Cloaca plugged - pictures in post

[as110]

I have been watching this hen for a few weeks now, she has never let me catch her.
She has been excreting water, the sound it makes is

hissing, like she is straining to push out. Her back side was dirty but I could never see the extent of the problem. Until this evening. I managed to grab her in the coop where she sat and She was easily accessible.
Her cloaca is completely blocked with dry poop, and enlarged to the size of an egg.

She is soaking in warm water now so I could loosen whatever I am seeing; I don’t want to grab and yank anything out and injure her.

Here is the picture attached. Has anyone seen something like this and what can I do next?

 

[as110]

She had 4 normal poops overnight so I am confident she is not plugged anymore.

I need to see an egg now to know that part works too. If she is not laying anymore that’s fine too.

 

[as110]

I will read that article, thank you.

I found a vet in Canada that does surgery. However he wouldn't give any advice over the internet. He is too far from me so that plan is out. I contacted an internet vet in the US and she said it sounded like cloacalith. With that reassurance, I started a treatment plan.
I soak her twice a day, she gets coconut oil to slide things down and out easier, and greek yogurt in case she needs the bacteria. She soaks in warm water for a long time, probably 45-60 minutes. She is fine with this. While she soaks lots of gunk gets loose and comes off in the water so I can see it better when she is out of the water. I blow warm air on her while I scrape whatever I can get off. Things come off in crumbs. The black tissue is actually pretty tough to deal with because it rips the skin off and therefore it bleeds. A little pressure stops it. When I get a bleeding spot, I stop on that spot and move around trying to not hurt her. I keep going as long as she lets me, and she does, and as long as I can get anything come off. The goal is to get the necrotic tissue off so the normal tissue can stretch as it is supposed to.

During the day she was in the dog crate. I could hear her complaining every time she was trying to poop and probably every half hour. It must be painful. Now this evening after I got some black stuff off, she was able to poop with much less whining. The poop is runny because I gave her coconut oil and she gobbled it. I don't know where I read to give a drop of oil. I gave a spoonful and she loved it. Same with the greek yogurt.

It is possible I am dealing with multiple problems. Fly strike that damaged the skin and caused necrosis and scarring, which is why the tissue can't stretch, and caused an impaction. She might be trying to get rid of an egg, which I can't feel when she is not straining, but I can see it when she is straining. She is in the stance of laying the egg, and the channel comes way down, the size and shape is equal to an egg inside which can't come out as long as the cloaca is full and the skin is a hard shield around the exit. Is it possible it is just the rock the size of an egg? yes it is possible. An egg inside is also a possibility. Only and x-ray could tell for sure. She is about 2-3 years old, closer to 3. She could be still laying eggs.

This whole soaking, picking and drying takes 2 hours each time. She doesn't try to escape, she is enjoying it and like she knows I am trying to fix whatever is bothering her, she stands there and lets me do it.

If she were fighting or crying or squirming, I would give up. She is not lethargic, she is eating drinking, scratching and socializing and running. I hope this works and I will keep going at it as long as I can see that it helps. If it looks like I am making things worse, I will stop and euthanize her. For now I can't see that there is pus and a new infection. I put polysporin with pain medication in it, and hopefully it will help soften whatever is so tough and dry there.

 

[casportpony]

Ok, I read polysporin with pain medication in it & my heart stopped. I remember reading that chickens have a toxic reaction to the pain part of Neosporin, polysporin, etc so please only use plain.

Anyone else remember this??

This is what a vet wrote:
"So bottom line, it is safe to use "cain" medications in poultry, as long as it is done carefully. You're not going to get into trouble with topical medications on a prolapse unless you squeeze the whole tube into the oviduct after you've replaced it back inside, then hold the vent closed long enough for too much of the drug to absorb into the bloodstream (it would probably take a very long time). Just applying a smear to what's hanging out, waiting 5 minutes, then working the oviduct back in will give very minimal absorption into the bloodstream immediately, as most will absorb into the tissues. It will take hours for the drug to slowly work its way out of the tissues, giving the body plenty of time to metabolize it. If you were to use injectable local anesthetics, then poultry are somewhat sensitive to them by comparison to other species, on a mg/kg basis, so total injected dose has to be monitored carefully to avoid complications. But that's true for all small animals and humans. The only time it's not an issue is with cattle and horses, which are so large that it's almost impossible to overdose with those drugs. So I can see how many people would believe that "cain" products are dangerous in poultry. Most vets that come to farms are large animal vets. If a farmer were to ask a large animal vet to treat a 5-10 lb chicken, when he's used to treating a 1,000 lb animal without concern for total injected dosage, I could easily see an overdose occurring. That happens a few times and all of a sudden the medication is labeled as dangerous."

 

[as110]

It is not infected now. The tissue is definitely dry and there is no pus.

I unplugged her somehow. See the picture of the huge poop that came out.

I was able to scrape off the dry stuff, she didn’t complain but she checked at the back what I was doing when she felt a large dry gunk pull out, and just stood there and let me continue. I saw a few times she shook her butt like she wanted to poop, I think she had the urge when I was pulling out dry stuff and most of it came off without ripping the skin. There was not more bleeding than before.

The poop is soft and green, 3 times the size of a broody poop and about the same smell. It was just coming out and out and out non stop. Shocking.

Anyway, I put her back into the warm water to help it calm down. The opening is now visible inside. Now I just have to make sure that it stays clean and won’t be infected.


I just gave her a break to post this update. I think I am going to use preparation h

 

[as110]

This one is from this evening. We are still continuing the preparation h and the docusate sodium because when she poops she can’t cut and it just stays on her or hangs out. I think it’s better to keep the stool softer until she heals inside. That part is hard to do because I can’t see it all over. This last part on the bottom is tough and thick and I can’t grab it to break off. Maybe tomorrow.

 

[Eggcessive]

This is an interesting thread. Here is an article that describes a cloacalith as a solid impaction of urates or uric acid, being foul smelling, and may also sometimes contain fecal matter:
https://www.openveterinaryjournal.com/OVJ-2017-08-149 D.L. Di Nucci and M.P. Falzone .pdf

Debridement can be done with rubbing a wash cloth or gauze pad, and is best done after the vent is soaked in warm Epsom salts, or soapy water for about 30 minutes. Afterward dry and apply plain Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic Ointment.

 

[as110]

She is getting coconut oil, greek yogurt and docusate stool softener. She got one docusate sodium after lunch. I think that made a huge difference today. I expected that poop to be a hard ball of urate but it wasn’t that. So it must have been a fly strike and the injury got her plugged. I am sorry I didn’t notice sooner. I saw she had a dirty backside and I worried about the flies, but when she perched on the roof beam, I couldn’t see any bugs.

I checked for a stuck egg and there isn’t one in there. What I can feel is not a ready egg. Also the cavity does not have any more poop.

The top part of the cloaca is clear now and movable (it can wink) and it isn’t scarred or bleeding. Hopefully that will give her enough stretch if she needs to lay an egg.

 

[aart]

Is there such a thing as a pasty butt in grown up hen?

Yup, it can happen to any aged bird.
Hard to say what damage has occurred that is affecting the muscles and tissue that control excretion.
Maybe discontinue the softener but keep up the coconut oil...see how it 'goes'.

 

[casportpony]

Is there such a thing as a pasty butt in grown up hen? That’s what she looks like to me when I bring her inside in the evening. Dirty with stuff inside that I have to scrape out.

Great job getting that cleaned up!
How would you feel about treating her with antibiotics and a de-wormer? If she were mine, that's what I could do.