Help please! Huge soft lump on the back end of one of my hens.

[melanie]

My hen has this huge, warm, soft lump a little bigger than golf ball. Looks like an abscess, but I'm not sure. Would you try to lance it, or give penicillin shot. Today is first day I've noticed it. She's acting fine, but not sure how much longer she can carry on like this. It's below her vent/butt.

Thanks.

 

[melanie]

Would epson salt soak help?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would check her vent (rubber glove, lubricant, insert a finger) for an egg. She may be egg bound. Give her a Tums or a crushed calcium tablet, and if you feel an egg, get her into a warm bath up to her wings for 20-30 minutes to help pass the egg. If there is not egg, post back here because it may be swelling due to fluid or a tumor.

 

[melanie]

Thank you, I did what you suggested and did not feel an egg. I soaked her in a warm bath of epson salts for about 2-25 min. and I think she liked it because she slept the whole time. I didn't see where anything is coming to a head. It's soft and very red. Her comb is nice bright red and healthy looking. She's 3 yrs old.

 

[Eggcessive]

There can several reasons for a swollen lump below the vent--tumor, egg yolk peritonitis, ascites from liver or heart disease as well as reproductive issues. I can't tell a whole lot from the picture, but I would do a little reading to help you figure out what it is. Here are a couple of threads from BYC on enlarged abdomen:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/68731/laying-hens-with-water-belly-or-ascites
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/599743/hen-with-swollen-abdomen/30

 

[melanie]

Oh, no. She looks like this. Probably ascites. She's my darkest egg producing French Maran. Poor girl. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/340501/chicken-with-swollen-belly-and-losing-feathers

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry. It's amazing how common this is. I haven't had a hen like this yet, but I'm sorry you have to deal with this. I have a few Marans myself, and their eggs are beautiful.

 

[melanie]

I am so depressed. Another hen has it, but hers is smaller! Both these hens have poopy butt. I have about 16 chickens total. Some live in a coop in the back yard, the majority live in our horse barn about 75 yds away. They all free range. These two hens are the only ones with poopy butt. What causes this, and what can I do to prevent? Thank you. These are my two original black marans, both lay really dark eggs. Their daughters do not lay as nice a egg as these two girls. Plus, they are very gentle. They are only 3 years old. I have a 6 yr old white hen, and she still lays and is healthy.

 

[Eggcessive]

Some hens will have loose poops once in a while and it will get stuck in the extra fuzz back there. You can pull of some of it, and trim the feathers a bit. Then there is vent gleet which is a fungal infection, but besides the poop around the vent, there is bare red skin with whitish patches, sometimes they leak runny poo, and the poo smells bad. For that you can give her probiotics, clean the vent, and put some antifungal cream around the vent such as Miconazole, Lotrimin, or Nustock.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would try to make your sick hens comfortable, and maybe try draining ascites fluid from them if they become very full with fluid. Some get it from internal laying or egg yolk peritonitis, and some get it from liver or heart disease Here is a link about vent gleet: http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/12/vent-gleet-prevention-and-treatment.html