Henrietta still prolapsed....

Fuzzyfelt123

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:-)06 My lovely Henrietta still remains prolapsed despite 3 attemps to replace it ( annusol, honey tried) kept her in the garage for a few days but let her out today with me to free range ( she follows me around), loves looking for worms and is so sweet. However, she heads straight for the coop and tries to get back in. I let the other girls out to free range but they just chase her, and peck her if she gets near them. They haven't pecked her prolapse - just her :? . I really do not know what to do - do i just keep her if she seems happy otherwise? I haven't really sussed out the other girls personalities, Henrietta is the only one who follows me about .......
 
Its is a difficult one, isn't it? If she likes it in the coop, could you perhaps let her roost in there with the others overnight, and then seperate her in the morning? If she still seems to have a good quality of life, ie is bright and not obviously in pain, could you perhaps divide your run with netting or mesh, so she could be in her own section and could see the others with no risk that she would get pecked? Then she would have some company through the wire and if it ever became possible, would probably be able to rejoin them with no social problems or further pecking. The others may be pecking her because she has been out of the run for too long and they have formed a social order without her, so they see her as an intruder to be repulsed.
If you can keep the prolapse clean and do your best to keep it in, she may have a chance, but you need to face the fact that her present state may only be a temporary respite and a complete cure is unlikely, especially if she tries to lay again and strains to do so. She is at risk of peritonitis, where an egg either travels the wrong way down into her gut instead of her oviduct, which can happen in hens, or breaks inside her if it has a soft shell which she strains to expel, and either of these happenings will cause bacterial infection and a lot of pain. So if she becomes quiet and hunched up and stops pecking around, that will be the time for the hard decision maybe.
 
Thanks Marigold - i didn't expect to have these types of decisions so early on - I would never keep her going if she looks in pain - and i know her future isn't bright but even is she manages a few weeks of 'free-range' life whilst she is happy then i think it will be worth it .
 
Hi Fuzzyfelt. No-one deserves these sorts of problems so early in their chicken keeping life and you have my profound sympathies. Clearly you have a firm grasp of the situation and I hope it works out favourably.
 
You do learn a lot very fast when you take on ex- batts as your first hens, and unfortunately not all of it is what you would have expected or wanted to experience so soon in your career with chickens. If instead you had got young hybrid birds you would still have possibly encountered similar problems 2 or 3 years down the line, but of course these girls have been working hard and waiting for you to come along since 2010! Are the others all OK? Do keep us updated about Henrietta.
 
the other girls seem ok - although i have spent so much time with Henrietta that i haven't got to know the other girls at all! They haven't laid any eggs for 3 days now - giving them ex-bat layers, ground egg shell , acv, and a little corn before bed.....anything else i should give?
 
It's very common for hens to go off lay when they're settleing in to a new home, especially at this time of year. They may also have been kept under artificial light before you got them, to keep them in lay, and are now adapting to more natural rhythms, in other words, doing what everybody else's outdoor hens are doing and slowing down or stopping because there isn't enough light to stimulate them into lay. Also, let's face it, if they had still been in the middle of a profitable and reliable egglaying season, the farmer wouldn't have been getting rid of them, would he?
No need to worry, they will get back on the job in their own good time!
 
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