HELP! My chicken is sick & I think somethings wrong with her vent (PICS)

[dutchbunny83]

I have an Americauna that is 5 1/2 months old, raised as a day old chick.
She has always been aloof, not really close with the other girls. She is one of my original 5 chickens (a few adult hens, and some new chicks were added a few months later).
She doesn't like to be held or pet, and won't come running over to you when you walk out back like the other chickens.
A few weeks ago I saw her spitting, and I thought that was odd. Now in retrospect I am thinking she might have been throwing up?

About 2 weeks ago we noticed she had poop hanging off her tail end (thinking diarhea). When we went to wash her off, we noticed that her vent was a real light flesh colored (our other's are more pinkish) and it is turned sideways! I don't know if this is genetics, possibly an injury for a hatchery sexing, I don't know. But we guessed this was why she was getting poop everywhere. It is getting worse because we cleaned her again a few days ago and it was a mess today. We ended up having to cut some of her bottom feathers because they were matted with poo, and washing her off. (This photo was snapped real quick while doing it, that's why there's poo, she is clean now).

There are a lot of signs that point to her being sick: she's very lethargic, stays by the coop, the "spitting", etc. it just took us awhile to really put this together as something dangerous because she has always been an aloof type of chicken. Also, if you notice in the pic down below her vent the skin is really red.

She is eating and drinking some. She pretty much just lays around (though most my chickens like to spend the day laying out in the sun). I'm very concerned about her. We have only been keeping chickens for about 6 months, and this is our first illness.

PLEASE HELP!

Photo 1: Hard to see (and don't mind the poop all over her, we washed it off). The vent is towards the top, very light and sideways (opens to the side not at the bottom).

 

[dutchbunny83]

By the way, she has never laid. Someone told me Easter Eggers take longer. I got 3 barred rocks as day old chicks- one has been laying for a month, one just started laying this week, and I don't believe the 3rd has started, but they're pretty tricky in the nesting boxes.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

The vent could possibly be irritated because it as mites in the vent.

 

[dutchbunny83]

Possible, but I didn't see any and none of my other chickens are sick.

Any thoughts on it being sideways? Has anyone had a chicken with a sideways vent? I think that's why she's pooping all over herself because it's going out the side instead of straight down.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Try observing your other chickens vent and this one and tell me the differences.

 

[dutchbunny83]

Everyone else's vent is straight and opens straight. There is a little arrow in my pic pointing to her vent, it is sideways and the flap thing opens sideways instead of up and down like a normal one.
It is also a yellowy flesh color instead of a pink color, but that could be breed?

I don't know, it just opens sideways, so the poop goes out sideways.
But in general, she is acting really sick and it's scaring me.

I have googled everything for a sideways chicken vent and can't find anything online!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

That's strange I've never heard of that before

. Maybe it's just a hatched-with defect.

 

[dutchbunny83]

This is my normal Barred Rock Daisy:




And this is my Americauna Matilda: (we had to cut some feathers to try and clean her up)

 

[Karen_stl]

I think you are right. The sideways vent is a never going to be right. I think you should put her down. I have a 3 year old hen that started having what I call "Poopy butt" and I have never been able to correct it. I tried worming, changing feeds, cleaning/sanitizing/insecticide for mites (even though there are none), changing feed 2-3 times and nothing has worked. I had a lot of folks tell me to add yogurt (plain with live cultures) and probiotics to her daily intake and that has not worked either. But in your case, I think there may be an egg or more than one stuck deep inside, unable to come out the vent. Any chance you can find a vet that sees chickens? Good luck, let us know what happens.

 

[Karen_stl]

Oh, the other possibility is vent gleet-a fungal infection you treat with oral medication, Nystatin I believe.