Vent prolapse

[Dianekw]

Hi all, I have a young hen about 1 1/2 yrs old, who I found in the run a few hours ago with a major vent prolapse goin' on. She had a couple of almost egg-sized red blobs hanging out of her vent. She was still walking around the run, but wouldn't come get treats with the rest of the flock...no appetite(I dont blame her! It looks painful!). Mostly she hung out in a corner alone...not like her. I quickly googled vent prolapse when she turned around and showed me her problem...it was pretty obvious. Nobody seemed to be picking at anything yet, but I read that I should seperate her for her own safety in case her flockmates get interested, and to hopefully let her heal in a dark quiet space alone. I gave her a warm soak and cleaned off all the poopy smudges...and tried to gently push it all back in as suggested by several avian vets online, but she just keeps pushing it all back out again. She's obviously uncomfortable...she squeaks every once in a while when she's pushing. She's trying to "lay an egg", but I cant feel anything in there...I dont think theres an egg stuck unless it's pretty deep in there...no obvious masses anywhere that I can feel. Ive got her in a box with towels and food/water(which she hasnt touched in 3 hours). She is able to pass some poop...looks like really big rat turds almost as thick as a pencil...several dark pieces about an inch long and also some white smudges(in case thats relevant). She lets me hold her and gently push it back in with a warm wet washcloth, but then she just pushes it all out again when i let go. It seems to be a little smaller/less protruding, but still pretty alarming-looking I dont know what else to do...can I just let it hang there overnight? Should I keep trying to push/hold it in a bit more? I dont know if I'm helping or not? It doesn't seem to be bothering her when i push it in...she doesnt struggle at all, so I dont *think* I'm stressing her out.(more than the prolapse is). I love my chickens, but I cant hold it in all night...I'll fall asleep and drop her! ...has anybody seen this get better? I'm looking for some hope and encouragement here...please dont just pop in and drop a "cull her - she's toast" and run. If you can give me some constructive advice, or just some encouragement, that'd be great. Thanks!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you have photos of the prolapsed tissue?

Sometimes tissue will not go immediately back in, so you will need to keep exposed tissue moist with ointment, oil, honey, anti-inflammatory cream, etc.

Get extra Calcium into her asap. This can help with retention and contractions. Calicum Citrate with D3 if you have it. 1 tablet, popped right into the beak once daily for at least a week. If you don't have Calcium Citrate, but have something like TUMS, you can give 1 of those until you can get Calcium Citrate.

Work on her drinking, she needs to stay hydrated. Offer her normal food.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ng-from-vent-prolapse-oh-my-what-to-do.76124/

 

[Dianekw]

Do you have photos of the prolapsed tissue?

Sometimes tissue will not go immediately back in, so you will need to keep exposed tissue moist with ointment, oil, honey, anti-inflammatory cream, etc.

Get extra Calcium into her asap. This can help with retention and contractions. Calicum Citrate with D3 if you have it. 1 tablet, popped right into the beak once daily for at least a week. If you don't have Calcium Citrate, but have something like TUMS, you can give 1 of those until you can get Calcium Citrate.

Work on her drinking, she needs to stay hydrated. Offer her normal food.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ng-from-vent-prolapse-oh-my-what-to-do.76124/

Thanks for the quick reply! I can give her one of my mom's Tums, but how do i get her to eat it? Shes not interested in food or water? Im not sure if i can do it, but I'll try attaching some pics from different angles...

 

[Eggcessive]

There might be an egg inside the larger sac. Does it feel hard? The cloaca has the junction of the oviduct opening and the large intestines. Sometimes an egg can. Come out enclosed in the prolapse, and get stuck. I would give the calcium whole or in pieces right into her beak to swallow, just placing it in the back of her beak. The calcium can help the muscle contraction to get the prolapse in. Get some calcium citrate with D today if possible, about $9 at Walmart in the vitamin aisle for the generic Equate brand. Here is a video showing an egg bound hen with a prolapse where it was successfully removed:

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'd keep all of that exposed tissue moist with ointment, oil, etc. Whatever you have on hand.

The largest protrusion, is there an opening there where the yellow arrow is? I agree, it looks like there may be an egg in there, hard to tell.

As @Eggcessive mentioned, the intestines and reproductive opening "meet" at the cloaca. What I *think* we are seeing is both the intestines opening and the end of the vagina or reproductive tract. (Both arrows, looks like the 2 openings to me, could be wrong).

If there's an egg inside the largest bulge, it will have to come out before the tissue will go back in and stay.

Do you have someone that can help you with her?

As for the TUMS, I've found that breaking/cutting it in half is an easy way to get the pieces into the hen. Open her beak and pop a piece at a time into her beak and let her swallow it.
Do try to get her drinking, you don't want her dehydrated. Try some sugar water or electrolytes. If she's not wanting to eat, that's o.k. for a day or so, but she needs fluids.

