Vent prolapse?

[MomFoldingLaundry]

So, I went through and sexed my adults again today, as the crowing had gotten out of control and I wanted to cull some boys, and I found that TWO of my youngish hens have a degree of vent prolapse. On is worse than the other, but they’re both not great, especially as handling them leads to them straining, and pushing it out more.

It sucks because they are both big, beautiful girls, like their mom. But their mom, after laying beautifully, and more reliably than any of my other girls for 5 months, got vent problems a couple months ago, and I’ve never been able to get her 100% back on her feet.

Right now, NONE of my girls are laying, much to my confusion. I’ve increased their calcium, added vitamins to their water, cleaned out their coop more than normal...

I can’t figure out if I’m doing something wrong for ALL my girls, or whether these two were just predisposed to this issue. (There was a time, I believe, when my birds were not getting enough B vitamins, and likely nutrients in general, so maybe they had a phase in youth that predisposed them?)

Anyway—what’s your guys opinion on vent prolapse? Should I put them down?

I already have one coop housing a couple under-the-weather girls, so I’m not in a position to house each alone. Have you guys managed to get this kind of thing better?

 

[FloorCandy]

How bad is it? Do you have pics? It’s disturbing that they’re prolapsing when they aren’t laying. I’ll notice some red tissue sticking out if I’m out collecting eggs as they’re laying. In my experience it isn’t uncommon for some mild tissue prolapse after they’ve laid, made worse if I pick them up to look at it, but this goes away on its own pretty quickly.

Have you felt around outside the vent area to see if you feel an egg in there? Are they egg bound and straining?

 

[MomFoldingLaundry]

Just realized something... these two girls and their mom are all markedly bigger than my other birds. The aggressive male I had to put down (who also looked like these three) was also unusually large.

When I processed him, I noticed that one of his testicles was like “exploded”. It was not just a neat little testicle. It was as if a bunch of foam was stuck inside his body.

I wonder if these oversized birds have something odd going on with their reporoductIve tracts.

I should put down the mom and autopsy her. She’s always puffed up and upset anyway.

 

[MomFoldingLaundry]

@FloorCandy I soaked their vents in vinegar water with egg wash added, applied some yeast cream. Then, later, used a q tip with neosporin to push their vent back in and feel around inside.

Their vents seem to have retreated. For now.

I dont see any obvious eggs inside. Though the one with the worse prolapse had some yellow around the vent, like she’d laid an egg that broke.

Hmmmm.... Now I’m wondering if I have an egg-eater in the coop.

 

[Kiki]

Clear pictures of what you are calling a prolapse please.

Also... Exactly how many males and females do you have in each cage and what is the size of each cage?

 

[Nabiki]

I've had hens prolapse and they're still around. I make sure they're clean, tuck things back inside, and keep an eye on them. I handle them as little as possible for a couple of days, and they've been fine.

Pictures would definitely help.

 

[MomFoldingLaundry]

This is the one with the worse situation. As you see, at this point it’s more “bulging” than prolapsed. The other one is bulging too, but less. They only prolapse when they bear down.

As for their coop—it was 64 square feet at ground level, with 17 girls and ...it was like 5 boys. Not all the boys were mature though.

 

[Nabiki]

This is the one with the worse situation. As you see, at this point it’s more “bulging” than prolapsed. The other one is bulging too, but less. They only prolapse when they bear down.

As for their coop—it was 64 square feet at ground level, with 17 girls and ...it was like 5 boys. Not all the boys were mature though.

That doesn't look bad. Give her some quiet time, and she should be fine.

 

[MomFoldingLaundry]

@Nabiki
Yeah, thanks. It was much worse before. When she strained, it was like all her insides were trying to come out.

I do think some of my birds tend towards laxity in the muscles around their vent. I’m going to start a coop of “layers, not breeders” for birds like these, who are okay to lay but not necessarily the strongest genetically.

 

[MomFoldingLaundry]

I’m also wondering if the food I’m feeding them is making my birds too fat. They eat mainly game bird chow, but should I maybe cut it with layer feed, to make sure they get enough calcium, but also ensure they aren’t getting obese?

Because the birds with the puffy vent area do tend to be my fatter ones. :/