Hard Tissue on my hen's backside, just below her vent! HELP!

[dkhaxton]

My 9 month old hen has an area below her vent that is terribly hard, blackish, about the size of a golf ball. It's as if the tissue is dead or dying or some sort of mass. There is red viable tissue all the way around it. She is not yet laying and my vet says she is not egg bound but has never seen this before. Vet says could be spider bite (since brown recluse spiders are very common at my house), an abcess or a tumor. I try to keep her as clean as possible (for a chicken) by spraying her with warm water twice a day and treating her with Tricide Neo w/Clotrimasole and now blue lotion. Vets says we can't give her an oral antibiotic if we ever plan to eat her eggs. When she tries to poop she makes a whizzing sound and her poop is really watery. When she goes it just runs down the area an makes a mess. Other then her bottom, she is healthy as everything. Eatting great. I've tried putting her out with the other flock since she is happiest there, but they are pecking her sore area so for now she's in the house so I can keep an eye on her. Does anyone have any ideas? She is my absolute favorite. I don't want her to be suffering but don't know what to do. Thank you!

 

[Lady Badlands]

Can you post a picture of the area? Have you felt around on the inside of the blackened area? If not, you can use a surgical glove and lots of olive oil. I'm mentioning this so you can determine if it's an actual lump. Most hens start laying eggs between 5 & 6 months old. It's kind of odd that she's not laying yet. Did your vet actually examine her? I'm thinking it could be a mass in there because of the sound you here when she's excreting. Sounds like something is blocking the passageway.

 

[dkhaxton]

Thanks for your response Lady Badlands! Yes, my vet examined her but didn't find anything inside. I actually counted back to when we actually got our first batch of chicks and it was in September, so she is only 5-6 months old instead of 9. Seems like I've had them longer. I have posted a picture for your review...warning you, it's pretty gross. Any advise you might have would be appreciated!

 

[Michael Apple]

It looks to me like she's been picking at her vent area. If that's so, you could clean it with some Betadine and dab some anti-picking lotion on it to keep her away from it. If she persists in picking then you could could take her out to the car, take a cigarette lighter and burn the top half of the beak just enough to take the sharp tip off. You want that to heal before the weather gets warm and those filthy flies start laying their eggs.

 

[dkhaxton]

So Michael, do you think the black area is dead or do you think that part will heal? I was thinking about getting one of those diapers just to keep her or the other chickens from messing with it. Thank u so much for responding

 

[Michael Apple]

So Michael, do you think the black area is dead or do you think that part will heal? I was thinking about getting one of those diapers just to keep her or the other chickens from messing with it. Thank u so much for responding

It's scabbing over the wound. So long as there's no infection under it, the scab area should lessen. If it is infected, I once used NFZ powder to prevent an infection and it worked well. I've never heard of those diapers so I must still be in the dark ages. Still, I would think they get fouled quickly and you want to keep the area clean which will take daily tending to.

Vetricyn or a mild Oxine solution spray with a soft towel can be used to clean any droppings that may end up on the wound. If anyone knows of a better product for daily wound cleansing, let me know. The main thing is to keep it clean while it heals and don't irritate the vent. Once it the wound starts healing, it will be less irritating and the hen won't pick at it.

Once I had a hen that did this during Summer and within 2 days, maggots were in the wound. What saved me was a ProZap screw worm aerosol I used on the wound to neutralize the maggots and was able to clean out the wound. It healed with daily attention and the hen was fine. I learned my lesson on inspecting chickens behinds on a regular basis.

 

[dkhaxton]

You have been so helpful. Today her poop is almost pure water with a little green in it. I'm going to keep trying. Thanks again for your advise.