Preparation H Part II

So back to Thumby's butt.
Thumby was making all the pre-laying egg noises and searching out dark corners and all sorts of private places. She came to me for assurance as did the others and I picked her up, calmed her, and put her in a nesting box. After a few days of this I was getting worried. Newbies can have all kinds of problems, such as tumors, internal laying, Salpingitis, and finally, a prolapsed oviduct AKA blowout or pickout. Here I quote from Gail Damerow in"The Chicken Health Handbook".
"...pickout is a condition in which the lower part of a hen's oviduct turns inside out and protrudes through the vent. Prolapse occurs most often when a hen starts laying at too young an age, is too fat, or lays unusually large eggs. Caught in time, the prolapse can sometimes be reversed by applying a hemorrhoidal cream(such as Preparation H) and isolating the hen until she improves. Otherwise, the other chickens will pick at her vent, eventually pulling out her oviduct and intestines and causing the hen to die from hemorrhage and shock." Oh no, poor Thumby. We had noticed that her bare butt was bigger and redder than usual not unlike that of the unfortunate baboon.
I flew out out the door to save her and arrived at the barn just as she bent over and sure enough, someone pecked her butt. I scooped her up and put her in sick bay until I could get everything ready. I gathered a small tub, Epsom salts, mineral oil, towels, hair dryer, and went in search of Preparation H. I checked all the likely places in the house and came up empty. What to do? The nearest place to buy it would mean an hour round trip of traveling in the car. Neighbors? Only for the love of Thumby.
"Hello, Barb? This is a little strange, but do you have any hemorrhoidal cream? I need it for my chicken etc...."
"You mean like Preparation H?"
"Yes."
"No, but you should call Carol."
" I can't call Carol. I'll just go buy some."
" Don't be silly. Call her. She's a doctor and she has llamas."
"Okay, I'll call Carol."
No answer at Carol's house. Thumby waiting in sick bay is getting cranky. I decided to proceed with the warm soak and delay the procurement of Preparation H.
After her Epsom salts soak, rinse in glycerin, towel and blow dry, and application of mineral oil to her posterior, thumby was quite mellow and more than willing to nap in sick bay. I tried Carol again.
"Hello," oh crap "David?...This is Tina. Is Carol there?"
"No, she was called to an emergency. She should be back soon. Shall I have her call you?"
All right, I told my self, grow up, buck up.
" No, here's the thing. Do you have any Preparation H? You see I have this chicken....."
"Hold on a minute and I'll go look......................Tina, I found an unopened tube."
I made the 10 minute round trip to Carol and David's to exchange the PH for a dozen eggs. Gallant David met me straight faced at the door with PH in hand and an air of understanding concern. Thank you David. We have lovely neighbors.
Thumby was so relaxed at this point that nothing fazed her. I dosed her inside and out and put her back in sick bay again. After a few hours I decided that I had to release her and monitor the situation. She stretched and did her best to fluff. She looked at me as if to say, "Are we done here?" then marched back to her peeps. Nobody pecked her. As a matter of fact, nobody came near her. I think PH must be a chick repellent because Thumby's butt was still bright red. A couple more hours passed and her butt looked better and still no pecking so I decided that she was safe.
I dosed her again the next day. The next day she laid her egg and I gave a hallelujah amen.
Thumby is doing just fine and I don't really know if she was ever in serious trouble. However I now have the tube of Preparation H in the medicine box just in case.