Comments on: Poultry health: prolapse of the vent

By: Mjolnira

Mjolnira — Sat, 16 Dec 2017 03:55:20 +0000

I have a Rhode Island Red that had gotten some egg goo frozen on her butt (its 10-15 degrees here right now)…I didn’t see it until I went to shut them up for the night. I brought her inside and cleaned it off and she was severely prolapsed. I applied honey and coconut oil and slowly eased it back in and put her in a box inside for the night. I have been doing that for the last four days and it is not staying in. Today I was finally off work and have held this chicken upside down all damn day, she prolapses every time she poops. The vet here is useless (i live in a remote town with 3k people)and they say they don’t work on chickens. She appears perky and alert, and I’ve only been feeding her small portions of egg and cod liver oil and fish chowder with cooked barley (soft foods). I’ve also been sprinkling calcium citrate on her food and in her water. I am at my wits end! I absolutely adore this chicken, she is my pet…I am a vegan and don’t even eat eggs! I got her as a chick and raised her, she is only 10 months old! I have to leave to go to Georgia for 9 days on the 24th…is there anything else I can do to fix her???? I don’t want her to die 🙁

By: Ombati

Ombati — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 13:03:00 +0000

Hi, first isolate the affected chicken as u keep on sterilizing her back end off with warm water. was caught in such scenario last month but now my chickens are ok.

By: Mick

Mick — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 06:20:40 +0000

Unfortunately, I don’t monitor this email much anymore. If you need to reach me more quickly I can be messaged on facebook at Wichita Falls Reptile Rescue.

Is the chicken still alive, first of all?

I did give some pretty exhaustive recommendations previously. That would be the first place to start. If that’s not working, then other options can be discussed. I don’t know what you mean by advice on stitching. If the tissue is not remaining in place, then suturing may be necessary to hold it in place until swelling goes down and there is healing. There’s not really anything more to say about it than that, so if you’re not sure how to proceed with that, then don’t. Find someone who does know how to do it.

I’m not familiar with that named antibiotic and I’d need to know exactly what it is by drug name, not brand name. But antibiotics shouldn’t be reached for just because, regardless. They should only be used if there’s an actual need based on evidence of an infection. Just because there is a prolapse doesn’t mean there is an infection. Antibiotics can make the situation worse.

By: Eirlys Goode

Eirlys Goode — Sun, 22 Jan 2017 11:03:26 +0000

Madmeg, if everything you have tried so far has not worked and you have read previous advice given if you wait for a reply from Mick you might well be too late to save her. At the risk of being shot down in flames I would suggest that if everything you have tried so far has not worked it is time to take her to an experienced avian vet to suture the prolapse back in place then seriously consider having her implanted in order to avoid any further problems regarding egg laying.

By: madmeg

madmeg — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 23:10:13 +0000

Hi one for Mick if he’s listening in. I have a hen just badly prolapsed, she keeps pushing it out, my ww2 smallholder book recommends washing with a potassium permanganate solution and using boracic ointment (that would be astringent if it was obtainable! I’ve just mixed some boric acid with Vaseline. I’ve made a retainer out of a self adhesive bandage and she’s hanging in a plastic bag with her wings and legs restrained as best as possible (the advice from the oldbook) . So for Mick, do you have any advice on stitching (I’ve got 25 years experience as a shepherd and have stitched many a sheep) also is depomycin ok as an antibiotic in chooks? I’m going to try some honey on her shortly and see if I can persuade her not to push it out that way. Age of chicken nit known, I captured her and several mates from the roadside where they had been dumped. She is the prettiest so I’d prefer not to lose her!

By: Pocket Farm

Pocket Farm — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 13:23:50 +0000

Thanks for sharing everyone. Great feedback.

By: Eirlys Goode

Eirlys Goode — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 18:31:36 +0000

Dianna, thank you for all that useful information. Actually I am fairly ‘au fait’ about treating poorly chickens; I run a forum for people who have adopted ex-commercial hens and with time a lot of the longer serving members have been able to advise new chicken keepers with information about the care and attention they need when they are first released from cages or barns.
I can offer you one tip as to how to hydrate a chicken that won’t eat or drink of its own accord. Get a 2mg syringe and fill it with body temperature sweetened water (boil some water and add sugar, honey or glucose then allow to cool). You can of course just use water on its own. Tuck the hen under one arm ensuring you are able to reach the beak with the hand of whichever arm you have tucked the hen under so that you can open the beak enough to get the tip of the syringe into then using your lead hand, depending on whether you are right handed or left handed, put the tip of the syringe just inside the left hand side of the beak, must be left hand side of the beak and drip a few drops of fluid from the syringe into the beak. Just give a little at a time and be prepared to be bathed because the chicken will shake its head. By using a syringe you can monitor exactly how much fluid the chicken is getting. You can give as much or as little at a time at intervals of your choice to keep the chicken hydrated. Never drip any fluid into the centre of any chicken’s beak because it will go straight into their lungs, a sure way to kill your chicken by drowning.
I also have a “Sick Chook Diet” sheet which I can send you if you are interested. It is named so because it was sent in by one of our Australian members and you probably know that chickens are called chooks in Australia. Several members and other people from different chicken groups have used it with great success. Let me know if you would like a copy and I’ll liaise with Stuart re: email addresses etc.
I’m very pleased to hear your red hen is improving and hope she continues to do so and returns to full health very soon.
I have fed some sick cats exactly as you have so we must be doing something right!