 

[Dianekw]

I'd keep all of that exposed tissue moist with ointment, oil, etc. Whatever you have on hand.

The largest protrusion, is there an opening there where the yellow arrow is? I agree, it looks like there may be an egg in there, hard to tell.

As @Eggcessive mentioned, the intestines and reproductive opening "meet" at the cloaca. What I *think* we are seeing is both the intestines opening and the end of the vagina or reproductive tract. (Both arrows, looks like the 2 openings to me, could be wrong).

If there's an egg inside the largest bulge, it will have to come out before the tissue will go back in and stay.

Do you have someone that can help you with her?

As for the TUMS, I've found that breaking/cutting it in half is an easy way to get the pieces into the hen. Open her beak and pop a piece at a time into her beak and let her swallow it.
Do try to get her drinking, you don't want her dehydrated. Try some sugar water or electrolytes. If she's not wanting to eat, that's o.k. for a day or so, but she needs fluids.



View attachment 3759369

Yes...two openings. She has actually pushed MORE out a couple of times, but now she mostly just has the bigger side sticking out....and its much darker now...purple! I had to leave her for half the day today to teach a class, so I grabbed some calcium citrate...couldnt find any with D3, so i got a bottle of that too. Also bought some walmart brand K Y jelly while I was at it to help lube her up...somewhere I read the lube should be waterbased not petrolium...makes sense cuz its her insides. I managed to pry her mouth open and get the pills in, but she slammed shut when I tried to give her water...absolutely refuses to eat or drink. I have a syringe with no needle, but I cant wrangle her beak open again to squirt water in. I tried squeezing a drop onto the side of her beak...that worked on another chicken to get her drinking when she had wry neck, but this one just lets it dribble off. She had no problem letting me clean her off again with a warm wet washcloth, and actually seemed to relax a bit when i smeared her blobs up with the jelly...I was able to push them all the way back in a couple of times, but she just keeps pushing it out again. Maybe once she metabolizes some of the calcium and D3, she might be able to hold it in some? She hasnt pooped much at all today,but i figure thats cuz shes not eating. Poor thing is just sitting there all day/night in the egglaying stance...I feel so bad for her! I dont know how often i should pester her...she seems pretty calm, but she does seem totry to push more when I'm holding her and trying to clean/push-in her prolapse. I'm torn between letting her rest(as much as thats possible between "contractions"), and trying to help her hold it in and drink some water. How much calcium citrate and how much D3 should I be giving her how often?

Oh...and to answer the egg question....if theres one in there it must be pretty far in...theres nothing solid about these blobs...they feel like they're filled with pudding...very very soft and squishy. Even when she pushes the whole shebang out...it looks like she could easily be hiding a turkey egg in there, but its just all soft and squishy. She can retract most of it on her own...leaving about a pullet egg sized blob still hanging out, but she cant seem to pull it *all* back in...or *keep* it in. She pushes pretty hard about every ten to 15 min.

Any more advice? Should i keep trying to help her? Or just let her rest? Or both?

 

[Dianekw]

There might be an egg inside the larger sac. Does it feel hard? The cloaca has the junction of the oviduct opening and the large intestines. Sometimes an egg can. Come out enclosed in the prolapse, and get stuck. I would give the calcium whole or in pieces right into her beak to swallow, just placing it in the back of her beak. The calcium can help the muscle contraction to get the prolapse in. Get some calcium citrate with D today if possible, about $9 at Walmart in the vitamin aisle for the generic Equate brand. Here is a video showing an egg bound hen with a prolapse where it was successfully removed:

Wow...interesting video, but no...no egg in there...and the prolapse in the video is so much less alarming looking than what my Melanie is pushin out!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

1 Calcium Citrate tablet. For the D3 go for around 500IU. It's o.k. if the D3 is more than that, we are looking at giving her the "extras" for a few days until this crisis is over.

So she IS able to retain most of it for a little while, correct?

IF she's not lethargic, I'd give her a good soaking in a warm epsom salts bath to see if that helps reduce the inflammation.

If she's lethargic, then warm compresses will be o.k. I would not soak her if she's lethargic, this can send them over the edge sometimes.

She's swollen, so the swelling will have to go down before she's able to retain it properly.

KY is fine, organic honey can help reduce swelling. Anti-inflammatory cream is good to use too.

Do the best you can. Try to encourage her to drink.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Had a banty hen with this exact problem.
The side with the bulge is the Rectum, so it maybe a poop plug that she can't expel on her own.

I had to gently, remove the Giant turd manually.

 

[Dianekw]

Thanks veryone for the advice! I'll definitely be ready if this happens to another hen. Unfortunately despite all my efforts Melany didnt survive her blowout.