UGLY PROLAPSE - HELP!

[MaeM]

My parents refused to let me in with the hen, lmao, so we went to my bf's house.

Now that I see her in person, though, I am not that positive about her condition. In pics and vids, she may look good (though she lost some weight), but... she is not herself.

At least she ate and drank on her own. The problem is that I talked to her doctors and they're all agreeing in that she needs a salpingohysterectomy as soon as she is stable.

If she comes back to being herself... I must do this to her.

Well, I already told you this, I guess I just had a stupid hope of hearing something like "actually, she'll be okay with laparoscopic surgery".

But lmao, no. Apparently they did X-rays and did not like what they saw.

 

[MaeM]

UPDATE:

In case someone finds this thread in the future, I just want to give the final update that I gave somewhere else in the forum.

Ruby was euthanized yesterday. She stopped eating and drinking, and she only slept and "pooed" an orange fluid. I had to feed her, hydrate her, medicate her, and wash her vent area constantly because it was always dirty with these fluids.

It was just no life for a chicken.

I'm waiting for the results of the necropsy and will publish them here as soon as I have them.

In the meantime, I have some conclusions to share.

► This probably wouldn't have happened if we had Suprelorin. If you have chickens as pets, and they have reproductive issues, and you live in a country where you can find Suprelorin and you can afford it, talk to your vet about this option.

Ruby recovered from the first prolapse with no side effects until she laid that stupid egg. Maybe she already had her lifespan reduced due to salpingitis, but she wouldn't have prolapsed with just a big t*rd, you know what I mean?

► Euthanasia is terrible but it is true that you will know when it is time to do it. When your pet is no longer herself and needs help with everything, when you look at their eyes and they look exhausted, Gosh, at first you will deny it, then it will break your heart but then you'll have peace of mind. You did your best to heal them and didn't work. That's fine, you stopped their suffering. Celebrate the lives they had and the time you had with them. There are worse ways to go.

 

[Tookie]

UPDATE:

In case someone finds this thread in the future, I just want to give the final update that I gave somewhere else in the forum.

Ruby was euthanized yesterday. She stopped eating and drinking, and she only slept and "pooed" an orange fluid. I had to feed her, hydrate her, medicate her, and wash her vent area constantly because it was always dirty with these fluids.

It was just no life for a chicken.

I'm waiting for the results of the necropsy and will publish them here as soon as I have them.

In the meantime, I have some conclusions to share.

► This probably wouldn't have happened if we had Suprelorin. If you have chickens as pets, and they have reproductive issues, and you live in a country where you can find Suprelorin and you can afford it, talk to your vet about this option.

Ruby recovered from the first prolapse with no side effects until she laid that stupid egg. Maybe she already had her lifespan reduced due to salpingitis, but she wouldn't have prolapsed with just a big t*rd, you know what I mean?

► Euthanasia is terrible but it is true that you will know when it is time to do it. When your pet is no longer herself and needs help with everything, when you look at their eyes and they look exhausted, Gosh, at first you will deny it, then it will break your heart but then you'll have peace of mind. You did your best to heal them and didn't work. That's fine, you stopped their suffering. Celebrate the lives they had and the time you had with them. There are worse ways to go.

So so sorry she had to be put down, you did so much for her and you gave her the best life she could ever have.

 

[Nomadicus]

Sorry you lost your most beloved hen. It's hard for any of us who care about the lives of our chickens. It might help some of the time if there were more and better trained vets. Regardless there are some battles we just cannot win.

 

[Eggcessive]

Very sorry for your loss.

 

[MaeM]

Thank you everyone for your support.

I have the results of Ruby's necropsy and I thought it could be interesting and educative to share them.

The necropsy basically told us that Ruby had been laying eggs internally and eventually developed egg yolk peritonitis. If I hadn't euthanized her, she would've died from that.

The vets believe that her internal eggs pushed her oviduct and rectum outside of the body, which explains why her prolapses were so big and wouldn't retract on their own.

If she had survived the second prolapse surgery, where a hole in her oviduct was fixed, she should have gone through another surgery to extract the internal eggs and remove the whole reproductive system. But she probably wouldn't have survived the infection by that point.

It started as an infection in the oviduct (salpingitis). Her oviduct ruptured and yolk started leaking from it and accumulating into the coelum / abdominal cavity. By the time they repaired that leakage, the yolk had produced an infection, and the infection had spread through the abdominal cavity.

It likely affected her intestines, too. That's why she couldn't poop.

She was on antibiotics the whole time, but it wasn't enough. What's worse, the vets think that the initial infection could've been a virus (antibiotics don't work on viruses).

Without diagnostic methods available, IBV is their best bet. Why? Because Ruby's sister, Bianca, had an unknown respiratory disease last year, which left her with tracheal stenosis. While her symptoms didn't fully match IBV at the time, IBV tends to harm the trachea and air sacs, and Bianca's air sacs appeared to be damaged in an X-ray.

IBV also tends to infect and damage the oviduct, which explains the beginning of the chain of events that led to Ruby's euthanasia.

This is without considering co-infections with MG or whatever could exist within an unvaccinated flock. (Here I must clarify that I thought I was purchasing vaccinated chicks, but we don't really have reputable hatcheries here, and the vets think the sellers could've easily lied to me about vaccination).

We'll never know the full answer for sure. I've simply been advised not to add new birds to the flock until these ones die, and then I shouldn't have any more chickens unless I can fully disinfect the environment (which I can't - there is a lot of grass) or I can 100% make sure the new chicks are vaccinated, which is a difficult thing.

I'd say I'm heartbroken but by this time I've kind of resigned myself. Maybe I'll just get a cat next time, lol.

 

[azygous]

What a sad story. Thank you for posting it. Most of us have heard how bad infectious bronchitis can be and how it can start a train wreck of health issues. Your report graphically laid this out.

I wouldn't completely write off ever having chickens again. It's true that viruses can survive longer than we think in the environment, but eventually they do disappear, especially with sunlight exposure. A rest period for the soil may be a year, rarely longer as it's a corona virus and requires a host before it degrades under sun and air exposure.

IBV has a vaccine for some strains. If you know what strains are prevalent in your locale, you may be able to vaccinate your chickens. You may be able to go through your vet to obtain the vaccine and administer it yourself or have your vet do it.

Talking to your local university animal husbandry or agricultural department may give you some direction.

I'm so sorry. This has to be a huge disappointment. But don't give up before you investigate this further.

 

[Eggcessive]

Chickens with infectious bronchitis virus do not remain carriers past a year. Some articles say 5 months up to a year after recovery. So new chickens who are not exposed, should not be affected. I had IBV affect most of my flock in the first couple of years. Many of the hens had reproductive issues, and either stopped laying early, had odd eggs, or died from various reproductive disorders. Thanks for the update.