hems_and_hens
Chirping
Hi all! To start, a quick overview of our situation here:
It's been 3 weeks since discovering the swollen area, and she's been acting normally the whole time. She's been laying normal eggs, eating and drinking, walking normally, and I haven't seen any weird poos. The swollen area is her normal skin colour (not red). I wouldn't say it feels exceptionally hard or soft - somewhere in between. None of my other hens are experiencing these issues.
I am still relatively new to chicken ownership and am having trouble identifying whether this is vent gleet, ascites (water belly), or something else. I think it is more vent-located than ascites would be? But, would vent gleet cause the swelling? Below are some photos that show the swelling (taken 3 weeks ago while bathing) and the current poopy-butt situation (taken yesterday).
I'm willing to take her to the vet for sure, but I thought I'd check here first with the amazingly experienced BYC community. THANK YOU!
- 5 laying hens in total, no roosters
- All 1 year old, got them all together when they were 4 months old
- We saw symptoms of mycoplasma (MG) shortly after getting them - treated with Tylosin - have not seen symptoms since, and they are "normal"
- They eat a locally-made layer ration and I try to limit treats to ~10% of diet
- They forage in the bush on our property, free range, quite a lot, but they always have access to feed, water, calcium supplement, and a dust bathing area
It's been 3 weeks since discovering the swollen area, and she's been acting normally the whole time. She's been laying normal eggs, eating and drinking, walking normally, and I haven't seen any weird poos. The swollen area is her normal skin colour (not red). I wouldn't say it feels exceptionally hard or soft - somewhere in between. None of my other hens are experiencing these issues.
I am still relatively new to chicken ownership and am having trouble identifying whether this is vent gleet, ascites (water belly), or something else. I think it is more vent-located than ascites would be? But, would vent gleet cause the swelling? Below are some photos that show the swelling (taken 3 weeks ago while bathing) and the current poopy-butt situation (taken yesterday).
I'm willing to take her to the vet for sure, but I thought I'd check here first with the amazingly experienced BYC community. THANK YOU!