How Quickly Does Albendazole Work?

[wiganchooks]

Hello

 

Margaret, an ex-batt has been struggling with an inflamed rear for a week or so and had gone off laying (or perhaps laying softies that were being eaten). Otherwise eating and pooing fine, and fine in herself. She then began to peck a bit at her vent so I coated it in the good old purple gential violet spray.

 

However this morning I found her with a prolapse, it sticks out about 3-4 cm and has crusty, grey and white coating. I've been able to remove some of that by soaking but some will not come away. Vets around here won't look at chickens but I did get some baytril a while ago and have given her 1ml this morning in case it can help guard againsy infection.

 

I've tried pushing it back in but it comes out again. She seems out of sorts and quiet and a bit hunched up.

 

I've read threads and other sites about this but I have a few questions which I can't get clear:

 

1. Would it cause (more?) infection if I tried to get it back in (honey, haemarooid cream etc) while it is still encrusted? I think the coating is just poo etc but don't want to cause more trouble. I did take a picture but it isnt' great quality. I don't think any of the tissue is damaged yet or dead though.

 

2. What changes should I make to her diet (other than more calcium) to stop her trying to produce eggs and lay? They are on a mix of ex-batt feed and organic layers pellets at the moment (plus veg and corn).

 

Any advice welcome. For now she is still in with my other hen as I've coated the prolapse with gentian violet and the other hen has paid it no attention. I could separate them overnight though.

 

Many thanks for any ideas,

[Egluntyne]

Some advice here on treating a prolapsed vent. **Click**.

 

A maintenance diet, which will keep her ticking over, but won't encourage egg formation would consist something like winter wheat, which you could get at a grain merchants but for immediate use, weetabix made up with water will suffice.

 

Something else you can do to put her off lay is to keep her in a darkened cage for 14+ hours out of the 24. You may need to do this for quite a few weeks.

 

Giving an antibiotic that you have in stock isn't a good idea as it might not be appropriate, and may have passed its use by date.

[wiganchooks]

Thanks for that link Eglutyne.

 

She seemed fine all afternoon and the prolapse seemed to retract a bit. However when I checked them after being out for a few hours I found that it had all gone back in but blood is now coming out ...

 

She's sleepy due to the time of day so I can't tell if she's ok in herself. I've cleaned it up and taken her inside in a carry box with bedding and just some bread and water. Will see what she is like in the morning, but it doesn't look good. The blood is definitely coming from within, not a tear or peck on the outer part of the vent. If she's ok in herself tomorrow morning I'll try to keep her dark and on wet wheetabix for a bit and see if the bleeding stems, however I'm afraid of what might happen if she tries to lay tomorrow.

[Plum]

Agree with Egluntyne but sounds like she needs the antibiotics. Just ring the vet or visit to check it's ok or get some more. The bleeding may be associated with infection. You say her rear was inflamed so may have had infection of the oviduct which causes the membranes lining the track to adhere to the egg. The vet may give you an anti inflammatory like metacam at the same time.

 

Prolapses are bad news and outlook often is not good but keep my fingers crossed for you.

If you can keep an eye out for laying and if you see she is struggling you can break the egg to make it easier while she heals but make sure you get all the egg out and inside is really clean. you can keep spraying with purple spray, it is antiseptic as well as disguise.

 

Don't forget to give grit if you are feeding grain. I got hold of some chick grit which doesn't have the calcium in it.

[wiganchooks]

Thanks Plum

 

I thought I'd come downstairs to a dead chicken this morning as she was silent (unusual) but she is still hanging on. The bleeding has stopped and she's had some wheat cereal, a bit of bread and is drinking. She perked up a bit when put back in the run with her friend, but then seemed to fall asleep, so I've got her back inside in the warmth again.

But prolapse and blood-free is progress so I'll just have to see how she goes over the next day or so in other respects.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I had a hen with a prolapse the day before we went on holiday in July .

 

In the evening/morning before we left I slathered it with Prep H, pushed it in gently and held my (gloved ) hand over her vent for a few minutes to try prevent her straining it out again. I did this every time I could see it had popped out again (not during the night obviously!). I left her in a box in the house overnight to keep her quiet and still.

 

I left the same instructions for my friend who only did it once or twice but the prolapse went back in and has stayed in ever since. Maisie wasn't laying though, so that probably helped.

 

I took a photo as I was a bit concerned about the whitish coating too - wasn't sure if it should be removed or not but I couldn't anyway.

 

*only click if you're not squeamish/not eating your tea*

[wiganchooks]

Ain't "Ooops, word censored!"ody Here love the photo... yes, that was it. I have a similar photo for the record

 

She perked up again this afternoon and there's no more blood coming out and it's stayed in so far, so she's back outside. She's very quiet and fluffed up but eating treats and is taking the odd stroll around. Hopefully improvement will continue tomorrow. Really glad to hear yours stayed in. I'm going to have to see what happens when she lays again. I've been able to keep her in the dark until lunchtime, then off the layers pellets and on wheat and veg today but it's not feasible long-term to keep them feeding/living separately.

 

I'm still suspicious as to what's causing the rest of her ailment, I think the prolapse was just a symptom of another problem, Plum's suggestion of an infection of the oviduct sounds possible. Let's hope the antibiotics deal with that one.

 

Thanks for the advice,

[Plum]

If the prolapse is inside then the lubrication in the vent will help that stuff slough off. If it's outside the vent then I think it's best to put cream on to keep it from drying up. Good news though that it's gone back

 

It won't hurt the others to put a dark cover over the run outside for a while to deter laying while she heals. I did that with the second one of mine that prolapsed.

 

Still hoping for a good recovery

[wiganchooks]

Hello

 

I thought I would just update this, in case anybody else is searching the forum (as I was last week) for info on prolapses.

 

The prolapse has stayed in for 5 days now and she has not laid. I did darken the run as Plum suggested, the other one kept on laying (although smaller eggs), but I have removed the cover now. The hen who had prolapsed is still not 100%, she is quiet, has noticeably lost weight and has slight diarrhoea, but is much better than this time last week. I have put her back onto normal food to see if this helps settle her stomach, and she is happily eating it plus mealworms for an extra boost.

 

So a cautious for now. I will be interested to see if she makes a full recovery or not, and if she ever manages to lay again without it reoccurring. What caused it in the first place is still a mystery, but I think there was/still is some underlying illness/infection.

 

Thanks for all advice/comments received!

[Plum]

You've made my day. Fingers crossed for a full recovery.