By: Dianna Starr

Dianna Starr — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 22:11:19 +0000

Hi Eirlys Goode , o yes do as you wish copy away ,I got the regular type of caltrate which contains 600mg of calcium with 800 iu of vit D. so any kind of calcium supplement with the same ingredients will do im sure, i would also add in some vit E & vit C along with the liquid baby vits & i give her a 50 billion probiotics supplement like once a week , just trying to address what ever could have been wrong with her..? & because she could have been dehydrated i also fed her a lot of liquids , but how to make a chicken drink , i fed her tuna water & she loved it & that is always a great to hydrate any animal, in fact i saved dying old cats with lots of tuna water, but no dry food after that only a good quality wet canned cat food , but during the recovery which would be around a weeks time & the cat should be acting much better , so if need be just feed bits of tuna in the tuna water that goes for chickens to.!& the cats came back well & even lived for many years after,( we did take my friends cat to a vet who wanted $700.00 to try & save the cat HA ) & it only costs a few dollars for the 10 cans of canned tuna, so always use you inner wisdom with most any situation , my first instinct was to feed lots of liquids & oil to my hen along with tissue healing vits & vits that will help repair the elasticity to the area, seeing how that body part works elasticity is he main thing that is needed ! i will re dose my red hen this week with every thing i just mentioned above feeding her dinner meals for about week or so to help keep her in good condition before summer & so in years to come I will report back as to how its going with my red hen, she is the only hen that has had this problem out of my flock of 60, so it seem that some animals are born with a weakness & keeping them well & healthy is our job, so mostly its using our inner instincts to heal & investigate all natural ways that can help do that best, i wish you the best of LUCK take care kindest regards Dianna O and yes Stuart has my permission to pass my e mail address on to you. SO YES PM ME ANY TIME.! :)

By: Eirlys Goode

Eirlys Goode — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 11:30:45 +0000

So pleased to hear you managed to sort out your hen’s prolapse problem, and how lucky you are to have a friend who has knowledge of chicken illnesses and problems. A truly ‘chicken friendly’ vet is very difficult to find in the UK.
I have Googled ‘Caltrate’ to find out where in the UK it can be bought but there are so many varieties e.g. added vitamins, is it just simple Caltrate you used?
Also may I please copy the information you have given onto a forum I run for people who have adopted ex-commercial hens? Many members have their own ways of dealing with hens who have prolapses, including giving an implant to stop the egg laying cycle so that both chicken and owner can have some peace and know that the hen will not suffer whilst the implant is effective.
If you prefer you can PM me. I don’t know if I am allowed to post my email address on here but Stuart has my permission to pass it on to you. I think we could exchange some very useful information about chicken keeping if you are willing.

By: Dianna Starr

Dianna Starr — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 05:05:47 +0000

I have a NHR hen who was laying jumbo size eggs , eventually she started having prolapses at around 1.5 years old & i did all that has been recommended on this site, but never tried to apply any thing to the area, or push it back in, for fear of infection , but i had a different way to get the prolapse to go back in, is by holding my hen upside down in a hug against my body & then i jumped up & down, doing this will help the prolapses to go back in, but what else i found is that the hen seems to be constipated & possibly dehydrated, so if the egg goes back in ,i allow the hen to walk around a bit so she can try to eliminate the blocked up waist which seem to be stuck along with the egg, so after she is able to eliminate the poop i bring her in & if need be i rinse her off with warm water & get her pen ready with clean news paper in my laundry room were i can control the light, i feed scratch water & vitamins & leave on a tiny light so she can see her food to eat & drink, but limiting light to help stop the egg laying, but around the 3 rd day in late after noon,i open the out side door to the laundry room to let the other hens come see her so she wont be forgotten, but i keep her in long enough to completely stop the eggs for many months, until the next time which its usually in the beginning of summer here in AZ my red hen had been out with all the other hens,from the molt until beginning of summer ,but i checked her every night in the coop, so this last time the 3 rd time she Pprolapsed i was going to bring her to the bird vet for meds that stop the reproduction cycle,or what evre would have cured my poor hen from this yearly horror , sot this last time just before making the call to the vet, we tried a new way & its worked so well i was stunned ,when my good friend who is in her own right one of the best natural born chicken vets ever & knowing all the best ways keep your chickens well & healthy ,so my red hen with the next prolapse, my good friend recommended that i get some caltrate a human calcium supplement , I found it at the dollar store for a good low price, & i was to crushed up 2 pills a day & feed it to my hen i did that with some bread in tuna water along with poly vi sol baby vits & that began to really help my hen very fast so i could let her out with the rest of the hens & she has laid good size eggs all season long ever since with out any sign of a problem so using the caltrate is a good remedy for prolapse pron hens..? it cant hurt them so why not try it..!! :) good luck all