vent prolapse

[valegal74]

She seemed to be a little better towards the end of the day, and I gave her a little feed to eat, which she mowed down on and also drank some water. Thanks for all of the advice so far.

My question is, if/when she recoups, how do I go about acclimatizing her to the outdoors again? This upcoming week is still looking quite cold, with daytime highs around -5C/23F. The only thing I could think of was to put her in a crate in the shed, with some sort of space heater. We don't really have a "cooler" area in the house that we can keep her in.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you place her in a crate with food and water during some of her daylight hours, and keep her out in the coop with her friends? I would bring her inside once a day to soak her bottom, but if she is thoroughly blown dry afterward, she could go out to the coop with the others in the crate. It gets a little complicated bringing her inside and out to treat, feed, keeping her in the dark, but use your best judgement on where to keep her. You can cover her crate with a blanket or tarp to keep light out.

 

[valegal74]

I think I'm just worried about moving her back outdoors given the huge temp difference. I'd like to have her hang out with the other two chickens sooner rather than later, but only when she's fully ready, of course.

 

[Eggcessive]

That would be fine. They can forget about each other sometimes, and they might need to get reaquainted gradually if she is out for mire than a week. Let us know how she is doing later.

 

[MissChick@dee]

You could put her out for lengthing periods of time to acclimate her to the temperatures and to her flock mates. Take her out in a crate/cage covered with a tarp or saddle blanket. Each day for longer time. When you feel it’s right release her right before everyone goes to coop for the night. See how that goes (if she goes in) repeat the process until she’s integrated. Best wishes

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How is she doing? Have you checked to see if there is an egg inside her?

 

[valegal74]

Unfortunately yesterday was a bad day for all of this to happen, as it was my daughter's bday so I didn't get around to grabbing gloves/lube to check for an egg.

This morning she doesn't seem any worse and had a bit of food when I brought it to her. However, before I offered her food I checked her crop and it felt like a hard golf ball. So I'm wondering if there's yet another issue here.

I'm guessing it wouldn't be a bad idea to see a vet, it's just a little tough finding someone who looks at chickens here in the Toronto area.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Unfortunately yesterday was a bad day for all of this to happen, as it was my daughter's bday so I didn't get around to grabbing gloves/lube to check for an egg.

This morning she doesn't seem any worse and had a bit of food when I brought it to her. However, before I offered her food I checked her crop and it felt like a hard golf ball. So I'm wondering if there's yet another issue here.

I'm guessing it wouldn't be a bad idea to see a vet, it's just a little tough finding someone who looks at chickens here in the Toronto area.

Yes, it does sound like she has a crop problem as well. I would make sure she is drinking. I usually start out with giving around 1tsp of coconut oil, then massage the crop really well to try to help break up what's in there. Refrigerate/freeze the coconut oil, then break it up into little pieces, they usually gobble it right up once they taste it. Here's more information about crop problems. After you have massage the crop several times today, then re-check her in the morning. Hopefully it will be empty.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

How is the prolapse?

 

[Eggcessive]

Is she pooping okay? Encourage her to drink plenty of water to help to flush out her crop. I agree with massaging the crop several times a day. If you don’t have coconut oil you can also give olive, mineral oil, or a stool softener such as Colace (docusate sodium.)

 

[valegal74]

Wow, is coconut oil some sort of miracle drug? She totally devoured it, and about a half hour later I went to check her crop, and it seemed like it was back to normal! I don't know if it works that quickly, but I'm glad that's no longer an issue.

As for her vent, it does actually look much better this morning. Nothing protruding out, but I'll give her another soak a little later on regardless.