Very bad prolapsed vent

[azygous]

I'm old enough to recall when Tums were the size of a dime. Now, they're big enough to use as a coaster under a cocktail. Tums is calcium carbonate and an excellent source of calcium in a pinch. Just break it in half or quarters and shove each into the beak. The hen will swallow just fine. How does she chew, you ask. She doesn't need to because her crop and gizzard do the "chewing".

But do get some of the calcium citrate I suggested. It's far more easily absorbed and digested than calcium carbonate, and your hen will need one of those each day until she appears to be out of the woods regarding reproductive problems.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I'm old enough to recall when Tums were the size of a dime. Now, they're big enough to use as a coaster under a cocktail. Tums is calcium carbonate and an excellent source of calcium in a pinch. Just break it in half or quarters and shove each into the beak. The hen will swallow just fine. How does she chew, you ask. She doesn't need to because her crop and gizzard do the "chewing".

But do get some of the calcium citrate I suggested. It's far more easily absorbed and digested than calcium carbonate, and your hen will need one of those each day until she appears to be out of the woods regarding reproductive problems.

Gave her a warm soak this morning. It's still prolapsed but has shrunk down a bit. I picked up some Calcium Citrate + D3. Broke it in half and gave her both pieces. I also picked up some hemorrhoid cream with no "caines" in it. Used that too along with the sugar and mineral oil.

She oughta show me some gratitude because I braved a trip to Walmart this morning to get her meds and I **hate** going into Walmart.....

 

[azygous]

Hey! Walmart is my most hated shopping venue, too! You should witness the meldowns I have in that store. It's a miracle I haven't been arrested yet. Last trip when I just stopped in for a flu shot, I left through the security barriers and set off the alarm and got hollered at royally by the door greeter. I didn't have a meltdown that time, but he sure did. Good times.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Well, my girl is NOT doing well this morning. I let her soak for over a half hour. She has poop that has dried and crusted to her exposed tissue and is also causing blockage. Despite the long soak and using Dawn on it, it will not come off without tearing her skin. That opens her up to infection and sepsis. To make matters worse, she has now created a hernia in the side of her vent wall from straining... So not only does her vent protrude like a giant hemorrhoid but each time she strains, it blows a thin, giant bubble of tissue out the side.

This is not a good scenario. I am driving 40 minutes over to a bigger town and taking her to the vet who handles exotics. They are really expensive and I don't really have the money for this right now but I can't leave her like this... My DH is going to be furious and would probably rather cull her so I'm going to take major heat for doing it but I feel like I have to try. Over the phone the vet did not sound confident of a positive outcome based upon the description so it's really a crapshoot.

SMH.... I must be mentally insane for caring and not giving up.

 

[Eggcessive]

What is your plan? What if the vet cannot do anything different, but they charge you $1000? Sometimes they will place a temporary stitch in the vent. Prolapses can take a week or more to get better. Some do not, not matter what, but it takes patience. Sometimes the intestines will come out, and they cannot survive that. Sometimes they will get another prolapse later. Are you going to have the vet put her down, or could you just do that yourself? Having chickens for a number of years, I realized I would have to nurse them at home, or learn how to put them down myself. I could get my husband to shoot them, since that is the only way he will put them down. But I learned less violent ways, such as the broomstick method or cutting the jugular veins. This won’t be your last illness or injury if you plan on having them a long time. Let us know what the vet has to say.

 

[TJAnonymous]

What is your plan? What if the vet cannot do anything different, but they charge you $1000? Sometimes they will place a temporary stitch in the vent. Prolapses can take a week or more to get better. Some do not, not matter what, but it takes patience. Sometimes the intestines will come out, and they cannot survive that. Sometimes they will get another prolapse later. Are you going to have the vet put her down, or could you just do that yourself? Having chickens for a number of years, I realized I would have to nurse them at home, or learn how to put them down myself. I could get my husband to shoot them, since that is the only way he will put them down. But I learned less violent ways, such as the broomstick method or cutting the jugular veins. This won’t be your last illness or injury if you plan on having them a long time. Let us know what the vet has to say.

If the cost is over $100 to treat her (aka surgery), then I will bring her home and allow DH to cull her. I could do it myself in a pinch but it hurts my heart to do it. In fact, I culled my special needs hen myself this weekend because she was dying and suffering but that's another story. However if the vet determines it just looks worse than it is and she can be saved with a simple stitch, then I will opt to save her. I realize treatment will take a while or it could reoccur, but I'm focused on immediate triage and trying to determine if we are facing a dire complication.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Prognosis from the vet isn't good. She has torn the inner lining and the tissue is dying. Even if they suture it, she will still likely die. I let them euthanize her

 

[TJAnonymous]

OK, I'm back home and can post more. The vet confirmed she was not egg bound. She had quite a bit of stool that was blocking her swollen vent. I had also noticed (and posted) a lot of stool on Tuesday when I first noticed this issue. She was last wormed on 10/22. I had wormed the whole flock because I found dead roundworms while cleaning their coop. The vet said usually dewormer causes diarrhea more than constipation so he doesn't think it was a factor. All in all we aren't sure what caused the problem. I do have her body and could do a necropsy to see if there was some type of obstruction.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Glad that she is no longer suffering.That was quite different from most prolapses I have read about.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Sorry for your loss. Glad that she is no longer suffering.That was quite different from most prolapses I have read about.

Thanks... I'm really bummed about losing her. I've lost 4 chickens in the past 2 weeks. Two young chicks to a hawk, my special needs hen, and now this one. If I had taken her to the vet on the first day when the tissue was still healthy, they probably could have saved her putting in a stitch to keep her from pushing it back out. However we aren't really sure what was causing the obstruction in the first place. Maybe poop? Maybe something else? Whatever caused the massive internal swelling made her think she needed to push it out and it turned into a vicious cycle that ultimately caused the tearing and tissue death.