Buff Rock 8 months old exhibition signs of illness. Please help!

[Amyjenn]

A few days ago she was out in the yard and her whole back end was covered in runny poop. I brought her in for a bath and let her back out. She was eating and foraging and acting normal. Today her back end is covered again, she was in the coop with her butt drooping. Came down in to the run but wouldn’t jump out to join the others in the garden. She seems lethargic. I brought her in and gave her a warm bath. Checked for mites/worms/lice and found nothing, although I’m pretty inexperienced. She has not started laying yet, but I checked her vent for an egg and nothing. She has been laying around not interested in food or water, comb and eyes look normal. She’s currently isolated with her food and water, water has vitamins and electrolytes and apple cider vinegar. Besides the poopy butt and her lethargy it seems she is fine. I don’t know what could be wrong with her. Her poop looks normal but runny/watery.

 

[Bridget B]

I found an article about something called Vent Gleet. I think this may be the problem your hen has. I'm surprised no one has answered you yet. Please look this up in the article section. It really does explain what may be happening to your poor hen. Good luck with her, I hope this helps. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/vent-gleet-aka-nasty-chicken-butt.64647/

 

[Amyjenn]

I found an article about something called Vent Gleet. I think this may be the problem your hen has. I'm surprised no one has answered you yet. Please look this up in the article section. It really does explain what may be happening to your poor hen. Good luck with her, I hope this helps. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/vent-gleet-aka-nasty-chicken-butt.64647/

Thank you! That is very helpful and looks like what might be happening with her

 

[Bridget B]

Thank you! That is very helpful and looks like what might be happening with her

Keep me posted here. It seems like such an unusual symptom that maybe others can be helped if you are successful.

 

[Amyjenn]

Keep me posted here. It seems like such an unusual symptom that maybe others can be helped if you are successful.

Yesterday I cleaned her up, isolated her in a bedroom in a dog crate with food and water. Supplemented the water with ACV and vitamins electrolytes. She looked ok and was either walking around or laying down. Checked her this morning and she is dead. The rest of my flock seems fine but I’m going to give the coop a deep clean. Contemplating a necropsy to see what happened to her. She was one of my favorites. RIP Blondie

 

[Sally PB]

Oh, I am so sorry! If you do a necropsy (or send her to a lab for one), let us know what you find. She was a very pretty girl, and thank you for caring for her.

 

[Amyjenn]

Oh, I am so sorry! If you do a necropsy (or send her to a lab for one), let us know what you find. She was a very pretty girl, and thank you for caring for her.

Unfortunately with Covid the state labs are only doing “essential” things that affect public health or commerce. They won’t do the necropsy right now. We may never know, but it worries me for the rest of my flock

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry for your loss. How old was she? If you still have her body available, you might find something yourself with a home necropsy by looking at her organs. I do necropsies on all chickens that I lose. If you do one, take pictures of her organs and anything that looks unusual. Here is a video that shows the main organs labeled and if you take pictures please post them her for opinions:

 

[Bridget B]

Yesterday I cleaned her up, isolated her in a bedroom in a dog crate with food and water. Supplemented the water with ACV and vitamins electrolytes. She looked ok and was either walking around or laying down. Checked her this morning and she is dead. The rest of my flock seems fine but I’m going to give the coop a deep clean. Contemplating a necropsy to see what happened to her. She was one of my favorites. RIP Blondie

Oh no. I'm so sorry. I know how easy it is to get attached to these sweet hens. A necropsy would probably ease your mind a bit if it was just a one and done circumstance. There is so much to learn here. I'm a dog person, show, field and obedience. Been competing for over 35 years. I'm very experienced with dogs, so this is really fairly new to me. I have been lurking on BYC for a number of years but I certainly do not have that much experience in all the medical things we might encounter. I'm grateful for the knowledgeable people here who help folks out. The Articles section here is a wonderful library for we who still have so much to learn.

 

[micstrachan]

I’m so sorry! Rest in peace, Blondie!