Blocked vent ? Egg bound ?

[Raventor]

My hen is being pecked to pieces by the rest of the flock. I've bathed her in warm water for 20 mins. She's otherwise ok, making nice chicken noises and eating and drinking well. Keeping her warm and safe but is there anything else I can do to help her ?
Is this is a blocked vent or egg bound ? How can I prevent this in future?

Picture in miscellaneous as I can't upload image here :-/

Not encountered this before and worried.

Thank you in anticipation - Raventor

 

[chooks4life]

My hen is being pecked to pieces by the rest of the flock. I've bathed her in warm water for 20 mins. She's otherwise ok, making nice chicken noises and eating and drinking well. Keeping her warm and safe but is there anything else I can do to help her ?
Is this is a blocked vent or egg bound ? How can I prevent this in future?

Picture in miscellaneous as I can't upload image here :-/

Not encountered this before and worried.

Thank you in anticipation - Raventor

You didn't have a folder called 'miscellaneous' so I went looking and came up with this one:
Quote:

I don't see a definite prolapse, or any signs of egg binding, but a photo doesn't always show either anyway. A blocked vent maybe. Why didn't that lump of feces (?) soak out/off?

It's possible it's a very old, necrotic prolapse, but the photo isn't clear enough.

Does she pant regularly, or have her tail/body angled downwards at the rear in any non-normal way, or look like she's straining? If not, it's probably not an egg binding, but that's not a 100% guarantee.

Can you dislodge the blockage? It should come out, if it's feces anyway... If it's a rotting prolapse, that would likely be a vet case.

Best wishes.

 

[casportpony]

You should clean off the poop and very gently check the inside of her vent for a stuck egg, Put on glove, water based lube, insert finger and very gently insert it (an inch is usually enough). Here are some pictures to help you visualize where and egg should be:












If you clean off the poop and find bloody tissue or yellow, cheese like pus, hold off on doing the exam and post a new picture.

-Kathy

 

[Raventor]

Thank you so much for your replies.

She is showing absolutely no signs of being "unwell"

Once she was away from the bullies, she picked right up, going back to her normal bright and breezy self. She last laid about 4 days ago, which isn't unusual for any hen to slow down egg production now that its winter.

Was hoping the bath would soak off the poop but it didn't.

Time for a very gentle intervening then ? She is a sleepy chick but I'm sure it's just because it's gone past her bedtime - is it best to try now whilst she's relaxed or wait til morning when she will be more alert ?

 

[casportpony]

Thank you so much for your replies.

She is showing absolutely no signs of being "unwell"

Once she was away from the bullies, she picked right up, going back to her normal bright and breezy self. She last laid about 4 days ago, which isn't unusual for any hen to slow down egg production now that its winter.

Was hoping the bath would soak off the poop but it didn't.

Time for a very gentle intervening then ? She is a sleepy chick but I'm sure it's just because it's gone past her bedtime - is it best to try now whilst she's relaxed or wait til morning when she will be more alert ?

Do it in the daylight and make sure she's warm and dry before you return her to the coop.

-Kathy

 

[Raventor]

I know it's been ages since my original thread but just wanted to say that the young lady I wrote about is back to her usual lovely self !
I did, very gently insert my finger into her vent and push back what looked like a prolapse.
She stayed in for a few days and then was reintroduced to the flock. No concerns at all, I was on the brink of helping her cross the bridge but thanks to you guys and your great advice I felt confident enough to help.

Happy Happy Happy

 

[chooks4life]

Thanks for the update, it's always great to know how it ended up. Well, when it ends well, anyway... lol...

Good to know it ended well.

Best wishes.