HELP SICK LOOKING CHICKEN BUT

[sararoni]

Yesterday my chicken`s butt looked weird.
She was behaving normal and it was evening so I let her be.
Today it seems worse and I separated her for fear of the others noticing the redness.
What do you think is happening to her?
I havent seen her poop yet but the feathers look wet and sticky. No foul smell but I am worried.
Please advice me what to do... she is a darling of a chicken.

 

[12chickenlover3]

She probably has lice or mites. You can put mite dust on to get rid of them.

Hope This Helped,
Alexandra

 

[Eggcessive]

Her bottom does look pretty reddened. Do you think one of the others has been pecking her? That's what it looks like to me. Look around her vent and into the base of her feathers and try to look for lice eggs (yellow bits) or specks of dirt which may indicate mites. If her butt is poopy, you can take some scissors and trim away the poop on the feathers. There is a condition called vent gleet (not saying she has this) that will cause white and yellow patches on reddened skin around the vent. This is a yeast infection.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I've been dealing with some yeast infections and a vent prolapse due to laying issues so your thread caught my eye. This doesn't look like what I've been dealing with ... maybe that's reassuring?

 

[sararoni]

Thank you everyone for the advice and support.
It is first time with a health problem since we started a little more than a year ago.
She looks a little better.
I am trying to find sevin dust. I watched her closely but saw no moving things on her.
Her vent seems normal the below area looks to have a problem.
I gave her yogurt and bananas and sprayed with neosporin (Neo-to-go) for kids.
Thank you very much again and have a great day

 

[sararoni]

LeslieDjoyce I really hope it is not yeast infection as I am starting to worry about it.
The redness has almost gone but the feathers are always sticky looking and wet. Diarrhea have started again
I put apple cider vinegar with a clove of garlic in their water now and sprinkled dry garlic on their feed.
She is sleeping with the other chickens today.
What did you use for the yeast infection?

 

[sararoni]

I just gave her a warm bath with a cap of epsom salt.
I was thinking of applying some desitin cream on her skin in case it had a rash but it seems ok. Dont you think so?
There were no mites or lice in the water.
First time to give a chicken a bath and I admit it was so much more fun than I thought....
I hope she stays clean

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

LeslieDjoyce I really hope it is not yeast infection as I am starting to worry about it.
The redness has almost gone but the feathers are always sticky looking and wet. Diarrhea have started again
I put apple cider vinegar with a clove of garlic in their water now and sprinkled dry garlic on their feed.
She is sleeping with the other chickens today.
What did you use for the yeast infection?

Official recommendations for treatment if vent gleet type symptoms differ a LOT, from antibiotics for bacterial infections to recommending against antibiotics because antibiotics make fungal infections worse.

I had a hen with a prolapsed vent and dirty butt with stink. The hen was active and thogh she also has feather loss due to molting and over mating, I didn't spot anything to indicate parasites or sickness from bacterial infection. That night I brought her in for a bath in very warm Epsom Salts. I got as much of the gunk off as I could by soaking, rinsing and scrubbing with a soft toothbrush and a soft wash cloth. I also used a pair of tweasers to help peel off a few little bits ... but was super careful with the very tender vent prolapse. I gently explored/massaged her bottom a bit to help her pass any impacted poo and feel if she had an impacted egg, but didn't feel anything too suspicious. She did pass some poo pellets which could have been part of the problem, or not.

Using some water-based lubricant I explored inside her vent to make sure she didn't have anything in there. I found no egg shells. I also popped the prolapse back inside.

Then I treated her vent interior with preparation h to help shrink the swelling.

Then I applied some athletes foot cream to the area ... this is effective for fungal infections, which yeast infections are. But I gather not all "vent gleet" is fungal.

I repeated this for the next few nights until she looked and smelled better and stayed clean on her own. Then I put her back with her friends. I kept an eye on her after that.

Note: I am not a vet and did not seek the advice of a vet. I did a fair amount of Internet research, and chose what sounded to me to be a conservative approach based on the info I found doing the Internet searches and what my gut told me about the situation. But your situation might be very different than mine so this approach might not be good for your hen.

 

[sararoni]

Thank you very much for the long detailed reply.
I hope I will not have to deal with all that so soon of owning chickens.
My chicken seems better I think. I can still see the skin (a little irritated) but the feathers are looking fluffier.
I am keeping down the kitchen scraps and daily grass clippings I give them in case their acidity was the problem....
I even put some desitin cream on her and I am thinking to reapply some or not as it might block the fresh air the skin gets.
I dont know what else to do to help her get rid of this

I really appreciate very much all the help from everyone

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Thank you very much for the long detailed reply.
I hope I will not have to deal with all that so soon of owning chickens.
My chicken seems better I think. I can still see the skin (a little irritated) but the feathers are looking fluffier.
I am keeping down the kitchen scraps and daily grass clippings I give them in case their acidity was the problem....
I even put some desitin cream on her and I am thinking to reapply some or not as it might block the fresh air the skin gets.
I dont know what else to do to help her get rid of this

I really appreciate very much all the help from everyone

I'd say your choice about if you want to reapply depends on the benefits vs. the risks. I don't know what's in diaper rash cream compared to athlete's foot cream (or jock itch cream as I gather they are the same thing). I don't think I've seen diaper rash cream recommended here at BYC. Some people swear by a more "natural" product called NuStock.

If you want a really great introduction to helping chickens with unspecified problems using "natural" methods, check out this great thread here at BYC: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-horrors-anyone-want-to-follow-their-progress

That story has also been reprinted elsewhere without all the extra comments and I can send you the link if you're interested. Basically she uses fermented feed for nutrition, wood ash for external parasites, and NuStock for scale mites and vent gleet. The story is very well written and a great comfort and inspiration for anyone with a shabby looking chicken or flock.

I've only had chickens for a little over a year, but I have a lot of chickens. What I've described here was my first real health issue for chickens. I get a lot of really great information here at BYC.