2 Hens with Matted Rears. Help!

[Judy]

Probably you are seeing what looks like egg coming out of these hens because that is what it is. You can do a search here on "egg bound" or "internal layer" and learn a lot. You can soak their bottoms in a sink of warm water, put prolapses back in, feel inside for broken shell fragments and try to remove them. Unfortunately, there is a good chance both will die or have to be culled. Sometimes if you get the remnants out of one, or if it was a soft shelled egg and there is no shell left inside, they will be OK, but often the problem recurs. Sorry.

I would think the most likely causes of the diarrhea would be mites/lice, worms, or cocci. An of these can get the chicken so run down they die, if advanced.

 

[Lov'emSouthernEggs]

Die! Die! Die! My chickens are going to die!

Forgive me and my "Newness" and don't misunderstand that for being stupid. Pretty sure that the RIR has a prolapse. Has and continues to lay...no signs of an egg being stuck and my RIRs lay small eggs.

White Leghorn hen? The swelling is around the vent. Not prolapsed...watched her poop this morning. No buldge or egg looking object in abdomen. Good possibility that one may have broke inside.

Thank you for the advise...sorry so negitive.

 

[NotTheMomma]

Could it be coccidiosis?

The bleeding makes me wonder.

Ugh, I'm so sorry, I wish I could tell you exactly what is wrong!

 

[Wynette]

I would advise you to remove the ones with issues from the general flock. Whenever I have a medical issue with a hen, I remove them to a dog crate and take them OFF layer feed. I put them on a general flock feed such as Purina's flock raiser; you need them to conentrate all their energies on getting well, not laying. Laying puts a tremendous amount of pressure on them.

It definitely sounds like the one with the yolk-looking substance coming from her vent is an internal layer; not much you can do about that other than put her down, unfortunately. It's almost never a good idea to stick your finger up their vent, though I do see lots of folks giving that advice on here. Prolapse and internal laying are two different things - I'm a bit confused about how many birds you have with issues and which has each. Sounds like you have one prolapse and one possible internal layer...is the one with the bloody poo the same one with the yolk-looking substance that was coming out of her vent?

 

[Lov'emSouthernEggs]

Wynette,

Thank you so much for writting. I'm sure it is very confusing. My RIR has the prolapse. She is laying, eating and drinking.

My White Leghorn is the one that is possibly egg bound or an internal layer. I have looked at her today and she isn't bleeding anymore. She looks well other than a messy rear.

I am waiting and watching. It doesn't seem to be an illness that can spread through the flock and I still don't see lice or mites.

My husband says let them be. They will be fine. My Father in law says the healthy ones will weed out the sick.

I just don't want them to suffer. Though, attitudes seem good and eating and drinking.

New chicken mommy...

I naturally worry.

 

[Wynette]

Understood. I believe you ought to separate at lease the RIR and remove her from layer formula feed, and put her in semi dark. I understand "letting them be" and the "healthy ones weed out the sick" however, as owners of livestock, we are responsible for their livlihood. A chicken with a prolapse - even a small one - can attract attention from ther others and they could begin pecking at the prolapse. If this happens, she'll die a painful death. It's unnecessary. If you separate her to a darker area and remove her from layer feed, she'll heal much more quickly and not attract attention to the prolapse from the others. JMO - best of luck!!!

 

[Lov'emSouthernEggs]

Thank you. Your words have made me feel better. I will see how separating them goes.

Will the flock accept them back?

 

[Wynette]

Yes; she'll have to go through a bit of an "initiation" at first, but it shouldn't be that long before her prolapse is better. With no posted pic, it's hard to tell how bad it is, but it doesn't sound that bad from how you describe it. Do a search on BYC about how to help it heal as quickly as possible if you have time to do some research...I find the "search" feature so helpful on here! Good luck with your girl!

 

[Lov'emSouthernEggs]

I have thought about the whole pictue thing. It's just that for me to get a good look at there rears it's at night and by flash light.

I read some new postings tonight and I'm wondering now if it's not Cocciddiosis. Also, the lady we got them from was feeding strait corn. We have them on pellets with cracked corn as a treat. We stopped giving the corn 4 days ago and with the information I read tonight...we won't feed corn again.

Slowly figuring this out.

Thank you for all your help...will keep everyone updated.

Watching for new chicks...tomorrow?

 

[NotTheMomma]

I wonder if you have a vet nearby that would look at a sample of the poop. That might help you figure out what's going on as well. A fecal it is called.

Hugs hun. How frustrating not being able to find an answer.