Stubborn hen with prolapse...what to do!!

[HeatherlovesherBirds]

I noticed this afternoon that I have a hen withwi major prolapse. I have soaked her in a bath with iodine to cleanse the area. Prolapse is bleeding. I put gloves on and got some Preparation H and Vaseline and I held the prolapse in for what seemed like forever ,but 20 minutes and the whole entire time she was pushing she will not let me push it back in I keep trying to hold it in she keeps pushing it back out she pushes with all her might she even wheezes while I'm holding it in, because she's pushing so hard...it is bloody and I held it in for 20 back breaking minutes and she pushes it right back out...any idea....I don't want to stress her out...it looks like other chickens may have picked at it ...I check on my chickens quite a few times a day today was my errand running day so I didn't check on them as much, but I'm pretty sure that she has been picked at . She bleeds really bad when I try to hold it in from pushing so hard. I don't know if I should keep trying I think it's causing her more harm.. usually it's 10 minutes and it'll stay in, but it wouldn't so I tried 20 and it still won't... I know I am babbling but I'm freaking out .. thank you so much in advance for your advice ..chicken hugs to ya'll

 

[azygous]

You aren't alone with this problem and accompanying ordeal. It's one of the most draining and exhausting issues to have to deal with.

She likely has an obstruction she's trying hard to clear. Giving her a 400-500mg tablet of calcium can help a lot. Do that first. No, oyster shell isn't enough calcium in this situation.

Next, she needs a nice warm soak about 100-110F in Epsom salt water. This is to relax her and help keep the prolapse moisturized. You do not want to let it dry out even a tiny bit. Try to sweep a gloved finger inside her vent after you push the prolapse in to be sure feces aren't blocking the entrance. If so, poke them out with your finger.

I'm sure you know you need to keep pushing the prolapse back in. If you rig up a crate in a dimly lit spot with a heating pad on the lowest setting and place a moist bath towel over the pad, then install your hen (after she's had a soak) on the moist towel, it can continue to relax her and keep her delicate tissue moist while she tries to expel the blockage. Every so often push her prolapse back in. Give yourself some R&R during this time. She will probably surprise you and get through this. So will you.

 

[Kiki]

Now would be a good time to decide if you have the time to try to nurse her back to health if it is even possible.
I have see it take a week plus of constantly trying to push it back in only for the bird to not survive and I have seen people get it to stay on after just a few days.

Do you have the time?

 

[HeatherlovesherBirds]

I make time...I have 4 already what's one more...I don't give up....I have a duck that is blind I have taken care of for the past two weeks....who needs two baths a day...I'm a girl with a huge heart...im I going to try...but her prolapse is really bloody..I have 38 birds 5 of them not chickens...I have cured many with love time and patience...I have healthy birds most of the time...I'm not new to it , I have a duck who I have seem to save her she only has half of the back of her head...I didn't mean to seem like a jerk...it just seems to be one thing after another...I just never seen one so bloody it's bad...and won't go back in. She has no egg in there I felt along long ways in her vent... Thank you everyone for your advice and input. I don't kill my chickens unless it's absolutely positively The Last option like she is suffering.

 

[HeatherlovesherBirds]

My blind duck...I love her she is a real sweetheart..

 

[azygous]

Our sick birds are worth doing everything we can to help them. When it's time to call off the fight, our birds let us know. It's really their decision, and we just do what they need for us to do to help them out of their suffering.

 

[cottagecheese]

Heather, don't despair, you can get her back. I was in the same situation as you are right now and , believe me , there is a way out of the nightmare. Here is the roadmap:

1. Do not put any more Prep H on her, it's just a bad idea, a bad idea that just won't die. But, unfortunately, most of the hens treated with it actually do die . Look at the other threads on prolapse, it's really very sad.

