Impacted vent??

[rbc-bow-chicka]

That's an attention getter....

I have a 2.5 year old roo. Since November, he has been struggling to poop. I gave him an exam back then.... didn't see or feel anything that would cause him to back up...he did obviously had a gunky butt. Gave him a course of nystatin, wormed him, tried acidified copper sulfate, apple cider vinegar, probiotics.... and nothing has worked for him.

Despite struggling to poop.... he eats and drinks and loves his ladies. Absolutely normal behavior.

Yesterday am, he reallllly seemed to be struggling more than normal, so I hauled him up for spa day. 4 separate epsom soaks ( soaks 2 through 4 using a little dawn in addition)... roughly 10 minutes each... removing what poop I could through old fashioned elbow grease. I also want to mention there was no necrotic tissue I could see, but his bottom and vent were very red. Some of what I pulled off of him/out of his feathers was hardy cheesy stuff... so likely pus, unless it was hardened urates that had been collecting? I also gave him a molasses flush... to see if I could get things moving. Molasses didn't seem to help. His poop is greenish, brown with a little white through out. It comes out dry looking.... and kind of as you would expect icing to come out of a decorating bag... like it pushes past *something* that gives it an abnormal shape (compared to normal chicken poop). On the whole, he was not displeased with the event. After the 4th soak though, I decided to just let him rest and see how things moved along.

Well, he was bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning... obviously feeling better...but as the day progressed, I saw him struggling again (not like yesterday, though). He is eating and drinking quite well, vocal with his chickens that he could hear down at the coop.

Can anyone give me some idea of what I might be dealing with? If this is in fact pus, where could it be coming from? Can anyone recommend a way to "irrigate" the vent... picturing douche, enema with some kind of cleansing solution ie saline to at least be able to see what I might be dealing with? I guess it could be near the exit of the vent... or further up. Should I just stop with this and go with penicillin?

I'm not sure what else to try.

Thanks for reading.

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

I don't know what to do.
Hopefully @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @azygous and whoever else has the knowledge to help out with this can help.
I hope your roo gets better! Good luck and best wishes to your roo and you!

 

[azygous]

This roo could use some psyllium fiber in his food. You could try Metamucil, but I've never seen it without the artificial sweetener which is bad for chickens. I got some bulk unflavored natural psyllium from Amazon.

Psyllium pulls out moisture from the intestines and makes poop much wetter and easier to pass.

 

[Eggcessive]

It is hard to know what is going on with your rooster. He might have constipation or vent gleet, hard to know for sure. Sometimes urates can become caked around the vent, and removing them may help. Does he have water stations in multiple areas of the coop, run, and ranging area? Are there other roosters who might keep him from drinking? What are you feeding him? Azygous has a good thought about fiber. You could get some wheat bran to mix into some food or scrambled egg. I would put a tsp of olive oil in a treat of egg or tuna daily for a few days to see if it helps. Probiotics can help as well, and plain yogurt has them as well as a product called Probios powder. TSC sells their brand of probiotics as well.

 

[rbc-bow-chicka]

I don't know what to do.
Hopefully @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @azygous and whoever else has the knowledge to help out with this can help.
I hope your roo gets better! Good luck and best wishes to your roo and you!

Thank you!

 

[rbc-bow-chicka]

This roo could use some psyllium fiber in his food. You could try Metamucil, but I've never seen it without the artificial sweetener which is bad for chickens. I got some bulk unflavored natural psyllium from Amazon.

Psyllium pulls out moisture from the intestines and makes poop much wetter and easier to pass.

I had both the sugar free metamucil and some plain psyllium capsules (no sweetner). I sprinkled one over his feed and he glommed it up... filled up his water as I'm not sure he will be thirsty at some point afterwards. Thank you for the suggestion. We will see how this goes!

 

[rbc-bow-chicka]

It is hard to know what is going on with your rooster. He might have constipation or vent gleet, hard to know for sure. Sometimes urates can become caked around the vent, and removing them may help. Does he have water stations in multiple areas of the coop, run, and ranging area? Are there other roosters who might keep him from drinking? What are you feeding him? Azygous has a good thought about fiber. You could get some wheat bran to mix into some food or scrambled egg. I would put a tsp of olive oil in a treat of egg or tuna daily for a few days to see if it helps. Probiotics can help as well, and plain yogurt has them as well as a product called Probios powder. TSC sells their brand of probiotics as well.

He is the only roo with 9 ladies. He has one big waterer and feeder. He has no competition now. He actually lived with another rooster in the coop for maybe a year when he was a little one.... he was chased... but there was so much going on with the ladies that he was able to eat and drink without too much disruption. One day, all heck broke loose.... I think he sensed the older was not in charge any more... so I removed the older to a retirement coop. He has been the only guy for probably a year now.

He is eating layer pellets as we do not have a flock feed around here for everyone. He will also get fresh fruit and veg scraps from the garden plus some leftover meats now and again...maybe once a month? We have 3 garden seasons in FL, so we are just coming off cabbage and broccoli... beans, tomatoes and cukes are up next.

I just gave him the contents of a psyllium cap (with no sweetener) on his food. I also scrambled an egg and added a little olive oil. I've been putting rooster booster electrolytes and lactobacillus in his water... filled that up after I gave him the psyllium. It is about bed time for him... so I will be locking his cage up over night. He has been hanging out on the porch during the day.

It is amazing how much better he is doing compared to yesterday am. I really want to get to the bottom of this. He is really worth his weight in gold.

Thank you for the guidance.