Causes of vent/cloacal prolapse?

[Susan Skylark]

I understand prolapses in mammals (giving birth, diarrhea, pneumonia, low blood calcium, tail docked too short, occasionally genetic: Herefords!) but how about in poultry? Just euthanized a quail hen with a very impressive prolapse (went in easy but it wouldn’t stay there, also a laying bird so a purse string type suture would not be realistic!). Bird did not have an egg inside when processed but could have laid one earlier. No large eggs or diarrhea noted, otherwise healthy too. Is it just a thing that happens occasionally? Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

Prolapses can have a number of possible causes. Those can include stimulation to lay too early, poor nutrition, low eight, obesity, inadequate calcium for muscle stimulation, laying too large of eggs or double yolk eggs, and sometimes egg binding or constipation. I found this long article which talks about each of those in laying hens, but not a lot about quail:
https://layinghens.hendrix-genetics.com/en/articles/prolapse-in-laying-hens/

 

[Susan Skylark]

Causes would be similar between species I would think, at least among gallinaceous birds like quail and chickens. Interesting how the avian risk factors are so similar to te mammalian ones, but then again vertebrate physiology is fairly similar across species when it comes to muscles, gut and sexual reproduction, except laying hens are basically giving birth daily which puts them at increased risk for complications associated therewith.

 

[Eggcessive]

I had a large flock of multiple hatchery breeds for many years, and never saw a prolapse except for 2 hens from the same hatch who mildly prolapsed as they laid an egg. They worried me at the time, but never were pecked, and the cloaca never stayed out once the egg was out, and they were out of the nest box. Some people see them a lot, but I was lucky. I have seen vet shows on TV where prolapses were treated quite brutally on pigs, cows, and other species. In days before BYC and other similar sites came along, I think most people butchered hens with prolapse.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Sorry about your quail My laying hen had a suture in her butt even though she was a laying hen so I wonder why that couldn't be done with your quail My hen had a prolapse because of a lack of calcium. I had read that I should switch to all-flock because layer feed is bad for the roos. So I switched to all-flock, provided crushed oyster shells on the side, and after she got her prolapse I found out that she wasn't eating the oyster shells on the side like she was supposed to. So vet told me, "even though you have roos, switch back to layer feed to prevent health problems in the hens." So I did, and nothing has happened since then

 

[Susan Skylark]

Uterine prolapses in a Holstein are a nightmare (huge cow and awful ungainly uterus) but usually resolvable (secondary to low blood calcium, milk fever during calving). Sticking a rectal and or vaginal prolapse back into a fat beef heifer that continues to strain even afterwards is just frustrating, not so hard to replace but sometimes impossible to retain (cow needs to stop pushing!). It ends up being a disaster, a poor little purse string suture can’t compete against one thousand pounds of determined bovine. Tissue gets torn, infection ensues, everybody is miserable. This poor quail was one of those determined pushers, not to mention she pushed out cloaca/uterus/cecum half the size of a potato. It was a looming disaster and the bird was already in distress so it was the best thing for all involved to cull. It is sad but part of raising birds. And it is much easier to cull a quail than a springing heifer!