Having a Rooster Emergency with hard poop stuck to/crusted in his vent area need help! pasty butt?

[Joe evans]

hello there guys, so the title says it all here in this case, last couple days now about four i noticed my rooster has had hard time pooping which he never does he was making straining sounds too while he does go and had runny diarrhea like poops but they looked normal other wise. I believe he got into some old feed last week but not much thankfully but the poop is stuck to his vent/ in his vent so close to the skin i can barely trim/remove it with tweezers/water anything really to remove it without tearing his skin and parts were firmly attached to said skin and bled if I tried to take it off as it would take top layer of skin off with it.. i just cant seem to get it to budge ever after washing/soaking it couple times now in warm water with dawn soap for about 25mins nothing seems to loosen it at all and his vent area is crusting over he seems fine other wise. bright comb bright feathers. eating and drinking normally but i dialed back the food little bit till I can solve his poop problem so i don't make the issue worse. tried mostly everything by this point in last few days and nothing seems to be working from various forums and places I've visited and i would like to know if there's anything i can do to remove the plug like fecal matter in his vent. he is other wise healthy and i would hate to lose such a prized bird of mine has more of a pet then a barnyard bird. never had this issue myself till now, calling a vet today but any advice to remove it myself if i can would be very much apricated.
.
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
Rhode island red, he's about 4 years old

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
acting normal besides the poop clogging his vent almost. straining to poop when he does go but he does pass the poop although its very small n runny. he also is not prolapsed its just pasty/crusted vent

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
last couple of days he has been showing this

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No. its just him.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
Nothing besides the vent almost being clogged with the dried hard poop

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
he ate week old food from the yard i believe before anyone could rake it up sadly which is what caused my issue i do believe

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
he is eating and drinking normally

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
runny diarrhea that comes out when he strains to poop. other then its fine looking with normal tinges and browns

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
giving him warm baths and trying to remove the crusted poop inside his vent with no luck so far.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
like to treat it if i can or bring him to the vet pronto if need be

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
the photos are attached to this post already

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
typical wood shavings you would use for any coupe floor

 

[azygous]

It sounds like what you're trying to wash and remove are wound scabs. Do you have other chickens that might have pecked him?

I suggest you stop with the washing and scrubbing. Instead, grease the vent liberally with wound ointment such as Neosporin. Then treat his constipation with coconut oil.

Coconut oil when chilled is easy and safe to administer orally without risking aspiration. If you use unrefined virgin oil, it tastes sweet and chickens often eat it willingly. Measure out two teaspoons, and then divide into pea size pieces. Chill these until hard, then put them into his beak until you get all of it into him.

Hopefully, this will clear up his obstruction. If not, a flush may be warranted. We'll talk about that if the oil fails.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you post a few more clear photos of the vent and of all of him in better lighting?

From what I can he has lice nits on his feathers. I would treat him for lice. You can find Permethrin poultry spray or dust at stores like TSC. Getting the lice under control is 1 step closer to getting him well.

Hard to tell what's going on with him. Possibly constipated or he prolapsed at some point.
I would keep the vent cleaned. Apply some mineral oil to the crusted area to keep it moist. Do inspect closely to see if there are any maggots on the vent. If there are, then those need to be flushed and picked off.

See that he's staying hydrated very well. Electrolytes or vitamins in the water for a few hours each day would be good, then switch to plain clean fresh water the rest of the time.
Offer wet feed. Make a small amount at a time, just soak a little fresh feed in warm water, let sit and soak up the water for 15-20minutes, make it to about the consistency of oatmeal. A little buttermilk or yogurt (about 1tablespoon) would be good to stir into the wet feed as well.

Work on these things.

You have another thread from last month about a different rooster I assume since the age is different. Did he recover from his infection?

Look inside the current rooster's beak for any lesions, canker, etc.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...nt-of-body-lice-issues.1451425/#post-24161770

 

[Joe evans]

Can you post a few more clear photos of the vent and of all of him in better lighting?

From what I can he has lice nits on his feathers. I would treat him for lice. You can find Permethrin poultry spray or dust at stores like TSC. Getting the lice under control is 1 step closer to getting him well.

Hard to tell what's going on with him. Possibly constipated or he prolapsed at some point.
I would keep the vent cleaned. Apply some mineral oil to the crusted area to keep it moist. Do inspect closely to see if there are any maggots on the vent. If there are, then those need to be flushed and picked off.

See that he's staying hydrated very well. Electrolytes or vitamins in the water for a few hours each day would be good, then switch to plain clean fresh water the rest of the time.
Offer wet feed. Make a small amount at a time, just soak a little fresh feed in warm water, let sit and soak up the water for 15-20minutes, make it to about the consistency of oatmeal. A little buttermilk or yogurt (about 1tablespoon) would be good to stir into the wet feed as well.

Work on these things.

