2 openings? Yikes!

[lcmidwife]

Hi all.
I've been a chicken owner for many years now. I just got back from vacation and noticed one of our hens was very lethargic. When I looked at her bottom she was filled with maggots. So I took her inside washed her off with soap and water. My husband helped me use tweezers and get rid of all the maggots we could see (soooo gross)! We soaked her more and removed more maggots. After that we soaked her in a salt water bath. Then I put on a glove and examined her. In the bottom most opening closer to her underside (which, if I didn't know better would think it was a vaginal opening) was just mushy tissue. It has a dark hardened rim around it and prolapsed looking tissue and 2 or 3 bloody areas. The top opening (closest to her tail feathers) which I saw white fecal matter pass out of, is intact, healthy and pink. I examined that one and removed a 3 inch by 1 inch yellow hard piece of something. The end closest to her opening was more papery and the end which was further inside was harder and rubberier. A few small yellow pieces also came out. We put witch hazel on her and then gave her some water by syringe and separated her from the flock and kept her inside. She perked up a bit after I removed whatever that was.

So my questions are, does this sound like she was egg bound? And she's not supposed to have that vaginal-type openimg I described, right? She sleeps on the pine shavings and doesn't go on the perch. I wonder if this led to this opening in her skin somehow. Hope she pulls through.

Thanks in advance!

 

[lcmidwife]

this is what I removed from her.

 

[lcmidwife]

Here's a pic of her bottom. Is this flystrike?

 

[Eggcessive]

That looks like pictures I have seen of flystrike that has happened due to droppings attracting flies under the vent. There also may have been some injury or hernia there to start with, but droppings are all that is necessary to start flystrike. Your picture in post 2 looks like cooked egg material that internal layers sometimes pass. Prolapse tissue should be hanging out of the vent opening, not under it. The large intestine is located under the vent , and in the diagram below, you can see that the oviduct comes into the vent from above this. I'm not that knowledgeable about flystrike, or internal layers, but just giving you my opinion. It looks like you have done a good job cleaning her up, and the wound should heal over time. I would soak her in epsom salts to soothe and keep the area clean, then apply Neosporin ointment to it daily. There are many flystrike threads here to look at if you type that in at the top of the page in the search.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are some threads to read about flystrike:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...autionary-tale-with-graphic-photo-progression
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-with-flystrike-what-caused-this-graphic-pics
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/364589/help-hens-vent-covered-in-maggots-treatment
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/07/flystrike-in-backyard-chickens-causes.html

 

[lcmidwife]

Thank you Eggcessive! That picture is very helpful. I'm learning so much. I'll soak her bottom later in the hopes that some of that darkened tissue will soften up and heal up. If there are a few maggots in her body cavity though, can she heal?

 

[Eggcessive]

I haven't treated flystrike before, but I know that when they get up inside the vent they can be very dangerous. Since her wound is healing, it looks like you may have got them all. Permethrin spray can be used to treat when there are active maggots. Good luck to your chicken. Give us an update on her when you can.