2. Please read the following 'wall of text'. I'll just cut and paste from another thread. It's about my hen and how she recovered. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

Bridget the hen has been plagued by serial prolapses, on average every two months. Her fourth one happened one Thursday afternoon and I applied unrefined coconut oil, which had cured the first three. But I had a bad feeling because a good portion was hanging out, almost halfway to the floor. She was straining every ten, fifteen minutes trying but not being able to poop. Friday, almost 24 hrs later, surprisingly there was absolutely no improvement, the coconut oil had done nothing this time. Bridget is very strong for a chicken and I was holding her gently as I was looking at her, so when she decided to take me by surprise and jump out of my arms I couldn't catch her. She landed hurting her prolapse and started to bleed. I was feeling like crap so decided to go for a walk. Not far from home, the branch of a tree came into my line of vision. It still had a few dry leaves clinging to it in the dead of winter. Going back a little bit, all these close calls with the prolapses had motivated me to play a little with google, so this is how I was aware of a little something (maybe cockatiel) who had been treated with white oak bark powder and had recovered. Being prejudiced against herbal remedies I discarded the idea. This tree though...was for sure an oak, because oaks are the only ones that still keep a few leaves on until spring. It also had a whitish, light grey bark, while the other trees had dark grey barks. So this was actually a white oak. Right, this is worth a try, so I went back home and returned with a knife and cut a little piece, not too much because trees can get sick really easily. Did a new search, this time about how the bark should be prepared. Gentle heating concentrates healing volatile oils in the bark but destroys the volatile oils once the bark has been powdered. Very well then. With the stove on medium low I held the bark in my hand above the burner, thinking that if my fingers can tolerate it, then it's gentle enough. I made sure that the bark is exposed to the heat on both sides, and... the kitchen filled with an unbelievable aroma, spicy and very pleasant. I broke the bark into coffee bean sized pieces and cleaned the coffee grinder really well with a slightly dampened paper towel, making sure that no traces of coffee remain. Ground up the bark as finely as possible, melted some coconut oil in a big spoon and waited for it to cool to body temperature, because, remember, the powder should not be heated. Made a slurry with as high a proportion of powder as possible combined with enough coconut oil to keep it fluid. Because, unlike the first three times when it had cured, this time the coconut oil had dropped the ball and was demoted to second violin. This time I had a helper holding Bridget securely and I started to gently dab the (body temperature) concoction on her prolapse. A very good sign: she stopped
struggling immediately and the stuff stuck to her well. This was a grotesque prolapse, practically everything was hanging out, except for intestines and I gently dabbed the stuff making sure to cover very well the prolapse and the skin around it. See you in the morning, Bridget. Saturday morning, a very beautiful sight greeted me: two enormous, egg-sized poos. The poor thing was finally able to evacuate, after 36 hrs. Half of the prolapse was back in and the color was lighter, not as angry as before. Two more applications of the slurry on Sat morning and Sat evening and poops all day long some of them egg-sized. Sunday morning (very fitting) the prolapse was gone. I kept her in the darkness except for six hrs daily, for a few days to stop the laying so her body could take a break.
Something remarkable - for weeks and weeks after, my coffee retained a pleasant undertone of oak. Very powerful, those volatile oils.
So why did it work? From what I could gather, because of tannin and quercin, very good astringents. (An astringent is a substance which causes biological tissue to contract .) The bark is also antiseptic, there was no infection. All oaks are medicinal and their bark contains tannins and I have a suspicion that in an emergency any oak will help, if a white oak can't be found.

 

[HeatherlovesherBirds]

This morning she was culled by my husband. She was screaming in her crate went to check on her and she was hunched up with blood pouring out and I picked her up. I didn't think chickens had that much blood... so I prepared a warm bath and soaked her. she cried not like a chicken, but like a soul in pain. So I only soaked her for 10 minutes went to put honey on it and push prolapse back in and she cried out that is when I felt a huge huge egg and my heart sank she was not going to be okay...she was bleeding beyond what was normal. I decided to put her in her crate and go Google what to do next and couldn't find much. I went into check on my crying chicken and she was on her side and blood pooling out...so I called for my husband and he said she is now suffering and you can't save them all. I am going to help her now. She is gone and I am crying...I have always been able to help my chicky girls. Thank you all. Love to all. This just sucks. feeling really bad...and heavy hearted

 

[azygous]

Heather I'm so very sorry. After all you did, putting such a huge effort into saving this hen, exhausting yourself beyond endurance, to have it end like this is just too much for anyone. Just know many of us have experienced this, too. You keep the thought that both you and your hen did all you could. She's no longer hurting, and you will hurt a little less each day.

 

[HeatherlovesherBirds]

Thank you so much