Hen sick with gooey vent

[lmjordan10]

My hen, Erma, seems to have something going on. I noticed the last 2 evenings she is going in to roost much earlier than the other chickens. Today she stayed in the coop on the roost. I took her down this evening and took her to the water and she drank some but doesn't seem interested in food. Her vent has gooey something stuck all over it and coming out of it (pic attached). She did poo and I took a picture of it (attached). When I cleaned it up it has a texture somewhere between egg and poo. It's yellow and a little green. She walks around but slower than usual. She can't outrun me as easy as usual.
Erma is 2 yrs 9 mths old. She is one of 24 hens and 1 roo that I have. All the chickens came from two different hatches from McMurray Hatchery so haven't been exposed to other chickens.
The hens eat organic crumbles in their feeder and in the evenings I feed them fermented organic grains (New Country Organic)
They have clean water daily supplemented with oregano and free range when I am home to watch them. The flock has been generally healthy except for bumble foot
Any suggestions on what might be wrong with her and how to help her would be appreciated.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I'm sorry Erma is under the weather.

It could be a number of things. She definitely has something amiss. If you are of the mind and ability, taking a fecal sample to the vet for parasite check could help you determine if it is worm over load.

If that is not possible, then it is a process of elimination.
1) Worms....has the flock be dewormed recently? Did Erma not get her fair share? Goopy, poo bottom is often a result of loose stools due to worm over load.

2) Does her abdomen feel okay? No egg apparent? Is she laying okay? Is she walking okay? If it is an egg bound situation they often walk penguin like, though sometimes it is simply slowly. Helping a hen pass a bound egg is important for obvious reasons. Good news is that she is able to defecate, which may indicate things are not blocked up, though her egg tract still could be having issues.

3) If she is a commercial hatchery line pushing 3 years, sometimes they succumb to liver problems inherent in a lot of the production layers. For that, there is little that can be done. That can produce yellow-green poo and loose stool.

TLC and worming is the best to do right now unless you prefer a vet visit.

LofMc