Clogged vent?

[Trishkabob]

Big Ben, you should check out post by Bluedawg about "messy, leaky but" also posted today. I replied to that one as we had a similar issue I described in my reply to that post. When we dipped our SLW's butt into a bowl of tepid water she was ok with it. I was holding her firmly but gently and we had been wiping it with wet papertowel first. Her vent feathers had been caked for awhile and lately it seemed she was biting back there more but today I saw that she had pulled feathers out around the caked area and it was red and sore looking like diaper rash. Then we saw it was worse than we thought. After we softened it up we used our dog's brush (wire bristles) VERY gently to pull out the gunk. It didn't smell bad so she doesn't have an infection but it must have been bothering her for awhile.
We dried it a bit with cloth but then blowdried it on cool so she wouldn't get all muddy back there (it is rainy here now). She sort of liked that! This is not something we would choose to do on a lazy sat. afternoon as a rule...but glad to see others do it too. guess we aren't complete wackos after all (or if we are we have company). we will trim that powderpuff of feathers if it happens again.
hope this helps.

 

[Nan04781]

One of our chickens had a poopy butt and was starting to act different also ,we soaked her butt, in a plastic like storage container ,washed her butt with baby shampoo and blow dried her she just sat right through it all ,very calmly ,I think it felt good you would be surprised at how they like it even the blow dryer lol

 

[briann107]

My white leghorn hen loves the blowdryer

 

[Mordigen]

My friends hen is having some sort of vent issue. It is clogged with a large yellow mass. I have been helping her soak the hen and we got all the feces off and some o fteh yellow out but it is still an issue. These are picture after the last attempt to dislodge the clog. Any ideas?

 

[Lyndssxo08]

My friends hen is having some sort of vent issue. It is clogged with a large yellow mass. I have been helping her soak the hen and we got all the feces off and some o fteh yellow out but it is still an issue. These are picture after the last attempt to dislodge the clog. Any ideas?

Hi - I know this has been a while since this was posted, but I'm having the same issue - I found 2 large yellow masses different days . Seems like my hen is clogged up and not sure what to keep doing.. I'm having to clear her vent like every day.

 

[Eggcessive]

Hi - I know this has been a while since this was posted, but I'm having the same issue - I found 2 large yellow masses different days . Seems like my hen is clogged up and not sure what to keep doing.. I'm having to clear her vent like every day.

It sounds like it could be large lash eggs from salpingitis, an infection of the oviduct. Sometimes, those lash egg material may also be found in the abdomen. There usually is no cure for salpingitis, and many times we don’t know it is going on until a chicken is butchered or a necropsy performed. Here is some reading about lash material:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/134/salpingitis/

https://the-chicken-chick.com/salpingitis-lash-eggs-in-backyard/

 

[rebrascora]

Don't suppose you got photos of the yellow masses? I agree with @Eggcessive that it is likely salpingitis and she is impacted with lash egg material and that is what you saw. Unfortunately it is often too late by the time you see problems like this. There is usually swelling below the vent caused by the impacted oviduct and this means that poop snags on the feathers below instead of falling clear. If you can giver her a good clean up..... a warm Epsom Salts bath soak and take a photo of her back end whilst the feathers are wet, it may help for us to be able to see, to advise, but it is likely that the best you can do is keep her comfortable and end it for her when her quality of life is unsustainable. Often the impaction of lash egg in the oviduct will build up to the point that it presses on and constricts the gut. The bird will then get backed up and you may notice an enlarged crop or the bird will go off her food as it cannot pass through her system. She may start to get thin and lethargic as food cannot get through her system to provide her with nutrition and she will effectively starve or she may die of toxic shock as a result of being unable to pass waste.
Reproductive disorders like this are sadly far too common in chickens and unless caught very early, there is not a lot of hope. There are some god avian vets who will perform a "hysterectomy" and remove the impacted oviduct but it is risky and runs towards if not past the $1000 mark or hormonal implants can be given every 3-6months to prevent them from ovulating and making the problem worse but if the bird is already badly impacted in the oviduct, it may be too late for that. In the early stages, it may also respond to antibiotic use but it will usually only buy the bird time rather than cure it.

I'm sorry to be so negative about her chances of surviving this. Some birds do beat the odds but that may be because they are misdiagnosed rather than cured of Salpingitis. Of course it could be something else but reproductive disorders or cancerous tumours are the commonest causes of these problems.

Seeing some photos of the bird and her poop may help us confirm or suggest another diagnosis. Also knowing how old she is and her breed and what you feed her might be relevant.

 

[rebrascora]

PS. She will need to be thoroughly dried after her spa clean up. A towel and then hair drier work well and hens usually enjoy it.

 

[Lyndssxo08]

PS. She will need to be thoroughly dried after her spa clean up. A towel and then hair drier work well and hens usually enjoy it.

The mass was about the size of a quarter, pretty hard, and had some of the greens I fed her that day mixed it.