You have another thread from last month about a different rooster I assume since the age is different. Did he recover from his infection?

Look inside the current rooster's beak for any lesions, canker, etc.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...nt-of-body-lice-issues.1451425/#post-24161770

the ear canker/lice thing was from this time last year ironically. and cant find the close thread button looked all over the site for it to no luck so i just kind of kept it open id close it other wise as that issue is solved now, I know also how to deal with mites for while now that's not the issue. the issue is i cant get the poop that's caked onto his skin around his vent to come loose. i even tried tweezers and scissors so far to no a luck after soaking him in the bath like 3 days in row now for 20 mins at a time with soap and Epsom salts this only started about four days ago now. he is other wise happy n normally drinking and eating his stool also looks fine just smaller then usual.

 

[Eggcessive]

I’m not that experienced with roosters and vent problems, but I wonder if he had a vent prolapse due to constipation, and it might have gotten pecked, dried out, and what you are seeing is dead or necrotic tissue. If you put on a glove or use a clean lubricated finger, can you pass it into his vent? If hens, who get prolapses more often, get necrotic or dead skin on their prolapse, it can take a week or two of daily warm soaks in either Epsom salts or something like Dawn for those to come off. If you have a farm vet or aomeone experienced, they might be able to help you. Wyorp Rock and Azygous are more experienced with roosters, and @dawg53 might have a suggestion.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

the ear canker/lice thing was from this time last year ironically. and cant find the close thread button looked all over the site for it to no luck so i just kind of kept it open id close it other wise as that issue is solved now, I know also how to deal with mites for while now that's not the issue. the issue is i cant get the poop that's caked onto his skin around his vent to come loose. i even tried tweezers and scissors so far to no a luck after soaking him in the bath like 3 days in row now for 20 mins at a time with soap and Epsom salts this only started about four days ago now. he is other wise happy n normally drinking and eating his stool also looks fine just smaller then usual.

Ok. So I suppose the lice nits (eggs) aren't an issue then. Glad you have the bugs under control.

I would continue to keep the crust moist with oil or ointment. A daily soak may be helpful.
I would not cut or scrub anything. As the tissue underneath the scabs heals, then they will eventually fall away.

Keep flies off there or you'll have maggots which will do a lot of damage.

LOL My bad, shoulda looked closer at the date and realized you only have 9 posts (all ER too) since joining 2 years ago, so shoulda known that was an old thread. Threads usually always remain open unless staff deems it necessary for some reason, then they will close it, so no need to worry about trying to close it.

Hope he recovers soon.

 

[dawg53]

It's possible the vent area was picked/pecked causing a wound and formed a scab. The scab(s) could possibly block feces from dropping on the ground and have dried onto the scabs. If the hardened feces is attached to the scabs, it would be almost impossible to remove the feces without pulling off the scabs as well.

Personally, I'd wear a disposable glove. Then put vaseline on and in the vent as best as I could. Then pull the crap out.

 

[Joe evans]

Ok. So I suppose the lice nits (eggs) aren't an issue then. Glad you have the bugs under control.

I would continue to keep the crust moist with oil or ointment. A daily soak may be helpful.
I would not cut or scrub anything. As the tissue underneath the scabs heals, then they will eventually fall away.

Keep flies off there or you'll have maggots which will do a lot of damage.

LOL My bad, shoulda looked closer at the date and realized you only have 9 posts (all ER too) since joining 2 years ago, so shoulda known that was an old thread. Threads usually always remain open unless staff deems it necessary for some reason, then they will close it, so no need to worry about trying to close it.

Hope he recovers soon.

View attachment 3074223

okay thanks for the info friend very helpful advice. Soaking him again now to see if i can get any of it loose and finally some pieces are starting to come off after 4 days of soaking him so far, I did notice a nit stock fall off into the water with some fecal matter though i grabbed with tweezers and looked at it and now I'm wondering did one of those get crusted around his vent area which caused this snowball effect, ill post the picture below of what I'm talking about. it resembles feather stock to me and it looks like its sticking out kind of like a feather, and yea he is the only roo i have issues with.

 

[Joe evans]

It's possible the vent area was picked/pecked causing a wound and formed a scab. The scab(s) could possibly block feces from dropping on the ground and have dried onto the scabs. If the hardened feces is attached to the scabs, it would be almost impossible to remove the feces without pulling off the scabs as well.

Personally, I'd wear a disposable glove. Then put vaseline on and in the vent as best as I could. Then pull the crap out.

Thx for the info I did try this yesterday after I soaked him for a bit then I tried to lightly pull it off, it moved a little bit but it was taking a top layer of his skin with it, so I stopped with it after I saw drop of blood because I was worried it would hurt him as this is my first time dealing with any sort vent issues in my flock.
Also, he has been isolated for while b4 this because of the lice, so would he be able to cause a wound to himself? just double checking.