Protruded Chicken

[Amy Weaver]

I'm new here, and to owning chickens, so thank you for accepting me and being here for my questions.

My 11 month old hen protruded yesterday. She "sucked it back in" on her own and is now in my basement. I have a cover over her kennel to try to keep her from laying eggs so she can heal quietly and calmly. Her vent looks good. No swelling or redness.

How much light should I provide so that she will eat/drink but also not promote egg laying.

I have things ready if she protrudes again, but man, I hope she doesn't. That kinda freaked me out.

 

[Chicklady707]

I'm new here, and to owning chickens, so thank you for accepting me and being here for my questions.

My 11 month old hen protruded yesterday. She "sucked it back in" on her own and is now in my basement. I have a cover over her kennel to try to keep her from laying eggs so she can heal quietly and calmly. Her vent looks good. No swelling or redness.

How much light should I provide so that she will eat/drink but also not promote egg laying.

I have things ready if she protrudes again, but man, I hope she doesn't. That kinda freaked me out.

I am a new chicken mama so I have no advise for you but I wish you and your hen the best. It sounds like you are taking very good care of her.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

I'm new here, and to owning chickens, so thank you for accepting me and being here for my questions.

My 11 month old hen protruded yesterday. She "sucked it back in" on her own and is now in my basement. I have a cover over her kennel to try to keep her from laying eggs so she can heal quietly and calmly. Her vent looks good. No swelling or redness.

How much light should I provide so that she will eat/drink but also not promote egg laying.

I have things ready if she protrudes again, but man, I hope she doesn't. That kinda freaked me out.

Welcome to BYC! I’m so glad you’re apart of this community! Maybe one of the experts can help.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm new here, and to owning chickens, so thank you for accepting me and being here for my questions.

My 11 month old hen protruded yesterday. She "sucked it back in" on her own and is now in my basement. I have a cover over her kennel to try to keep her from laying eggs so she can heal quietly and calmly. Her vent looks good. No swelling or redness.

How much light should I provide so that she will eat/drink but also not promote egg laying.

I have things ready if she protrudes again, but man, I hope she doesn't. That kinda freaked me out.

Welcome To BYC

How long was she prolapsed? Did she have an egg stuck?
If the prolapse went back in on it's own and she's retaining it, there's no swelling, she's alert/eating/drinking and not getting picked on, then I would put her back outside with the flock and just monitor her.

 

[Amy Weaver]

Welcome To BYC

How long was she prolapsed? Did she have an egg stuck?
If the prolapse went back in on it's own and she's retaining it, there's no swelling, she's alert/eating/drinking and not getting picked on, then I would put her back outside with the flock and just monitor her.

She was prolapsed for no longer than 20/30 minutes. My husband watched her as I called the vet.

Welcome To BYC

How long was she prolapsed? Did she have an egg stuck?
If the prolapse went back in on it's own and she's retaining it, there's no swelling, she's alert/eating/drinking and not getting picked on, then I would put her back outside with the flock and just monitor her.

She was prolapsed for no longer than twenty minutes. My husband watched her as I called the vet and he saw her work it back in. Since we're new to this, we didn't know what it was at first... that's why he watched her versus picking her up or messing with protrusion.

The whole incident happened while I was holding her as my husband was redoing a bandage on her foot for bumblefoot (which is healing great, thankfully). While I was holding her an egg popped out (soft shelled, not fully formed). With the way I was holding her, I didn't notice she had prolapsed until I put her back in the run.

I have one chicken who's been laying ENORMOUS double yolk eggs, so based on the incident, I bet it's her. I know that cause a chicken to prolapse.

I've read to hold back pellet food and feed her oats, calcium, and green to try to prevent her from laying an egg for a day or two.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Laying a soft shelled egg while holding her may have been from the stress of treating her.
The cloaca inverts when and egg is expelled, so it can sometimes look like tissue is exposed.
A soft shelled egg is very hard to expel so, it may have been exposed longer.

Up to you whether you feel like you need to stop her from laying eggs. If you do, then she needs to be placed in total darkness for 16 hours a day. You can reduce the amount of feed she eats since she won't be as active. I would still provide her with a nutritionally balanced feed for most of her daily intake.

 

[Amy Weaver]

Laying a soft shelled egg while holding her may have been from the stress of treating her.
The cloaca inverts when and egg is expelled, so it can sometimes look like tissue is exposed.
A soft shelled egg is very hard to expel so, it may have been exposed longer.

Up to you whether you feel like you need to stop her from laying eggs. If you do, then she needs to be placed in total darkness for 16 hours a day. You can reduce the amount of feed she eats since she won't be as active. I would still provide her with a nutritionally balanced feed for most of her daily intake.

This is very helpful! Thank you so much.