Help, please! What is plaguing my chickens?

[coach723]

It almost looks like lash material, but I've never seen it build up around the vent like that. So I'm thinking some kind of infection/inflammation, which would go along with the not starting laying. Is vet care an option for you? I think I would do as @Eggcessive suggested in her post above, see if you can remove some of that. If you can, pictures of what you get, and what the vent looks like after removal, might be helpful.

 

[stephany1]

Thank you so much for the ideas. I am going to put an updated picture later today.
To answer some questions:

• She has never laid
• There was an unpleasant odor when it looked like the picture above. Now not so much.
• I have two coops--a mobile one that they spend the evenings in and a stationary one with a large run where they usually spend the day. (This is near the woods.) I have isolated them into the mobile coop so we can deal with the problem.
• Food is layer pellets, kitchen scraps, oyster shell, and meal worms
• Occasionally we put ACV or garlic in their water; occasionally we put a probiotic on their feed.

We did find some moldy food in April and cleared it out. FYI, she does have honking large poops.

It sounds like the general consensus is that this is NOT mite-related.

 

[Eggcessive]

Coach723 is right that the exudate inside her vent looks similar to lash material. She might have salpingitis and be laying internally. If you remove some of that material I would cut it open and take pictures. Here is what lash material looks like:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/salpingitis-lash-eggs-in-backyard/

I would really look for any mites or evidence before I kept treating for them. You should see them on the skin moving around. The common red roost or poultry mite will spend the days in the coop nooks and crannies, coming out at night to suck blood from the chicken, while the northern fowl mite will remain on the chicken day and night. Here is a good link to know what to look for:
https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8162.pdf

 

[stephany1]

It's raining pretty hard here so I won't be able to get an updated pic. I can say that when I remove the crust, it is like a scab--it is red underneath.

 

[stephany1]

Here are the latest pics. We cleaned her last about 4-5 days ago.

 

[coach723]

So the tissue underneath looks healthy, that's good. Did you examine the stuff you removed, cut into it like @Eggcessive suggested to see what it looked like?
When you treated with miconazole did you do that topically, or orally?
If vet care is an option for you, I think if you can get them to look at the gunk, determine if it's fungal or bacterial, then depending on that I would consider some oral Nystatin (prescription) if it's fungal, or an oral antibiotic if it's bacterial. If it's fungal and you give an antibiotic that could make the fungal worse, so it would be good to know. If it's bacterial, then a fungal wouldn't be effective. Also the chance that both could be going on, one leading to the other. Most of the time vent gleet is really messy all over the back side, but I have seen pictures of build up around the vent in some cases. It looks a lot like lash material (bacterial), but since you had some improvement with the miconazole, that suggests fungal. If it's fungal the nystatin might be more effective.

 

[SmiYa0126]

What kind of bedding do you use?

 

[stephany1]

Okay thanks for all your advice. I can't cut into the stuff because it's more like scrambled eggs. I could take a sample and see if the vet will process it. I use pine shavings for bedding.
For the miconozole, we rubbed it around the vent and then a little inside. We also gave a little bit orally (mixed it in with plain yogurt so she would eat it) It was a while ago so I can't remember how long we did it for. At least 3 days orally. Probably more topically.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would keep applying ointment or oil to the vent.
To me it looks like she may have suffered damage at some point either from prolapse and/or picking. This can cause some crusty buildup, not sure why but that seems to be the case. Mineral oil would be good to work around the crusty material to see if that helps loosen it, so you can continue to work it out. I suspect there's more of that material that needs to be pushed out and it will eventually.

I do agree though, that she's likely has something else going on. Perhaps Salpingitis or another reproductive problem. Antibiotics may be a good idea.

If possible, I'd get a fecal float to see if worms and Coccidiosis are part of the problem as well. Of course if that's not possible, you could deworm and treat for Coccidiosis without a confirmation.

 

[SmiYa0126]

How are they?