Sad News We have some sad news today, one of our ladies (hen) suffered a prolapse today and sadly had to be put to sleep. This can be a common problem during moulting and in Hybrids . We were told by the vets today that they have seen a large increase in this problem lately - around 20 cases in just the last few weeks! We have never seen this problem in all the years we have had chickens and she will be sadly missed. A prolapse is when the insides of the chickens vent protrude outside of the vent, it can cause the other chickens to peck at it and cause pain and discomfort to the chicken and prove fatal. Firstly you need to separate the chicken from the others, you can try to ease the insides back into the Vent with warm water or honey but the chances of that being successful are very slim, and certainly not pleasant - for either party. We tried this to no avail and called the Vets for help, they said they had tried with another chicken for two weeks to fix the prolapse, they couldn't stitch due to egg laying, and the chicken sadly had to be put to sleep. If a chicken does pull through this, it will most likely happen again. Always take time to have a good look at your hens, and if in doubt call the Vets for help and advice. Its been a sad day for us at Eltham Hen House RIP "W" :-( |