chicken with inflamed vent, swollen with lump, poop, and possibly a...

[carolineR]

I have a eight month old bantam hen who has an inflamed vent that is swollen has poop outside it and has a lump, possibly an egg. we had a hen die over christmas but I never figured out what the problem was, we had a friend feeding for us. She was the same age. Any suggestions? Does she need to see a vet by tommorrow?

 

[Miss Lydia]

If you can afford a vet then I would take her, if she has an egg inside that she can't lay it is serious for sure.....Is the lump on the inside or outside of her body? You can put her in the sink and give her a good soak to get the poo off and might help with the swelling also. If you decide to soak be sure to dry her real good on low heat with a hair dryer. Sometimes if they are egg bound a warm soak will help them relax enough to pass the egg. Best hopes for her..... Also not always the best time to say this when your here for an emergency but

....be sure to soak in warm water.

 

[carolineR]

Thanks. she has some weird looking poop and brown stuff on her vent, even after i cleaned her off. If i soak her, will she get to cold? I brought her inside and she is in my room. The only problem is that our house is really drafty and it gets cold at night.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Make sure to soak her in warm water and don't let it get cold . soak her for at least 30 min. she should enjoy it. After that dry her with your hair dryer till she is completely dry, you need to keep her out of drafts. If you have her in a dog crate or box or whatever you have her in maybe put towels or a blanket over it to keep her warner and out of the draft. But soaking her could help. Does she have this lump inside or outside of her vent?

 

[carolineR]

inside her vent.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It could be an egg then, has she been laying eggs pretty regular since she started laying?

 

[CityGal / CountryWorld]

I had a chicken like this last weekend (curly sue)... I believe it is called Prolapse sp?
It indeed was an egg trying to come out. I heard it could happen to overweight chickens,
too much fat not not enough muscle. (curly sue is handicapped with a near broken neck)
I also heard about the warm bath (soak their butt in warm water) and then slather on some type of lube,
I used antibiotic ointment after the first bath as well as a good drying with the hair dryer (which she loved),
and general purpose lube (from the farm supply) During the 2nd bath the next day.
2nd bath did the trick to loosen the egg, as well as I had the hand held hooked up n the shower
and directly squirted her vent with warm water, she started pushing for me and i eased my fingers
around the back of the lump from outside, and helped her push
...it was an exciting moment when she laid that egg, we both felt better.
However I have also heard that this can happen again, so if you can help the egg out,
then re-acces the situation, Curly sue acted like she needed to lay another the next day too..
If I could have called a local vet for help I would have.
The guy at the feed store also suggested worming them with "wazine" too

 

[CityGal / CountryWorld]

oh yeah, Curly sue had either just started laying, or had never laid an egg,
I read that this can happen to hens who have just started laying eggs.

 

[E.G.Glayer]

Had a 1.5 yr old barred rock hen with similiar description this summer. Began cleaning her vent with warm iodine water and she had a broken egg inside. When I gently cleaned the vent with the warm water it seemed to stimulate her to push at the same time i had to gently work the vent and pull slightly to get the shell out. It ended up being about 6 inches long and jagged so go easy. She made a full recovery and is still laying. She doesnt run away from me anymore. Nothing bonds like a crisis. Wish I had the video camera that day.

Good Luck...

 

[Miss Lydia]

Wow EG what an experience, I watch my hens daily to make sure their vents look healthy, I want to make sure they stay that way and I can jump on an emergency right away.