Buff Orphington has swollen mass below vent

[chickandrudder]

I have a buff orphington hen, about 11 months old. I got back from a trip to find fresh blood in the coop, and she was hiding in there. Her bottom was swollen and bloody and she has a large mass protruding out of it.

At first glance I thought it may be a vent prolapse. I immediately separated her from the flock and brought her in the tub for a soak. I tried pushing the mass in gently but it did not. I’ve used hydrocortisone cream and microcomputer that I’ve had on hand to keep it clean.

She has pooped twice since I pulled her from the coop about 24 hours ago, poop seems normal but small. She has been getting picked on by others in the coop and when I went to separate her some of the other hens had started pecking at the bloody area on her bottom.

I just did another bath soak with her this morning and she is quietly resting. What could this be, and what should I do to treat it or keep her comfortable?
*Graphic photos*

 

[azygous]

Instead of all closeup photos, it would be helpful to see a longer view of the chicken so we can place the location of this in relation to the vent. It's called "context".

As it is, it appears to me to be the vent itself that has prolapsed and is infected from pecking damage. If this is not the vent, but rather a mass that is just below the vent, then it appears to be a cancer tumor.

 

[chickandrudder]

Instead of all closeup photos, it would be helpful to see a longer view of the chicken so we can place the location of this in relation to the vent. It's called "context".

As it is, it appears to me to be the vent itself that has prolapsed and is infected from pecking damage. If this is not the vent, but rather a mass that is just below the vent, then it appears to be a cancer tumor.

Instead of all closeup photos, it would be helpful to see a longer view of the chicken so we can place the location of this in relation to the vent. It's called "context".

As it is, it appears to me to be the vent itself that has prolapsed and is infected from pecking damage. If this is not the vent, but rather a mass that is just below the vent, then it appears to be a cancer tumor.

Here are some more photos, hope that helps. Please ignore the wet feathers, I’m getting her dry now. The missing feathers on top of her are from where a couple of chickens have been pecking at her.

 

[HawaiiCoyote]

@azygous

 

[azygous]

I confess I have a difficult time trying to make sense of two dimensional photos. Your efforts are appreciated, though.

Since I cannot clearly determine where this lesion is in relation to the vent or if it's actually a vent prolapse, I will advise you to care for this as an infected wound. At least you will be doing something positive, and if it heals, then we'll all know it's not cancer.

If it is a wound and since it is probably infected, I suggest an oral antibiotic in addition to wound care daily, consisting of flushing with saline, followed by spraying with Vetercyn to promote tissue growth, and dressing it with antibiotic ointment after you dry the wound. This will keep it moist while new tissue hopefully grows over the wound.

You can order the antibiotic here. One 250 mg capsule per day for ten days.

https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/

 

[Bluebird4]

I would take her to the vet. This might be serious. If she seems in pain, and you can’t take her to the vet, I would put her down. Sorry. I would definitely take her to the vet.

 

[chickandrudder]

I confess I have a difficult time trying to make sense of two dimensional photos. Your efforts are appreciated, though.

Since I cannot clearly determine where this lesion is in relation to the vent or if it's actually a vent prolapse, I will advise you to care for this as an infected wound. At least you will be doing something positive, and if it heals, then we'll all know it's not cancer.

If it is a wound and since it is probably infected, I suggest an oral antibiotic in addition to wound care daily, consisting of flushing with saline, followed by spraying with Vetercyn to promote tissue growth, and dressing it with antibiotic ointment after you dry the wound. This will keep it moist while new tissue hopefully grows over the wound.

You can order the antibiotic here. One 250 mg capsule per day for ten days.

I can see her vent and it looks normal, this is below her vent, almost in the abdomen area. I will continue to do wound care and start her on some antibiotics. Thank you!

 

[azygous]

If this doesn't heal, it's probably a squamous cancer. I had a hen with this a few years ago, and it refused to heal no matter how much I did. It was very painful for the hen. Chickens normally don't show reaction to pain, but she cried when I touched it. It also caused her feathers to fall out in the area of the cancer which was just in front of the tail on her back. All her tail feathers fell out.

 

[chickandrudder]

If this doesn't heal, it's probably a squamous cancer. I had a hen with this a few years ago, and it refused to heal no matter how much I did. It was very painful for the hen. Chickens normally don't show reaction to pain, but she cried when I touched it. It also caused her feathers to fall out in the area of the cancer which was just in front of the tail on her back. All her tail feathers fell out.

This particular chicken is doing okay, doing my best to prevent infection and she is slowly healing. I pulled the last buff orphington from the coop (I had 3) after I came home and found one dead. The other two are both still alive.

I also have red sex links and I came home today to find 3 dead. They are all killing each other. I’ve done my best to separate them all, but what do I do from here? I’ve never had this happen before. I watched them all going after each other so I know it’s not a predator. Any advice on where to go from here?

 

[azygous]

Resolving cannibalism caused by aggression is pretty tough. It requires studying your flock to figure out what it is that's setting off the aggression. it will require some lengthy observation of their behavior.

Things that contribute to aggression are mixing incompatible breed temperaments, overcrowding, boredom, to name a few.

Sometimes it's a matter of finding the most aggressive individual and removing them from the flock. You may need to expand the size of your run and add perches and barriers to make it complex to aid in the weaker chickens finding escape from the aggressors.

Runs should have a minimum of 10 square feet of space per chicken.