Friday, July 24, 2009

Another Chicken Problem

I came home from work and went out to feed everybody as usual. John was not here -- he is out showing houses, and writing an offer (Thank God!!! Real estate has been so blasted slow!!). I gave the chickens some bread as a treat, and noticed one of them had a mess on her backside. I won't get into the gross details, but obviously something is wrong. I picked her up and turned her over and things did not look good -- red, swollen, that sort of thing. Her feathers were a mess, too. So I put her in the barn and came inside to search the internet. I think I may have found out what is wrong.

According to what I read, she may have what they call "prolapse." It happens when pullets lay large eggs (you would not believe the size of some of the eggs we've been getting). I guess their insides sort of come out. YUK!! Poor thing! Although she does not act sick or anything. She eats and walks around like normal, and this article I read online said that is the case with prolapse. They say to clean the area, apply Preparation H (no kidding!!) and keep her away from the other chickens (they will peck at the affected area) and in the dark as much as possible so she will stop laying.

So I took a bucket of warm water out there, put on my plastic gloves, and set her down in the water. She was real good about it. I turned her over and tried to wipe her off a bit, and she struggled some with that -- I think her little bum is painful. It sure looks painful. I do not have any Preparation H -- if John calls tonight I will ask him to pick some up on his way home. I guess I could call the neighbors and see if they have any, but that is not the sort of thing you do, I suppose! (lol) We are used to borrowing stuff back and forth with the neighbors, but I think we will draw the line here. This one guy on one of the websites I read said he cured his chicken of this by putting sugar on her first, then the Preparation H....pretty wierd, but I think I will give it a try. I have her in the barn, and I put a large box out there with hay in it -- I laid the box on its side so she can go in to sleep. I closed the window so the cats and/or raccoons won't get in there and bother her.

I hope she makes it......I do not want to have another chicken funeral!

I just went out to check on her before publishing this post -- she was laying on the feed box. Now why would she lay there when I made this perfectly good nesting box for her???












5 comments:

Paint Girl said...

I hope your chicken gets better quick!
You know, reminds me of my dogs, we keep a dog bed in the house for them, but they prefer the hard tile.
Maybe her bum feels better on the hard, cool surface, other than laying in hay where it can poke her?

Desert Rose said...

Isn't that just like a chicken to think she can find a better place for herself than you found for her!!!

Callie said...

Oh , Poor chicky! Yikes. By the way, I have tagged you for an Honest Scrap award, come on over and get it, The award itself is floating around in my little side bar!

The Pink Geranium or Jan's Place said...

OMG, that does not sound fun for the chicken, poor baby.

ouch for her little chicken bum..all she is doing is giving wonderful big eggs, and she gets a darn chicken hemorrhoid!

Victoria Cummings said...

How is she doing? I think the sugar would dry things up - sometimes I use it mixed with iodine for horses' abscesses. Preparation H - I'll bet your neighbors would have a good laugh if you told them the reason you needed it. That's hysterical!