EMERGENCY! HELP! Chicken with bloody vent.

[Mrs J]

Out of curiosity, how does her crop feel? I have just dealt with something similar. My little polish ebony was all hunched up and isolating herself. I brought her in and monitored her. Her crop was mushy, but she also hadn’t pooped for a good few hours. This made me think she had a blockage. I treated for an impacted crop, but also sour crop. I syringed olive oil straight into her crop, and massaged every couple of hours in a downward motion. I also gave caneston cream. (Ladies thrush cream) for sour crop. I Withheld food for 24 hours. She passed the biggest poop ever (I suspect long grass was the problem) but it caused a prolapse. She isn’t old enough to lay eggs so I knew she wasn’t eggbound. I sprayed with vetrycin and gently pushed it back im, lucky enough it has stayed in.

 

[Mrs J]

I gave her a couple of pieces of a tums and put more in her water. She is still preening, checking her feet, investigating her surroundings, and trying to wander out of her crate as if nothing in the world was wrong. I hope that is a good sign.

If she is acting as if nothing in the world has happened, I would say that is a good sign

 

[-Shade-]

Her crop is empty but it doesn't feel like there is anything wrong with the crop. She keeps trying to push, and what she is pushing is really big--maybe twice the size of a small egg

 

[azygous]

It helps to warm up towels in the dryer and put her into a crate on the warm towels. The warmth will relax her so her pelvic muscles aren't fighting against her contractions, but working with the contractions.

The blockage affects how her fluids are dispersed into her body, so this ordeal can dehydrate her. Be sure she has water to drink at all times, and it would help a lot to but some electrolytes and sugar in the water.

Placing her in a crate on the towels will also help you see when she passes the blockage and it will be important to know if it involves any broken yolk. That would require an antibiotic.

 

[Eggcessive]

You have been given good advice by the others. When a prolapse is seen by other hens, they may not only peck at it, but try to pull on it, which can cause the intestines to come out. Hopefully, she will relax, and the calcium will help to pass the obstruction.

 

[Kiki]

One of my chickens has a very bloody vent. A couple of weeks ago I had a chicken from the same coop have a blowout, and she died. This chicken--her name is Duds-- has been laying bloody eggs the past several days, and nothing I did seemed to be helping. She now has what looks like a blood clot in her vent, but she is also trying to poop. There is a strange fleshy-looking something coming out of the vent. What is happening? What do I do? is she gonna die?

!!!

What exactly are you feeding your flock each day?

 

[-Shade-]

I'm not sure what feed my dad gets for them. I will ask him when I can.

 

[-Shade-]

She is acting more lively but she is pushing even harder than before and I am worried she will do more damage. She keeps huddling in the corner of the crate. Is she trying to lay an egg?

 

[-Shade-]

azygous I noticed your article about the prolapsed hen. If the tissue won't stay in, does that mean she is trying to pass an egg?​

 

[azygous]

When your hen strains it means there is an obstruction, which can be an egg with a hard shell, an egg with no shell, a collapsed egg. It can mean there's tissue that sloughed off the oviduct wall, or it can mean tumors which can't be expelled. If the obstruction is tumors, these are your hen's last days. This is why it's important to be able to monitor what comes out of your hen. If she doesn't pass anything over the next week, then you can have reason to believe she has tumors.

The good news is, there is every reason to believe she will expel this blockage, and you will then have your hen back and she will feel happy and healthy again. The calcium is key. Keep giving it even if you don't understand completely why and how it works. Calcium happens to be a crucial element in a hen's body. Without enough calcium, a hen can have a heart attack and die. If your hen passes a shell-less egg, you will then need to get some of this form of calcium and give her a tablet a day until her eggs are again of good shell quality. Tums is okay for now, but this is far better as it absorbs better.