Britannia Ovens (esp Range cookers) your experience

[Henhathnofury]

I found this on the poultry site discussion forum and wondered how much this related to other henkeepers' experiences and opinions:

 

We had this problem, too, and with help from this site and the internet, our hen also healed.

 

Some additional comments: We found that the Preparation H was not helpful. Preparation H is supposed to help hemorrhoidal tissues by shrinking blood vessels. However, even though prolapse is at the chicken's vent, prolapsed tissues are NOT hemorrhoids, or related to hemorrhoids (which are swollen blood vessels). Prolapses are the insides of the chicken, not swollen blood vessels. Applying treatments such as Preparation H shrinks the blood vessels of the chicken's prolapsed tissues, but Preparation H does not shrink the prolapse. Instead, it inhibits blood circulation in the prolapsed tissues, which delays healing, because the blood carries healing nutrients. Shrinking the blood vessels in the prolapsed tissues also means that any infection in those tissues cannot be cleared away as easily by the blood. So, although using Preparation H seems "right", on an intuitive level, using it is actually counterproductive.

 

We did try it at first, in our panic and before we had a chance to really think about what Preparation H does. And, actually, at least in our hen, we found the Preparation H actually increased inflammation. It certainly did nothing to shrink the prolapsed tissue or help it in any way at all. But that's because prolapse is NOT a hemorrhoid, or similar to a hemorrhoid.

 

We also found that pushing the prolapsed tissue back inside wasn't helpful. It's a difficult urge to avoid, though, because we want all that "stuff" to be back inside the hen. I suspect, however, that in pushing the prolapsed tissue back in, we might not get things back in there "just right". We also risk introducing harmful bacteria. So we stopped trying to push the tissues back inside and let Nature take over.

 

We did find many other recommendations helpful. Here's what worked for us:

 

We found that the best thing was to clean her back end off as best we could and then isolate her. We cleaned her by holding her back end over the kitchen sink and letting warm water run over the area. We tried to dissolve the dried poop on the prolapsed tissues, but we were unsuccessful in that. We could tell that pulling or picking on it could harm those fragile tissues so, reluctantly, we left the poop where it was.

 

The advice we read was that, if you can isolate the hen, keep her warm and inactive, and keep her from producing eggs for a few days, so the tissue isn't re-stressed, then many prolapses will heal on their own. This turned out to be true for us.

 

The way they recommend to stop the laying process is to (1) keep them in the pitch dark. (Egg laying is dependent on the light/dark cycle of day and night.) (2) Reduce feed to a mere maintenance level, so there is no "extra" nutrition that the hen needs in order to produce an egg.

 

They recommended that the isolation not exceed three days (72) hours. Otherwise, the flock will not "recognize" the hen anymore, and the flock will focus on her and where she should be in the pecking order (and we don't need to have the prolapsed hen pecked on at this time, do we?) So they recommended reintroducing the hen to the flock after the flock had gone to roost and it was dark in the hen house. That way, when the flock awakens in the morning, it's as if the prolapsed hen had never been gone.

 

The technique worked. Here are some of the other specifics of what we did:

 

We used an old dog travel crate and put it in our house, in a spare room. We put blankets over the windows and over the travel crate, to keep the space dark and warm. (Do leave gaps for ventilation, of course.) Warmth is one of the great healers for birds, as they have very high metabolisms. If we can remove the need for them to "waste" energy keeping their bodies warm, they can focus this energy on the healing process.

 

We plenty of straw in the bottom of the crate. The crate had feed and water dishes that attached to the door. so we kept water in the water dish and a small amount of feed in the food dish.

 

Once we had cleaned the hen's backside as best we could (again, avoiding picking at any dried poop, even though it was on the prolapsed tissue), we dried the hen off, put her in the travel crate, and kept her in the dark and quiet.

 

The hen settled right down. Because it was pitch dark and so quiet in there, there was no stress for her at all. She hardly moved a muscle between the times we checked on her. I think she either slept or was in a kind of day-dream state. We checked on her two or three times a day, turning the light on so she could see to eat and drink. We removed any poop and freshened up her water each time. Our hens are pets, so she also got some affection and was able to "visit" with us for a short while. Then, it was back into the crate.

 

We offered chopped hard boiled egg mixed with a little cod liver oil and vitamin E. The egg offers "perfect" protein for healing damaged tissues. The cod liver oil is very healing and helps fight infection. The vitamin E helps damaged tissues. If you can also offer raw milk or yogurt (that contains plenty of live cultures), this will also help your hen avoid infection. She ate those foods eagerly and did not lay any eggs during her isolation period.

