Vent prolapse - NEED HELP

[kokopelli91]

I have an 18 month old Orpington that started laying in February of this year. On Sunday I noticed poop stuck under her vent, decided I'd give her a bath on Monday. Caught her, brought her inside, and when I was cleaning her up found she has a prolapse. I cleaned everything gently and as best as I could, sprayed some Vetericyn on her vent/prolapse and gently worked it back in, then sprayed some more Vetericyn. I put her in a dog crate in the bedroom (after drying her off), with some water with electrolytes and probiotics, limited light and limited food, but I did crush up a Tums on the Flock Raiser crumbles I gave her.. Checked her again later that day and it came back out, so I repeated the process, just not the bath. Tuesday, same thing, it had come back out but went in much more easily. Last night she laid an egg with no further prolapse, so I hoped we'd be in the clear. Checked on her this morning and it's back out again. I gave her some Calcium+D3 (all stores within 20 miles of me are out of calcium citrate).
I know with recurrent prolapses it can run the odds of it happening again higher, but I don't know what to do at this point. She's my favorite hen so I don't want to cull her, I fully intended for her to live out her retirement without being made into stew. But I don't know if there's anything else I can do for her since it just keeps happening.

Any advice?

 

[kokopelli91]

I have an 18 month old Orpington that started laying in February of this year. On Sunday I noticed poop stuck under her vent, decided I'd give her a bath on Monday. Caught her, brought her inside, and when I was cleaning her up found she has a prolapse. I cleaned everything gently and as best as I could, sprayed some Vetericyn on her vent/prolapse and gently worked it back in, then sprayed some more Vetericyn. I put her in a dog crate in the bedroom (after drying her off), with some water with electrolytes and probiotics, limited light and limited food, but I did crush up a Tums on the Flock Raiser crumbles I gave her.. Checked her again later that day and it came back out, so I repeated the process, just not the bath. Tuesday, same thing, it had come back out but went in much more easily. Last night she laid an egg with no further prolapse, so I hoped we'd be in the clear. Checked on her this morning and it's back out again. I gave her some Calcium+D3 (all stores within 20 miles of me are out of calcium citrate).
I know with recurrent prolapses it can run the odds of it happening again higher, but I don't know what to do at this point. She's my favorite hen so I don't want to cull her, I fully intended for her to live out her retirement without being made into stew. But I don't know if there's anything else I can do for her since it just keeps happening.

Any advice?

Update 30 minutes after first post, I cleaned her up again and put her back in the crate. She had laid another egg sometime between last night and this morning, so I'm not sure if maybe the prolapse is due to having a couple eggs waiting to come down the chute, or possibly was the beginnings of being egg-bound?

 

[Tookie]

She most likely had a prolapse because she was having trouble laying an egg.
Keep giving her the calcium.
Make sure to keep the tissue moist with oil or cream. Gently try to push the prolapse back in, you may have to hold it in for a bit.

 

[kokopelli91]

She most likely had a prolapse because she was having trouble laying an egg.
Keep giving her the calcium.
Make sure to keep the tissue moist with oil or cream. Gently try to push the prolapse back in, you may have to hold it in for a bit.

Thank you so much. I'm really hoping it's due to the egg, usually she's an every-other-day layer so with two in 24 hours, I'm suspecting that was the cause. When I've been pushing the tissue back in I hold it there until I see that the vent is flexing around it without it coming back out, then spray the Vetericyn. Should I put any corisone cream on it, or just leave it as is? I've seen mixed reviews regarding Preparation H, so I don't plan to use that.

 

[Eggcessive]

It doesn’t matter a whole lot what cream or ointment one uses. Honey, sugar and a drop of water, or hydrocortisone can help shrink the tissue. Vaseline petroleum jelly or olive is fine, just keep the tissue from drying out. You can try to stop her from laying temporarily by placing her in the dark for 16 out of every 24 hours, but it may take a few days. A calcium tablet may help pass her egg if she has mire coming. Here is a good article about prolapses:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/prolapse-vent-causes-treatment-graphic/

 

[CoriM]

I just dealt with a prolapse on a runner duck - she hasn't laid an egg since it happened, but the prolapse was happening every time she pooped. I eventually covered her bum with one of these bandaids - and it hasn't prolapsed since. But I don't know what would happen if she tried to lay an egg while it was on. I've been changing the bandaid a lot, but mostly leaving the sticky tabs of the original bandaid on and cutting away the dirty middle part so I don't stress her by pulling on her feathers and skin - I did first trim feathers in the area. Since the prolapse went in I've been applying honey and hydrocortisone alternately when I change the bandaid.

 

[kokopelli91]

It doesn’t matter a whole lot what cream or ointment one uses. Honey, sugar and a drop of water, or hydrocortisone can help shrink the tissue. Vaseline petroleum jelly or olive is fine, just keep the tissue from drying out. You can try to stop her from laying temporarily by placing her in the dark for 16 out of every 24 hours, but it may take a few days. A calcium tablet may help pass her egg if she has mire coming. Here is a good article about prolapses:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/prolapse-vent-causes-treatment-graphic/

Thank you very much. Should I be putting ointment on the prolapse itself (assuming it pops out again) or just on the vent?

 

[CoriM]

I had the same confusion as you as to whether we were supposed to put meds on the prolapse itself or the vent area after it was back inside. I mostly put things around the vent area after it was back inside, but I was advised towards the end of my ordeal to just put honey on the prolapse itself. I think that is to help shrink the swelling of the tissues, so I did that a few times. I also soaked my girl in a sugar/water solution while the prolapse was out for twenty minutes in hopes that it would also help tighten things up and reduce swelling. Best of luck to you - I hope your girl is on the mend!

 

[kokopelli91]

I had the same confusion as you as to whether we were supposed to put meds on the prolapse itself or the vent area after it was back inside. I mostly put things around the vent area after it was back inside, but I was advised towards the end of my ordeal to just put honey on the prolapse itself. I think that is to help shrink the swelling of the tissues, so I did that a few times. I also soaked my girl in a sugar/water solution while the prolapse was out for twenty minutes in hopes that it would also help tighten things up and reduce swelling. Best of luck to you - I hope your girl is on the mend!

Thank you. I put some vaseline on her vent after I got it back in again just a few minutes ago. At least she's pooping, so I'm happy about that, but I still wish it wasn't happening to her. Poor girl. Fingers crossed that tomorrow it'll stay in, and stay that way for the rest of her (hopefully long) life. I'll definitely try the sugar mixture and honey if it happens again tomorrow.

 

[CoriM]

If it refuses to stay in you could try the band-aid.