

We have a 1 year old Cayuga female. She appeared to have a prolapsed vent on Christmas Eve, but a few hours later had pulled it back in. Two days ago, she prolapsed again. We decided to leave her to see if it would take care of itself. A few hours later, it was still there and looking worse. It looked as though she was egg bound, but after letting her bathe and a closer inspection, found it was all poop. We manually cleaned her out, put some witch hazel and vaseline on, and hoped for the best.
Yesterday morning, she was covered in white stuff, but I honestly never got a really close look. We brought her inside and had her take a warm bath (which she loved). It was smaller than the day before, but still hanging out. We again did witch hazel and vaseline and decided to keep her inside. We treated her the same way at night, but also got some vetericyn to spray on.
This morning, she was looking much better. We gave her some peas and she pooped shortly after. Again gave a warm bath (with Epsom salt), witch hazel, and vaseline. Tonight, we gave her a little duck food and treated her again, and the prolapse was worse. It again appears that she has poop stuck and was leaking as well (which she did yesterday). We treated her and tried to push the prolapse in, but it didn’t work.
She is acting completely healthy; very active when out of her isolation cage, swimming and splashing, preening, fighting when we hold her for treatment. I don’t know what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[azygous]

She may have an egg stuck. I don't know why else a prolapse will persist. The most stubborn prolapse I have dealt with too nearly two weeks to resolve. Once it did, it retracted on its own and remained.

It's unusual the prolapse victim is acting normally though. Usually, prolapse and the blockage cause lots of discomfort, cramping, and dehydration. The patient gets weak pretty quickly.

I've found the key to resolving a prolapse and underlying blockage is calcium. This helps to generate strong contractions to expel the material blocking the tract. I use this. One tablet given orally once a day until things resolve.

 

[Miss Lydia]

How to give pills to Ducks | BackYard Chickens - Learn How to Raise Chickens

You have to know which hole to get the pill into many don't. If you get it into the wrong one then there can be serious complications.

 

[KaleIAm]

Does she have diarrhea? One of my ducks gets a little prolapse every spring and fall with diarrhea. I took her to the vet and it was because of parasites.

 

[Isaac 0]

Is that an egg inside the swelled part you have pictured, or just tissue?

Sorry to hear she is contuiing to have problems with the prolapse - at this point with all the treatment you're doing, it may be best if you take her to a vet. Is that an option?

 

[Isaac 0]

Do you have any pictures of her vent area? I would agree with Azygous on the most likely cause of her reoccurring prolapses, to be associated with an egg further up the oviduct creating inwards pressure towards her vent, as well as reducing normal fecal matter from exiting. In addition with the soaks, and calcium supplementation suggested, you really want to watch how much she is actually drinking. I have found that egg-bound/ or dystocic birds tend to drink a lot, but some can get into a bad enough state where they're reluctant to eat or drink much.

Once dehydrated, several biological functions are comprised, but with an egg-bound bird, most specifically blood flow is greatly reduced to the muscles, thus, creating difficulty when contracting the egg, as well as fecal matter. Offering Gatorade, or Sav-A-Chick is a great way to ward off dehydration.

 

[Isaac 0]

@Ahborowski , how is your duck doing?

 

[Ahborowski]

I’ve tried attaching pictures, but for some reason I can’t get them attached. There’s a strange white “skin” on the prolapse. I tried peeling as much off as I could. I assume it’s poop? At any rate, I was able to push the prolapse back in. Clear fluid immediately came out (which has been occasionally leaking as it is), but the prolapse stayed put. Hoping that in the morning it will still be in place.

 

[Isaac 0]

I’ve tried attaching pictures, but for some reason I can’t get them attached. There’s a strange white “skin” on the prolapse. I tried peeling as much off as I could. I assume it’s poop? At any rate, I was able to push the prolapse back in. Clear fluid immediately came out (which has been occasionally leaking as it is), but the prolapse stayed put. Hoping that in the morning it will still be in place.

Happy to hear you got the tissue back into place. Hopefully, the calcium will do some good, and help contractions, and hopefully induce passage of the egg, if there is one. I would limit treats and consider moistening her feed down with water to lessen the chance of obstructions occurring at the cloaca.

 

[Ahborowski]

Is that an egg inside the swelled part you have pictured, or just tissue?

Sorry to hear she is contuiing to have problems with the prolapse - at this point with all the treatment you're doing, it may be best if you take her to a vet. Is that an option?

It’s just tissue. I don’t know any vets around who deal with poultry, and as much as I want her to get well and am terrified of having to put her down if she doesn’t, I’m not really in a place to spend a ton of money at the vet. Plus, we just got 30 inches of snow and things are pretty crazy around here!