 

Her prolapse improved each day. By the final night, she wasn't quite back to normal yet, but much, much better. We were some hours short of the full 72 hours, but we knew that waiting until the next night would put us over the 72 hour limit. So we put her on the roost with the others after everyone was settled down in the dark.

 

In the morning, she was up and about with the others, acting as if nothing had happened. The prolapse was not quite "perfect" yet, but again, somewhat better than the night before. At least it was not so prominent and red that any of the other hens noticed or pecked at her.

 

It is months later now. This hen has fully recovered, and she has not prolapsed since.

 

I hope something in our story might help you, too, Sally. Our hen was so bad that we thought she would die, and she is now fully recovered.

 

So take heart and good luck!

[Egluntyne]

I agree with the isolation, darkness and maintenance diet.....in fact I posted something along those lines only the other day.

 

Not entirely convinced about the argument about preparation H. Celebrities use it to reduce the bags under their eyes successfully and they are not blood vessels either!

[Snowy]

Most of it makes sense, as Egluntine says. But I thought the preparation H was applied to the vent after the prolapse had been pushed back in - it would tighten up the vent reducing the risk of relapse, rather than being applied to the prolapsed tissue. Also difficult to see how the prolapse could be pushed back into the wrong place Where else would it go???

[Henhathnofury]

....blimey, that's some beauty tip. I would love to believe that a prolapse could resolve itself with some of these tips but with some chickens, I think that their muscles are shot. Cod liver oil sounds sensible...presumably can't do any harm.

[Henhathnofury]

Having a chicken with the problem, as I have now, makes me desperate to find solutions....

[kitchens]

Many women have prolapses and end up needing to have an operation. Their prolapses won't heal up by themselves regardless of how many pelvic floor exercises they do. It's no different for chickens.

The fact that they keep laying eggs means the muscles are pushing out every day of the year and as a previous post says - the muscles are shot to pieces.

 

Nice to think that if these ladies were chickens they would have had their necks wrung.

[The Dogmother]

Basically (and bluntly) speaking, it is possible to push a prolapse back in and for it to stay in. This can be helped by deterring them from laying - darkness, no pellets, pot eggs to induce broodiness.

 

But, and that is a big B U T; prolapses tend to recurr and the poor hen will probably eventually need to be PTS

 

Prolonged and regular egg laying, especially in hybrids just knackers their egg-tackle, the muscle tone is lost and so is any hope of keeping it in where it belongs! If it bothers you, then try getting some pure breeds - they lay far less, and smaller eggs, so hardly ever suffer from prolapses.

[Redwing]

I pushed my hens prolapse back in and it seems to be wanting to stay put so far although she does lay the odd huge egg which has me a bit worried sometimes

 

I used sugar to contract the tissue as I didnt have any Prep H to hand! it didnt contract the tissue massively but I was able to ease it all back in (tiny bits of poop and all - like the writer of the piece above I couldnt get it all off!) the way I looked at it was that it was a rubber glove turned inside out so needed to go back with all of the corners eased out so there were no creases, it was pretty straightforward and surprisingly un-icky!

 

I guess it depends on how quickly the prolapse is spotted, I spotted my hen's quickly (I believe) as it was light pink and shiny and the swelling was not too bad but I have seen pics of filthy, dark red or black distended tissue and I suppose thats a whole other ball game

 

I agree with the maintenance diet, the warmth and the darkness however

 

The thing that did worry me reading the above story was that an egg can be in the system some hours I believe so another egg could be in transit by the time the prolapse happens so leaving the prolapse out may cause complications when that egg reaches the exit????

[Henhathnofury]

I caught it early too but although it could be pushed back in, it fell out again. This also happened in the expert hands of the vet. We have tried cream from the vet, plus ant-inflammatories for the pain, antibiotics to ward off any infection. I think we have run the full gamit of things to do. I have known really that this is the end...I just hoped, really. I think it depends on muscle tone and although some hens may prolapse, theirs can be pushed back in and will hold. My girl - laying huge eggs every day for two years has simply destroyed it. I'm was very dubious about honey...as it can attract flies. But the advice was interesting.

 

Yes, we are going to go to pure breed route in future. This has been heartbreaking because despite suffering from a prolapse, she is eating and drinking with gusto, wanting to be with her mates even though she has to be separated. It now all comes down to quality of life.