Help please! My hen has a large hole under vent, no signs of flystrike.

[Chicksofthepines]

Hello, I’m new here but have been using backyard chickens for many years and have always been able to find an answer to the problems I face with my chickens. After searching for hours I came up empty and am hoping that someone here can help.

Sunday I noticed one of my girls looking bare in the bottom. After catching her I was horrified to find a huge black hole on her backside, under her vent. I separated her and started looking for answers. Flystrike seemed to be the closest thing so I soaked her in epsom salt. I saw no maggots at all.
Yesterday I soaked her again and as the blackness started to soften I noticed there was fecal matter in it (seemed to be coming from the wound). After today’s soak I took these photos because I can’t figure out what I’m seeing in the wound. She is a lavender orpington,1yr 3mo old.

Thank you for any advice and suggestions.

 

[azygous]

I'm thinking along the line that @MysteryChicken is. Of course we can only guess what started this wound, pecking by the other chickens is a good first guess.

My brain got a little more elaborate with its conjecture - rat infested coop and rats nibbling on chickens at night while they are helpless. It does happen. Another guess is an internal infection that has progressed to the point of abscess that is erupting through the epidermal layer. To be honest, I don't know if that's even possible. I have a runaway imagination.

What is apparent now is that the hen has a raging infection. It's probably progressed beyond what is treatable with expectation of recovery, but I always try if the chicken is alert and active. Start with Epsom salt soaks with an antiseptic wound wash like Betadine in it. Make the water around 42C / 107F. Keep it that hot for the entire soak as it helps to kill bacteria but isn't hot enough to burn tissue. Between soaks keep an antibacterial ointment on it or use Manuka honey. This should be done daily. She should also be started on an antibiotic. Do you have any on hand. including leftover people prescriptions?

 

[azygous]

Thank you @SmiYa0126 for the dosage info. You can pop the whole 250mg into her beak at once or divide it into two doses 10 to 12 hours apart. If you're busy like most of us, the one 250mg dose will do the job. Do it for ten to fourteen days.

I agree that special high protein feedings would help. Egg, tofu, mackerel, tuna, sauteed rat, etc. (Kidding about the last one, sort of.) This can help her immune system.

Have you heard of roller bucket traps? They are easy to set up, no maintenance, and can catch multiple rats a night. The bucket is filled with about four to six inches of water and they drown. Makes disposal easy. Roller is available on Amazon for about $10.

 

[Jennifer Rogers]

Hey SmiYa0126, I am totally with you on that. I have a chicken that had a heart attack, severe water belly, and lost all her weight except for maybe 15 ounces. I thought she was going to die. She kept eating, so I kept feeding her. He comb had turned page white, and he waddles were like white thin chips, and her face so gaunt that she was sharp. I gave her anything she would eat. Pasta, beans, scrambled eggs. I had to keep her in the house during the hot days. I drain the water out of her belly every month or so, and she is a perfectly happy (and fat) hen, running around living the dream. Wow...I am still amazed she survived.

 

[azygous]

Try the bucket traps. They are completely safe around chickens, no spring traps to hurt them, no poison to get into. You can neglect these bucket traps and they still go on working. You bait the roller with peanut butter and supply a stick so the rats and mice can climb up onto the rim. Cheaper and more effective than anything else I've used.

My chickens steal the peanut butter off the rollers so I need to re-butter them often. That's about the only hassle.

 

[SmiYa0126]

I wasn’t sure about the fecal matter in the wound until this morning. After her soak I let her wander around the yard a little to scratch and peck and be a chicken. She tried to jump up on a golf cart and didn’t quite make it. That caused her wound to hit against the golf cart and it EXPLODED with fecal matter. Now the middle of the wound has a constant leak of feces. She has been pooping from her vent but it’s clear mucus with yellow solids in it. Maybe that’s coming from her reproductive tract but she drops it as she’s walking around, just like it was poop.

I gave her the fishmox on some sardines and she ate it up. When I went out this afternoon she was standing over the food dish eating, which I haven’t been seeing.

Now, because her intestines are compromised does that mean she’ll not be able to recover? I’m happy to fight for her but I don’t want her to go through all of the treatments only to lose in the end. It just seems pretty terminal to me.

If she stops eating I would consider it, but if she still fighting I would help her, but that's just me. Whatever you decide to do isn't a wrong decision. This is so hard

 

[azygous]

This doesn't look good. The fecal matter exploding from this wound could mean a perforated bowel. When that happens to a human, peritonitis develops and it's extremely difficult to treat. A lot of people don't survive it, even with hospital care and surgery.

Unless you have an avian vet who could see the hen and you have the means to afford it, I don't see how you can do any more than what you are already doing.

The antibiotic sounds like it's already working. Keep it up. You can easily push the pill into her beak and she will swallow. Giving the whole pill insures she gets the full dose. But the sardines do get some nourishment into her.

Prepare yourself for her to improve at first but be ready if she suddenly takes a turn for the worse. If that happens, then I would suggest it's time to euthanize.

 

[Chicksofthepines]

I'm thinking along the line that @MysteryChicken is. Of course we can only guess what started this wound, pecking by the other chickens is a good first guess.

My brain got a little more elaborate with its conjecture - rat infested coop and rats nibbling on chickens at night while they are helpless. It does happen. Another guess is an internal infection that has progressed to the point of abscess that is erupting through the epidermal layer. To be honest, I don't know if that's even possible. I have a runaway imagination.

What is apparent now is that the hen has a raging infection. It's probably progressed beyond what is treatable with expectation of recovery, but I always try if the chicken is alert and active. Start with Epsom salt soaks with an antiseptic wound wash like Betadine in it. Make the water around 42C / 107F. Keep it that hot for the entire soak as it helps to kill bacteria but isn't hot enough to burn tissue. Between soaks keep an antibacterial ointment on it or use Manuka honey. This should be done daily. She should also be started on an antibiotic. Do you have any on hand. including leftover people prescriptions?

Thank you so much! It could be rats, we’ve have one of the worst years this year. I do have some fishmox, how do I know how much to give her?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yesterday I soaked her again and as the blackness started to soften I noticed there was fecal matter in it (seemed to be coming from the wound). After today’s soak I took these photos because I can’t figure out what I’m seeing in the wound.

Good advice/suggestions from everyone.
Sounds like you are doing what you can. I agree, giving the antibiotic is a good idea.

The most concerning thing to me, is you notice fecal matter- is it still coming from the wound?
Is she pooping from the vent at all?

 

[azygous]

You are better able than we are to observe closely what is going on and to use your judgement as to what your final treatment plan will be after hearing our suggestions.