I'll include the story at the bottom. I know when facing an emergency with our chickens we need the information immediately.
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| Penguin Stance from PoultryDVM.com |
- Penguin Stance
- Puffed Up
- Visible Prolapse from vent
- Bleeding from Vent
- Lethargic Behavior
- Poop stuck in prolapse
Supplies
- Tub
- Epsom Salts
- Preparation H
- Vetercyin
- Gloves
- Vaseline
- Tums
Fill your tub up with warm water. Add Epsom salts.
You want your hen to be able to float so that the prolapse can stay moist.
Soak about 30 minutes.
If poop stuck in prolapse, soak and get the poop out. This is painful to the hen, it's better to soak with the poop so it breaks up.
Once out of tub, cover hen's head with a towel. You want her to be quiet.
Clean prolapse with Vetercyin or an antibiotic ointment (do not use the pain relief types). Use the Vaseline to push the prolapse back in.
Cover the vent with Preparation H to help with swelling.
Keep the vent moist with Preparation H/Vaseline.
Keep the hen in a dark and quiet place.
Feed 1/4 Tums to help with contractions in case hen is egg bound.
This might have to be done several times. If the prolapse isn't staying in, you may need a vet to put a stitch in the vent to hold it in.
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| Prolapse after she pooped |
Story:
I walked out to Camilla being very quiet in the run. She's normally cussing up a storm. It was a nice and warm day, around 70 F. Camilla was standing weird in a corner of the run. Lethargic and looking like a penguin, she refused any treats. I said a few swears and prayers in my head and instantly thought egg bound. When she turned slightly, that's when I saw the vent prolapse.
I immediately called my husband who began to gather all of the supplies and run a bath. I was shaking and terrified. Camilla is my smallest hen. When she was a baby she was almost a failure to thrive. She's the size of a bantam hen and lays large eggs.
We soaked her in a tub. Her vent had a large hard poop in it. Which is not uncommon. I had to soak her to get that soft enough for her to pass it. Touching her vent was painful to her and I avoided touching it as much as possible. Sometimes chickens poop out parts of a soft shelled egg or an egg that broke inside.
Needless to say, I was terrified and thank God for Mel (@wilmathewonderhen ) and Shalane (@chickennoodleandco). While my husband was working hard to keep me calm, he didn't have the experience. However, he trusted my research and my friends from the chicken community.
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| Soaking in Epsom Salt Bath |
Camilla enjoyed getting her feathers blow dried. After she was dry, I reapplied the preparation h and had to push the prolapse back in again, as it had started to
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| Enjoying a blow dry on BC's lap |
come back out. The swelling had gone down though. We took Camilla into our living room and watched Star Trek The Next Generation. Now, obviously you don't have to watch TNG with your chook to help with a prolapse. Camilla wanted to walk around and started not only eating and drinking, but pooped a huge healthy poop.
After all of these positive signs, she sat quietly on my lap and then started nesting. She really wanted to lay an egg. I crushed up a 1/4 of a tums and she pecked at it. I had my med tent up and put her in. She laid an egg that was covered in calcium after about an hour. She went back to eating and drinking. I brought in a friend who had broke her beak earlier in the day. (I swear these girls are out to give me a heart attack!) The next day I saw that she was still protruding a bit, so more preparation H on her vent.
The big thing is to keep your hen quiet, away from the flock (they will peck and then have a cannibalistic moment when they see blood). Keep the vent moist and keep giving calcium to help with contractions. It may take a day, it may take a few days. I hope my story helps.
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| Left: normal egg Right: Egg after prolapse |
Resources:
Gail Damerow's Chicken Health Handbook
This is SO good to know. Thank you for the
ReplyDeleteInfo! And thank goodness Camilla is feeling better! I'm pinning this for future reference.