Sooo much pooping

[keyhole kate]

Apologies to the mods for posting both in Chickens and Chicken Clinic but thought this may be of interest to the wider audiences of those who like myself might only pop into the chicken clinic when we have a poorly hen

 

Cinderella my 1 year old little frizzle suffered a prolase on Tuesday despite putting it back several times and trying the bandage support advice I had to finally admit defeat and took her to my local vets who admit they are not experts on poultry but do frequently see chickens and the vet I saw has previously kept chickens herself.

There was the obvious option to have her pts or the no guarantee anasthetic purse string suture surgery at an approx cost of £100 Yep you have guessed it I am £137.85 worse off as of collecting her today I know lot of people on here will think I am mad to spend that much on a chicken especially as she now needs special care I have to watch and feel for signs of her laying at which point I have to loosen the nifty little toggles made by the vet to allow the vent to expand to allow her to lay But despite the cost I felt it was only right she had to have her chance ( vet said it looked good on paper and it very keen to see if it works in practise typically she hasen't laid whilst at the vets for 5 days ) Bless her little heart she was so pleased to see me today and looked as bright as a button Both the vet and I hope this is a temporary measure and hope that once she has put on a little weight and built up a little muscle the purse tring may be removed. He did suggest that the fact she has half moulted but carried on laying could be the cause due to using up more calcium than she was intaking as muscles need a lot of calcium and that extra supplements of limestone flour and minerals might be of benefit if I had another hen moulting and laying . I am in a right quandry now as I only seem to be able to get farmgate Layers pellets around here and wonder if these are nutritionaly good enough I feel I now want to source a better/different product

[mollyripkim]

No advice I''m afraid but no I don't think you are mad at all and I would have done the same in your situation especially as she is only a year old. Hope all goes well, fingers crossed xx

[sandyhas3chucks]

me too.

[Plum]

I pm'd you Kate about preventing laying because I thought the thread was locked

 

'you can help stop them laying by darkening the area your girl is in. I had one with a prolapse last year and by covering the run in a dark tarpaulin and feeding her food such as wheat, corn, weetabix, dry porridge oats and some grit she stopped laying while it healed.'

[Egluntyne]

The identical thread in 'Chickens' was locked, as it gets very messy when people are responding to the identical topic in two different places.

 

You can also cut down her laying by putting her to bed in a very dark coop very early, a sort of artificial winter. If you make certain that she has access to fewer than 14 hours daylight out of 24, it should do the trick.

[Plum]

Thanks, I'm not senile yet then

[sandyhas3chucks]

don't want to be a downer, but never had ANY luck in any of the recommendations in slowing down or stopping my girls

I have had a few go off lay when they were very poorly, for a week - 4 .

I have however used the delvosterone injection on 3 girls very successfully with no side effects.

2 had simply 1 injection to give them a break and 1 is about to have her 2nd.

On another forum someone said their vet says no to the injections as they cause fatty liver disease.

However my vet and I have discussed it and he does not feel this is the case, and other than cost there are other advantages over implants... IMO

good luck with your girl

[keyhole kate]

Thanks Plum and Egluntyne for the advice

I will definately restrict her daylight hours and alter her diet too however on the vets advice I need to try and fatten her up and increase her calcium levels as the vet suggested that her low weight at 0.81 and the possibility that her calcium levels may be low could have led to the problem as she was trying to refeather and lay. Do you think some cheese scramled egg and rice pudding would be okay in moderation of course

 

sandyhas3chucks

The more experienced vet was not there when I collected her so I was unable to ask about more permenant ways of stopping her laying but I expect they will call me with a follow up appointment (more money )

 

To be fair to the vets ( Barton Lodge, Hemel Hempstead ) they hadn't charged me for 2 X rays they took to check for any developing eggs and only for 3 nights stay not the 5 she was there for

[Plum]

Growers pellets would feed her up and a supplement like Lifeguard gives the trace minerals

[sandyhas3chucks]

the bird care company does some good stuff too, and Malcolm is the guy to speak too.

They do a multi vit and mineral called feather up that lots of people swear by. I use their poultry essentials and calcivet (has given me best results of all the calcium sups I have tried. I "think the rrrp for delvosterone is something like £7 but my vet is like yours. 6weeks lasted on this one so far,. good luck

[Dolly]

Hi Kate

Sorry to hear about your poorly girl. And no, I don't think you're mad either!

I tried the Suprelorin implant for one of my girls who kept getting soft egg shells stuck inside her, it did work (at a cost of about £50 plus the consultation fee) but only lasted 5 weeks - from the reports I'd read on the forum I was hoping for about 6 months! It did give her a break though and she's (fingers crossed tightly and holding breath) been ok since.

Good luck!

[The Dogmother]

Dicey as to whether it will work

 

To stop her laying, starve of food and water for 24 hours, then introduce water with Life-Guard for a further 12 hours, then start to feed again but don't give layers feed. Restricting daylight as described above helps too.

[keyhole kate]

Just back from the Vets after a follow up appointment the vet is very pleased with her progress still no sign of any eggs I told him what I was doing ie daylight, feeding, lifeguard he said I was doing all the right things and that the key to it all is the longer you can stop her from laying betters the chance of success. Her weight has increased from 0.81grms to 1Kg and there as signs of new feathers appearing bless her she really does look like an ex batt. I dont have to take her back unless I need to he said the sutures have already worked there way to the surface and are not as deep 1 week on they will eventually work there way to the surface when I can snip the loop and pull out I am not looking forward to that. I am just this will be a one off event.

[Plum]

What a tiny girl, it all sounds promising. Don't bother laying little frizzle.

[sandyhas3chucks]

yeh.. fingers crossed

[jos]

Hi, I've just caught up with this thread and just wanted to say my chicken, Spooks, had this proceedure done 18months ago and she is still a happy healthy chicken. The only problem she has is it seems her ability to poo efficiently is decreased so she sometimes gets a mucky bottom.

Other than that no problem!

With me it happened at a weekend and cost alot more than £100 but as she has had 18months of happy life since, I reckon it's been money well spent!

J

[keyhole kate]

Thanks jos she is still doing well and still no sign of an egg Incidently I too have a girl called Spook