Silkie Prolapse - please help anyone!! im desperate ***UPDATE****

[WoodlandWoman]

So, the prolapse went back in, right? Her only symptom is that she looks like she is feeling discomfort?

What have you tried so far?

Did you use any lubricant in her vent?

Did you gently feel underneath her or inside of her, to see if you could feel a stuck egg?

If it's a stuck egg, sometimes a warm bath helps, if the lubricant alone didn't help.

Please give us an update on her, ok? If you're afraid to do any of these things, it's ok. Just let us know this, so we can help you through it. Ok?

 

[stumble_n_mumble]

hey thank you woodland woman. shes my first and only chicken i have as of right now shes with other kids of birds lol. things i have tried so far are giving her some head (heat lamp). shes not doing much. her butt seems lower to the ground than normal and her legs are further apart than normal. i keep checking the area and it is hardish. im not sure what i am feeling for or where. it really stinks :-( is Vaseline ok around the vent or i actually have to put it up there? im not even sure if it is the egg or some constipation. im nervous to hurt her. shes my pet and she has complete trust in me so im not stressing her by trying things is know that. so i keep checking the area. and i watch her go back the the pile of straw she has and she squaks and her tail goes up. and you can see the vent pushing in and out.. :-(

 

[stumble_n_mumble]

anyone?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you until now. If she's swollen, then I would be inclined to try the Preparation H, to take down the swelling. Make sure you use the plain kind, not the type with anesthetic in it. The -caine type painkillers are a problem for chickens.

Even plain petroleum jelly or K-Y jelly could help her right away, if that's all you have. I would gently put some in her vent, not just on the outside. Try to remember how big an egg is and how small your finger is, in comparison. Just do the best you can. You want to keep that prolapsed tissue moist, but you also want to get some of that lubricant inside her, so that it can make it easier for that egg to slide through her. You may even be able to feel the egg inside her, with the tip of your finger, if it's lower down in the canal. That would be a good thing, because then you'd know that you are getting the lubricant to the area it needs to be.

I'm wondering if a warm bath would help her? It relaxes them and sometimes helps them pass the egg. If you can't do as good a job with the lubricant as you need to or it doesn't help her, then I would try soaking her in a warm bath. It was really good advice to look at some of the previous threads on prolapsed hens. They talk about all of this stuff in most of the threads.

 

[chickenladyk]

We had a hen with a prolapse about a year ago. It has healed completely and never returned. Here's what we did:

Isolate the hen "in hospital". We use an old shipping crate used to ship large dogs by airplane. We put towels in the bottom and have food and water in cups attached to the door. The "hospital" crate is kept in a warm spare bedroom, which we darken so it is almost pitch black.

Keeping her in the dark will disrupt her body clock and stop her from laying. This will allow the prolapse to heal fully before she goes back into production. In addition, the quiet and the dark will put her in a kind of half-sleep trance state, where her body can focus all of its energies on the healing process. And she will not be stressed, which is also a good thing.

Every few hours (except at night), do take her out and allow her to eat and drink. Even though there is food and water inside her "hospital" room, chickens often won't eat or drink in the dark.

We offer a "smorgasbord" of healthy foods, so they can choose what they need. We offer coarsely chopped hard-boiled egg, raw ground beef, cut up grapes and tomatoes, thawed frozen corn, and a variety of fresh greens and whole grains. Chopped apple is a favorite, too.

Be sure she is drinking and eats something, then put her back in hospital again.

We have found that chickens have remarkably robust immune systems. Do not use antibiotic or other ointments on the prolapse. These are too harsh for those delicate tissues. Antibiotics kill good germs, as well as bad ones, and they also kill some of the chicken's cells. It's best to let Nature take care of this.

And never use Preparation H or other hemorrhoid preparations--a prolapse is NOT a hemorrhoid. Such preparations shrink blood vessels, and she needs blood flow there in order to heal!

We kept our girl "in hospital" for several days. The prolapse went back in all by itself (and it had been HUGE--we were sure there was no way she would recover). And, in the year and a half since, it has never returned. The hen is as happy and healthy as she was before it happened.

Good luck with your girl! Please keep us posted!

 

[SussexInSeattle]

Chickenladyk, it was refreshing to read your factual post about this because I have second guessed myself for NOT putting anything chemical on my girl who lays jumbos. Although so much time has passed with hers going in and out, I wonder if the hospital treatment would even work with her now. I think we have been living this way for about 2 months. Sometimes it's in, sometimes it's out.

 

[SussexInSeattle]

stumble, my girl doesn't squat unless I stand over her, it is kind of a submitting stance that they seem to do once they begin to lay. Is your in this posture only when you come near or all the time? If so, it sounds like she has a stuck egg. I really like what the last person wrote about the hospital pen in the dark room and the natural healing but you DO need to find out if there is an egg in there. Hopefully the vet can tell.

 

[stumble_n_mumble]

hey guys a update for all my helpful friends on here!!

i got a call early on today from the vet refusing to see her. i wanted to know why because he comes to the zoo that i work at and he treats all the animals, including the chickens we have their. so he didnt give me a specific answer and i was freaking out because i figured she should see someone today. so i called around and finally found a doctor that sees chickens. on my 3 hour break from college today i raced home today picked her up and raced her over to the vet. (my girl was so good at the vet i was so proud) anyway. i flipped her on her back and he felt the belly and said nope no egg. so then we started chatting and he also had worked at the zoo i did and wanted to do some x-rays free of charge thank god. so we took some pictures and guess what NO EGGS anywhere in her system... so it was a happy moment. but then i asked what could have cause a prolapse and he said it could be some sort of a parasite or worms or something like that, which all she needs is a powder substance in her water and will cure anything shes got. i was very relieved and i got to keep the x-rays

... now the question is... will she lay eggs ??? lol shes 25 weeks and no sign of an egg in her? haha. oh well. thank you for all your immediate answers... it helped through the worrisome time. i really appreciate it and byc is the best place for help. thanks again

 

[RavenStorm]

I have heard of chickens not laying for a very long time, they are just slow to develop but eventually will lay. I figure that since winter is just starting to abate (not sure where you live though, it might still be harsh there), she is young, and Silkies don't have a spectacular laying rate that she is just slow to lay. Now though, I'm worried that since you had her x-rayed, if that would screw up her ovum. I'm not a vet or a vet tech, so I have no idea if this will affect her ability to lay any eggs or fertile eggs in the future if you wished to breed her, maybe call the vet back and ask?

 

[stumble_n_mumble]

uh oh.... anyone have any thoughts on xrays and messing up chickens ...