[Amy6]

Hello
Still new to this really, had my ladies about 10 months.
Went out just now to let them out of the run to find that Babs has a blooming bottom, with a sort of jelly sac there, is this a prolapse?? She had just laid.
I have four hens and this is a first, what should I do, she seems absolutely fine and happily running around eating etc...
Should I rush off to vets or will it sort itself out   
Any help hugely appreciated..
Amy

[joyfull]

is her flesh protruding out?
whilst she is like this though remove her from the others as they will peck the rear end

[Amy6]

I'm not sure about flesh, just looks like a jelly sac..
The others are not bothering with her at the moment but obviously might this eve, I don't have space to separate them, they have one coop and a run.. ideas?

[Casey76]

Prolapses should be considered a medical emergency.

If she already has blood visible, then the other chickens will peck at it, possibly until they have eaten all her insides away!  Chickens are cannibals, and are merciless to those showing injuries.  This may sound overly dramatic, but it's not.

Bring her inside the house; you will need to examine her vent.  Examine the area for open wounds.  If you are lucky she may not have been pecked yet.

If there is no visible injury clean the area with antiseptic soap, and lubricate with KY jelly and pop the prolapse back in.  you may have to hold the vent shut with your fingers for a minute or two so that the muscles keep the memory of where they should be.

If the area is swollen, then a cream such as Preparation H or Germaloids will be helpful, as they will reduce the swelling.

Next, you need to keep her quiet, and try to stop her laying for a few days; so pop her in a box with an old towel (or similar) in the bottom.  If you have a cat carrier, then straight wheat and water can be fed from D/galley cups.  Put the box somewhere warm and fairly dark, where she will not be disturbed.

You will need to check her several times a day to make sure the prolapse has stayed put - especially after defectation.

If after 48 hours, the prolapse keeps coming back out, or the tissue starts to become dry, you should take her to the vet, who may want to put a stitch in her vent (not ideal, especially for hens in lay)

Just be warned, thouhg.  While successes are heard of, they are fairly rare, and once a hen prolapses they become prone to it, and often it has a very bad prognosis

[joyfull]

bring her inside and sit her in a sink of warm water - it sounds like she may have a broken egg inside her - keep her in the warm water for at least half an hour to see if she passes the egg. Dry her off with a hair dryer set on warm not hot. If she doesn't pass it or the yolk appears to be broken then get her to a vet for anti biotics.

[Amy6]

Thank you very much for your replies and i'll try those, she had just layed so I'm presuming no egg left in there, the egg was whole too so hopefully no shell.
I'll run off and find a box for her now and some ky jelly, bless her although she seems blissfully unaware at the moment...

[Amy6]

Thank you for your help today, I did try and pop back in myself but it wouldn't stay. I took her to the vets and sadly it wasn't good news 
Poor Babs.

[Tigerwren]

Sorry to hear your sad news Amy

[bantam novice]

So sorry, Amy.  You did everything you could.