Prolapse - possible injury too (GRAPHIC)

[Eggcessive]

I am so happy for you and your hen. It was a long and stressful day for you both. So glad to hear that she is doing fairly well. Hopefully the hormone implant will kick in soon, to stop the multiple eggs. Some people get their hens spayed, and I wondered if that might have been something your vet suggested. That would end the need for the hormone implants. Anesthesia slows digestion, so it would be normal to be slower for a few days. Keep us posted on how she is doing.

 

[MandS]

Sorry for the delay.

I've been trying to catch up with many of the things I failed to do when taking care of Luna.

Yesterday was a good day. Today not so much. She ate lots yesterday but no poop really came out of her. A big puddle of urates and a crop that isn't empty. So basically there's a bit of crop stasis.

I've moved onto applying canestan I see if it's a gleet that is causing the excessive urate flow. In so going, I digitally inspected the oviduct and the anus. I discovered that the anus is full of poop but when she strains to get it out, it moved a bit, comes out and then gets sucked back in. So I manually evacuated her and got quite a bit out. She they strained really hard and pushed the missing egg shell (soft) that must have been very deep yesterday. It looked more like a lash egg - it had a coating on it, which I presume is her body's way of getting it out more easily.

I'm being very cautious with food today. I need her crop to clear and for her digestive system to move. I'm planning on a small drink of molasses later today. For now, she will get some Emeraid with moloxicam. I need her to be a bit more empty because she's been regurgitating for a couple of hours because she went mad for water (hence why I've removed it).

Being sent some Nystatin which should arrive tomorrow, just in case we get a sour crop start.

It's more of a testing day today. I don't feel it of the woods but I'm doing my best.

Thanks for all the kind words. And yes, I probably am a bit mad by sleeping in the same room as her but although it wasn't the most comfortable sleep, it was comforting to know that I was there if she got into difficulties. Other than being compassionate, I'm fairly normal!!!

 

[Eggcessive]

It is probably a slow crop. I would let her have water and electrolytes. Very watery cooked egg would be easy to digest if she seems hungry today. It is not usual for it to take days for human bowels to work after anesthesia and handling of internal organs. Once the bowel works, the crop should empty.

 

[MandS]

Excellent advice.

Her prolapse is very messy. The urates are oozing out continually, so anything exposed get a coating on which goes hard. I clean and moisturise regularly. It's a tough old battle.

She's perked up a bit since I last wrote.

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

You're doing a great job. Just keep at it.

 

[Bolfreak]

A 5 pound hen can have 600 mg per day. 300-600 mg is the a average dose for most hens.

I had to read this in Monty Pythonese
No chickens, but I do have a duck that’s prolapsed twice. I switched from All Flock to Layer because our water tested as leaching calcium. I also switched the type of free choice oyster shell to flaked, which everyone loves instead of the pebble kind.
If you can these in the UK, I have on hand a few prolapse supplies - one is a calcium spray for reptile’s food. Easy to give over tablets.
The other is highly embarrassing to buy (just mumble it’s for my prolapsed chicken but people probably won’t believe you) but it’s suppositories for hemorrhoids. I have ones that contain cocoa butter & phenylephedrine.
I was fixing to cull my girl after reading online, but that would’ve been a mistake. Keep her quiet and in the dark and just time to heal.
The numerous eggs are because of breed? Hard to shut that off when they’ve been bred for heavy production.

 

[MandS]

Thanks for the replies and encouragement.

Today is a much better day. She's lively and interested in just about everything. She's eating well but she's very thirsty and the problem with that is if you don't restrict her water, she drinks too much and then starts regurgitating it. The urates are still leaking out of her continually and at the moment I am cleaning her about every 90 minutes with salt water solution. I did wonder if it was vent gleat so I applied some canisten as I mentioned before. I'm not sure if that's made a difference but some of the scabbing is starting to come off.

I think the biggest issue though, is that she is unable to pass her own poop. She strains a little bit pops out and then it gets sucked back in again. When I clean her she strains a lot and it's at that point that I can help vacate her bowels and get the poop out. The consistency is more like quite solid cat poop, in that it's a tube and is quite dense. Once I have managed to get it out and clear quite a bit out, today for the first time since her operation, her vent has gone in. Undoubtedly it will pop out later, but it's a good start.

Today has been wet food with quite wet porridge and Emeraid. I gave her a grape which I wish I had videoed, because she went at it like a chicken possessed! So her appetite is good. I'm not assuming that it's all going to go well, but it does appear to at least be going better than it has done. I think if I can get her pooping herself, things will start to improve significantly. The question is, how?

Thanks again for all the support and encouragement. When you're under pressure and it feels quite hopeless, this forum and the support that you give is incredible and very very helpful.

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad to hear that she is doing better today. She might have some vent damage from the prolapse or it could be some fungal vent gleet, but once the anesthesia is completely worn off, she might pass her droppings with more ease. The canestan is fine to use. I am glad her scabbing is coming off.

 

[Gezellige_Poes]

What an ordeal for you and your hen! Great thread with great advice and all the things you've done to help your hen. All the straining and overactive system rather caused her to have hemorrhoids (the dark red in the first pics...).

I'm just going to add an ointment type here that I reach for instead of Vaseline. It's some kind of miracle ointment, has healed countless wounds, surgery sites/scars, rashes/diaper rash (for when I had 2 extreme Manx cats, extremely special needs peeps who had to wear diapers and that was a management of crises at times), conditions the skin beautifully. The healing power is incredible! I've used this for decades and cannot imagine my medicine cabinet without it:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/corona-multi-purpose-ointment-14-oz

(Edit: And yes, it says for horses, but horse supplies/meds/treats, etc. are amazing go-to's for so many species. I have a large multi-species household, including cats, dogs, rabbits, fish, and many different birds including chickens, and horse products are part of all my maintenance and crisis/health management routines. Recall that horses have very delicate systems, so taking care of them, one has to be aware that anything and everything can upset their health. Products for horses are extremely well formulated for sensitive systems.)

 

[MandS]

Thank you.

I lubricated her anus and she managed to push a fairly big one out. So I think it's the issue that the urates are just dribbling out of her without mixing with the poop and effectively softening/lubricating it. I'm no expert on this but it would appear logical because it is constantly dripping - about one drop every 30 seconds. It never gets anywhere near the anus, just more or less around it.

I've just done the final clean, lubrication and protection (Manuka honey) and her prolapse was still inside as I started. Officially she pushed out as I was cleaning her, but it did go back in. I hope this becomes more regular over the coming days.

Thanks also for the info about the ointment. Never heard of it. I'll see if it's available in the UK.