On Saturday morning I woke up early and went outside to check on the chickens.
Warning: 'this account is graphic in nature and may not be suitable for all readers. reader discretion is advised.' (*snicker*, i watch too much t.v.)
The chickens were thrilled to have some corn sprinkled on the sidewalk for them and they went to town. Then I noticed Luna and her fluffly chicken rear end. She was squatting slightly and her tail feathers were puffed out as wide as they could be. Interestingly her vent seemed to be inside out. YIKES! I proceeded to freak out and race upstairs certain she was probably going to die. My mom, utterly concerned, said, "There's nothing I can do about it right now.Did you look it up on the computer?" Very anti-climatic.
I went back downstairs and researched the computer busily, not sure what I was even looking for. I did have a feeling it was fairly common.
Now I know that Luna, who lays very large eggs had what is a called a
prolapsed vent/oviduct, meaning that in the process of laying an egg her duct was very nearly laid with it. Not good.
Causes (as found on the world wide web): Calcium deficiency, an egg that is on the large side for that specific chicken and also possibly that chicken started laying very young.
In Luna's case most likely she laid a very large egg, because she does that everyday. She may also be slightly calcium deficient. I raced outside and emptied half the bag of oyster shells onto the dirt in their coop. Oyster shells are rich in calcium and chickens are big fans.
Treatments for prolapsed ducts vary. Some make more sense to me than others.
A chicken can die from this problem if it happens very frequently and treatment does not fix the problem, or if there is a tear and bleeding. Other chickens may even peck at the protruding duct which is BAD. Stop them. Seperate them. I did not have to separate Luna from my other hens because 1, my hens are nice and 2, on day one of the problem the prolapse resolved itself. I also figured that separating her from fun, freedom and friends would really piss her off and make everything worse. So I did not.
On Sunday, the second prolapse occured and I wasn't waiting to see if it would self-resolve again. Sooo...
1. Push the prolapse back where it came from. Do so with latex gloves and a warm, wet paper towel. The chicken may seem uncomfortable but just get it over with because you're a farmer and you have to.
2. Apply ointment. I recommend A&D (baby butt) ointment! It worked for me :) The skin needs to stay moist and germs must be kept away. Other suggestions I came across were vaseline and prep H (a prolapse is somewhat like a hemerroid).
I did everything I could and had to wait til Monday...
Monday morning I geared up before going outside. Warm wet paper towel, check. Ointment, check. Towel, check (for setting Luna on my lap. Chickens have filthy feet and I didn't want to feel farm girl all day with muddy jeans).
I didn't need the gear afterall. I checked for a prolapse and there was none! I applied more ointment just to be safe. I also checked for her egg and found it so it seems like she laid with a problemt. Eggcellent news if I do say so myself and I feel pretty proud for doing the dirty work without squeemishness.
Got'r Done.
HAHAHAHA, I crack myself up.
The part of my weekend that was not spent engaged with chichen emergency was spend gardening. The yard looks mighty tidy and smells like dirt. This morning I woke up and heard birds outside! The chickens had an adventure while we were all outside working. They were allowed to free range in the front yard! They're such good, obedient little chickens and stayed in the yard the whole time. To anyone who thinks chickens aren't smart, mine will prove you wrong. And not only are they smart, they're friendly and very good company.
