Helping a Hen Through a Vent Issue – My Step-by-Step Recovery Plan
(attached photos show chronological progress with last photo showing full recovery)
About 10 days ago, I found one of my hens with very bloody, thick mucus around her vent. She was lethargic, spaced-out, not eating, and unable to defend herself. Another hen had blood on her head feathers, indicating she’d been pecking the vent area and worsened the injury.
I didn’t know exactly what was wrong, but I immediately separated her and started researching — including asking in this group. Thanks to the advice I received, the most likely cause was a soft-shelled egg, which caused internal damage, followed by external pecking injuries.
⸻
Environment
• Night: Isolated her in a dark, quiet shed until 11am daily to delay egg-laying triggers.
• Day: Placed her in a cage in the shade inside the run so she could still see and hear the flock.
- Gave her a 20 min soak in epsom bath salts twice with 3 day gap
• Gave her 30 mins of supervised free-ranging at 7am each day with her medicated breakfast, and allowed her to join evening free range with the flock to break up her isolation and give her exercise.
⸻
Feeding & Supplements
• 7am medicated small breakfast(for 5 days): A mix of cooked rice, peas, fish (as a bribe to eat it all), chick crumb, 1 crushed calcium carbonate tablet, and vitamin drops.
• 11am feed: With the rest of the flock — but using grower feed or chick crumb, not layer pellets.
• Hydration (Days 1–3): Crushed aspirin tablet in 300ml of water for anti-inflammatory support.
⸻
Medication & Topical Care
• Amoxicillin trihydrate:
Crushed 1 × 250mg tablet, mixed into 10ml of water. Gave her 1ml of the solution twice daily via syringe (25mg per dose) for 4 days.
• Topical treatment:
• I initially used turmeric + honey (natural anti-inflammatory), and then sugar, as advised in this group — because I didn’t yet have Vetericyn in stock.
• Once Vetericyn arrived, I washed the vent gently with saline and applied twice a day for the next several days.
If I’d had Vetericyn from the beginning, I would have used it from Day 1. I highly recommend keeping it stocked in your poultry first-aid kit — it made a big difference.
By Day 5 after start of treatments, once her swelling had gone down, she was much more alert, eating well, and acting like herself again. i gave her a bath with some mild children’s shampoo, gently washing all her vent feathers so they were cleansed of all the mucus and goop that was clumping it all together.
⸻
Recovery & Key Takeaways
After about a week, after i considered her fully recovered, she was safely reintroduced to the flock, and sleeping in coop, and reasserting herself into pecking order.
What I Learned:
• Act immediately and learn fast— you can adjust your approach as you learn more.
• Soft-shelled eggs can be dangerous, and often cause both internal and external injury.
• Amoxicillin + Vetericyn were the most effective combination.
• Isolation with visibility, daily routines, and hydration were all important.
• Keep essentials like Vetericyn and vitamin drops on hand — it’ll save you stress later.
If anyone’s dealing with a similar situation, feel free to message — happy to share what helped.
(attached photos show chronological progress with last photo showing full recovery)
About 10 days ago, I found one of my hens with very bloody, thick mucus around her vent. She was lethargic, spaced-out, not eating, and unable to defend herself. Another hen had blood on her head feathers, indicating she’d been pecking the vent area and worsened the injury.
I didn’t know exactly what was wrong, but I immediately separated her and started researching — including asking in this group. Thanks to the advice I received, the most likely cause was a soft-shelled egg, which caused internal damage, followed by external pecking injuries.
⸻
Environment• Night: Isolated her in a dark, quiet shed until 11am daily to delay egg-laying triggers.
• Day: Placed her in a cage in the shade inside the run so she could still see and hear the flock.
- Gave her a 20 min soak in epsom bath salts twice with 3 day gap
• Gave her 30 mins of supervised free-ranging at 7am each day with her medicated breakfast, and allowed her to join evening free range with the flock to break up her isolation and give her exercise.
⸻
Feeding & Supplements• 7am medicated small breakfast(for 5 days): A mix of cooked rice, peas, fish (as a bribe to eat it all), chick crumb, 1 crushed calcium carbonate tablet, and vitamin drops.
• 11am feed: With the rest of the flock — but using grower feed or chick crumb, not layer pellets.
• Hydration (Days 1–3): Crushed aspirin tablet in 300ml of water for anti-inflammatory support.
⸻
Medication & Topical Care
• Amoxicillin trihydrate:
Crushed 1 × 250mg tablet, mixed into 10ml of water. Gave her 1ml of the solution twice daily via syringe (25mg per dose) for 4 days.
• Topical treatment:
• I initially used turmeric + honey (natural anti-inflammatory), and then sugar, as advised in this group — because I didn’t yet have Vetericyn in stock.
• Once Vetericyn arrived, I washed the vent gently with saline and applied twice a day for the next several days.
If I’d had Vetericyn from the beginning, I would have used it from Day 1. I highly recommend keeping it stocked in your poultry first-aid kit — it made a big difference.
By Day 5 after start of treatments, once her swelling had gone down, she was much more alert, eating well, and acting like herself again. i gave her a bath with some mild children’s shampoo, gently washing all her vent feathers so they were cleansed of all the mucus and goop that was clumping it all together.
⸻
Recovery & Key Takeaways
After about a week, after i considered her fully recovered, she was safely reintroduced to the flock, and sleeping in coop, and reasserting herself into pecking order.
What I Learned:
• Act immediately and learn fast— you can adjust your approach as you learn more.
• Soft-shelled eggs can be dangerous, and often cause both internal and external injury.
• Amoxicillin + Vetericyn were the most effective combination.
• Isolation with visibility, daily routines, and hydration were all important.
• Keep essentials like Vetericyn and vitamin drops on hand — it’ll save you stress later.
If anyone’s dealing with a similar situation, feel free to message — happy to share what helped.
