Prolapsed chicken

[Chantal]

I'm traumatised today. My little Pekin Cuckoo chicken tried to lay an oversized egg in the night and has had a prolapse. She's currently at the vet being cleaned up and put back together. However, assuming she even survives this, what are the chances of this happening again and is there anything I can do to help avoid it eg, mixing olive oil with her feed. She's less than a year old and this is only her third egg; apart from this she's a very healthy active little bird. I don't care if she never lays again but I don't want her to suffer or to die. Can anyone help?

[John]

Hello Chantal
Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings but this problem is likely to recur. As she is just getting into the laying business, hopefully you will be lucky and she will settle down to normal laying without any more problems. Is she overweight as this will contribute to the problem?
I must say though that in my experience, once a bird has shown a weakness in this area the outlook is not good. Also be on the look out for vent pecking from the other hens as they can be very cruel if they sense any weakness in one of their sisters.

John

[Loz]

Hi Chantal

How did your pekin fare?

I have had three prolapse in the last year, and all but one were OK and now laying. John is quite right in that often it is an ongoing problem, especially if the prolapse was a bad one. I have found that it does tend to be inherited too, with some lines being more prone than others.


Loz