cluckfest Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Just got back from the vets with Twizzle. She has a prolapsed vent, and even the vet could not get it to stay in as she had an egg inside her. The prolapse is still pink and healthy looking so we are hoping we can try to get it back in once she has laid the egg. She is still eating, drinking and pooping. She is now on Baytril and Hibiscrub warm baths with honey smeared on afterwards. She is only 10 months old, and lays virtually every day. I've seen pictures of hens wrapped up in vetrap, not sure my skills are up to that. It feels hopeless at the moment, if we can get it in, is there a chance she might recover or will it keep coming out every time she lays an egg. We have taken her off layers pellets and just giving her corn and mealworms to try to stop her laying. Is there anything else we can do? Am so upset, as we only started keeping chickens last August and have already lost one to suspected Mareks, one to cocciodosis, got one recovered from cocciodosis and now this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egghead68 Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Sorry you are having such a bad time. Several posters have had some success treating prolapses. If you do a search you will find their methods. One was a poster called Plum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egghead68 Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 This thread has advice http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=89695&p=1212520&hilit=Prolapse#p1212520 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egghead68 Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 And this one http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=87227&p=1192343&hilit=Prolapse#p1192343 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckfest Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 Thanks, Egghead68, I'll check them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Unfortunately, the hen described in the second link prolapsed again a couple of months later and had to be culled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola O Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 I had an ex-bat prolapse last november. My sister was visiting for a few days at the time and as an ex vet nurse knew what to try. We smothered her in Prep. H and kept a cotton wadding pressed against her vent to hold it in. We spent a couple of days trying different ways to tie the bandage but she always managed to remove it so decided to wrap her in all directions around her body in vet wrap so there was NO way she could remove it. It means she couldn't poo so every couple of hours we lifted the vet wrap to slip out the wadding, let her poo, made sure she was clean and then more prep. H and wadding back in place. Each time we did this the prolapse popped out but a little less each time. We did this all day and overnight she was left for about 12 hours without a 'toilet break' and in the morning we unwrapped her, she did the most massive poo you've ever seen (sorry if to much information) and it stayed in - yay . I kept her in the cat basket for another day to keep an eye on her and then put her back with her friends. She started laying again about a week later with no problems but then stopped at christmas and hasn't started again - which is fine by me as she is still fit and healthy. Hope this helps. I was so glad it happened when my sister was here as I wouldn't have had a clue otherwise. Nicola. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Unfortunately, the hen described in the second link prolapsed again a couple of months later and had to be culled. Sadly, they rarely stay back in for any length of time as Egluntyne has said. Especially if it's a biggish prolapse. I recently had to cull a friend's hen after we'd tried everything to keep it in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckfest Posted April 24, 2013 Author Share Posted April 24, 2013 Progress report so far - the prolapse is still the same size and it does stay in for a while after we have put it back. I tried to bandage her with vetrap but she got out of it even though I was scared I had made it too tight for her to breath. Clever girl just kept huffing and puffing until she stretched it enough to get out of it. She is also still laying even though she is on corn and kept in the dark apart from when being treated. I don't know how long to keep putting her through this, heaven knows how painful it must be! Thanks for your post Nicola, that sounds like it might be worth persevering as it is not looking any worse and she looks OK apart from the prolapse, and is still eating and drinking. We'll keep going until the weekend and reassess then. Thanks to all for you help and advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 You can induce broodiness and slow/halt egg laying by withdrawing food and giving only water for 12 hours, then re-introducing food such as wheat. It's a bit hit and miss TBH and there's no guarantee that she won't prolapse again I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola O Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Progress report so far - the prolapse is still the same size and it does stay in for a while after we have put it back. I tried to bandage her with vetrap but she got out of it even though I was scared I had made it too tight for her to breath. Clever girl just kept huffing and puffing until she stretched it enough to get out of it. Just thought I'd add - we used a LONG length of vet wrap and criss-crossed it all round her body. We crossed it between her legs, up her chest, over her back, down and under her wings etc., in a kind of figure of eight all over her (it was something we saw when we did a google) as Henrietta managed to get out of the first few bandages we did. We found that the wrapping caused her to lose her balance so we kept her in the small box and after an hour or so she worked out to lean on the side to stop herself from falling over (we kept her wings 'out' so she could use them to help her balance). It worked for us so I hope it works for Twizzle (great name ) Nicola Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweety Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 One of my ex batts had quite a bad prolapse, which I could not get back in myself. I took her to the vet, expecting that he would say there was no hope, but he managed to get it back in and stitched it. The stitch was removed after 24 hours, and she had no more problems with it at all, much to my amazement. It may be worth a try if all else fails. Fingers crossed for Twizzle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckfest Posted April 26, 2013 Author Share Posted April 26, 2013 Well, the prolapse stayed in from Wednesday night until she laid an egg at 4pm today, then it just popped out a small way. She was slightly bloody so I cleaned her up and the prolapse retracted on its own before I could push it back in She has been out FR with her mates in the sunshine yesterday and today for an hour or two, coming back in the house when she was getting distressed about laying her egg. I admire your bravery and tenacity, Nicola O, I was terrified when I tried the vetrap and hope I don't have to get to grips with advanced bandaging techniques I would like to stop her laying ideally, Dogmother, what kind of wheat should I feed after the 12 hour abstinence period How long should we keep her on this diet? It would mean keeping her on her own to stop her eating the other girl's pellets. We have had her on corn and porridge with mealworms so far. She probably won't lay again until Sunday, so if I can get her stop laying now, it would certainly improve her chances. Thanks for all you help and support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 I'd give her at least a week on wheat to help the healing. Arnica will help with this too - bung her a couple of pillules twice a day to promote tissue healing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola O Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Well, the prolapse stayed in from Wednesday night until she laid an egg at 4pm today, then it just popped out a small way. She was slightly bloody so I cleaned her up and the prolapse retracted on its own before I could push it back in She has been out FR with her mates in the sunshine yesterday and today for an hour or two, coming back in the house when she was getting distressed about laying her egg. So glad to hear she is doing well . I admire your bravery and tenacity, Nicola O, I was terrified when I tried the vetrap and hope I don't have to get to grips with advanced bandaging techniques Thanks, but it was all down to my sister. She went into vet nurse mode and was brilliant - she googled and read loads of articles and watched you tube clips and just went for it . Left on my own I would have paniced and wouldn't have had a clue what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckfest Posted April 26, 2013 Author Share Posted April 26, 2013 Thanks, but it was all down to my sister. She went into vet nurse mode and was brilliant - she googled and read loads of articles and watched you tube clips and just went for it . Left on my own I would have paniced and wouldn't have had a clue what to do. It was very lucky timing that your sister was there. I'll do some googling myself, just in case! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluckfest Posted May 7, 2013 Author Share Posted May 7, 2013 I'm sad to report that we lost the battle with Twizzle's prolapse. It returned bigger than before, and she started to become distressed trying to lay an egg with all the swelling to contend with as well. We decided to call it a day. OH was in tears at the vets, can't believe how attached we have become to these funny little souls. RIP Twizzle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I'm sorry to hear that but you did the best thing under the circumstances, it would have been pretty uncomfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egghead68 Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I'm so sorry. You did everything you could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purplemaniacs Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 So sorry. Chrissie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
