What causes prolapse? And how do i treat it so it doesn't reoccur?

[kiyomi]

My chicken had prolapse and we just got the egg that was stuck out and gently pushed the red ball thing back up (sorry i don't know what it's called) should we give her a bath? And what do we do if it reoccurs tomorrow? She'll lay another egg tomorrow, so it's likely to happen again. The thing is, people were saying it happens when the egg is too big for them, but the egg was very small. It was her first egg

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

A prolapse is caused when an animal keeps pushing its reproductive tract or anal tissue out because it feels like it needs to keep pushing. It can happen in all species of birds and mammals.

Certain factors like an animal being too fat can cause it to happen more, so making sure your birds are in correct condition can help. It does seem more common in young layers, fat layers, and those starting up either for the first time or resuming after a break.

I've had hundreds of birds and only have had 2 prolapse in 20 year so it isn't common, both birds were culled because of it.

It may or may not occur again. They say preparation H can help take the swelling down to lesson the chance of it reoccurring. The bigger concern is if it happens again and the other birds peck at it and damage the tissue it could end up being deadly.

I would keep her in a separate pen for a week or so within the coop to see how it goes. Being confined may cause her to halt laying which could give the tissue a chance to return to normal.

 

[kiyomi]

we had to put her down sadly because she just wasn't getting any better and she was suffering

 

[Kiki]

we had to put her down sadly because she just wasn't getting any better and she was suffering

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

we had to put her down sadly because she just wasn't getting any better and she was suffering

I'm so sorry.

If you have this happen again or even if it appears that a hen may be more prone to prolapsing, give the hen/hens a broad spectrum multi vitamin and possibly add a tum to her water or food. The tums will give your hen a boost of calcium. Calcium deficiency can be one of the main causes of prolapse.

I can not convey how important calcium is in this regards. I had a line of sheep that were predisposed to prolapsing. After a subcutaneous injection of a product for ruminants... the results were night and day. Below is information of prolapse in chickens to help describe the issue in more detail.

http://articles.extension.org/pages/65423/prolapse-in-poultry-kept-in-small-and-backyard-flocks

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry, I have had no luck in seeing any improvements after a prolapse no matter what I try.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Sorry, I have had no luck in seeing any improvements after a prolapse no matter what I try.

I've only dealt with one hen and an impending prolapse. I gave poultry vitamins for laying hens and kept her inside.. I did find the oral route to not be as fast, at least in my case, as the injectable cal-mag--phos I've used for my ewes. It took close to a week or so for the hen to be back to normal.

But since you mentioned this it's got me thinking...perhaps it's the specific ratio in the Cal Mag Phos that makes the difference? While I've had WAY too much experience with prolapsing in a couple lines of my ewes and have dealt with it in the odd cow..I am still learning to appreciate the subtle differences in poultry...lol.

I've been reading up on prolapsing as well as a few other items I find interesting when I can and while nutritional deficiencies/overweight birds/large eggs do seem to be the answers as to why it occurs...vitamin deficiency is the easiest and quickest to correct IF that's part of the issue at hand. I took this as a rare occurrence rather than a flock issue. Since it was a first egg I was thinking the pullet's body possibly used too much calcium/vitamins with the starting of laying. That is why I gave the suggestions I did.

I also hope anyone who may be reading this will peruse the link to get better understanding of prolapsing in pullets/hens and perhaps do additional research to gain a better understanding.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I've only dealt with one hen and an impending prolapse. I gave poultry vitamins for laying hens and kept her inside.. I did find the oral route to not be as fast, at least in my case, as the injectable cal-mag--phos I've used for my ewes. It took close to a week or so for the hen to be back to normal.

But since you mentioned this it's got me thinking...perhaps it's the specific ratio in the Cal Mag Phos that makes the difference? While I've had WAY too much experience with prolapsing in a couple lines of my ewes and have dealt with it in the odd cow..I am still learning to appreciate the subtle differences in poultry...lol.

I've been reading up on prolapsing as well as a few other items I find interesting when I can and while nutritional deficiencies/overweight birds/large eggs do seem to be the answers as to why it occurs...vitamin deficiency is the easiest and quickest to correct IF that's part of the issue at hand. I took this as a rare occurrence rather than a flock issue. Since it was a first egg I was thinking the pullet's body possibly used too much calcium/vitamins with the starting of laying. That is why I gave the suggestions I did.

I also hope anyone who may be reading this will peruse the link to get better understanding of prolapsing in pullets/hens and perhaps do additional research to gain a better understanding.

You gave sound advice. I think in sheep and cattle it's a different matter as a vet can be called in to stitch them up to keep them from pushing stuff back out. With my poultry I don't have the ability or knowledge to do that and no vets will.

The two prolapse I have had in my birds were a turkey that probably was getting too much boss, and a first time bantam hen that wasn't too fat. She had a shell less egg. My bantam hadn't had as much exercise due to being locked in because of the winter weather so I had thought it might have been a reason.

Your theory sounds similar to milk fever with it being a calcium magnesium deficiency, an interesting concept.

Chickens aren't studied the way more expensive animals are, so some stuff is unknown yet and left for people like you and me to try to figure it out. It would be nice if I could help them and do a proper job if another was to prolapse, but next time for now I'm going to cull right away and save my chicken some extra days of suffering.

I read up about prolapse too after my little hen prolapsed and everyone was so optimistic, and everyone's chicken recovered. It made me feel like a failure, and like I did something wrong. I know now that recovery in poultry isn't common, and most birds don't make it. Catch it early, maybe, catch it late and it's too damaged.