Hen sitting in nest, clear liquid from vent and raw behind

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

One of our EE hens hasn't laid an egg in a couple weeks (usually does 1-2/week) and we noticed she's been in the nesting box alot. Today she is still there and we noticed a clear liquid coming out her vent and she looks raw in that area. Could she be eggbound? What should we do?

 

[miss_thenorth]

I am curious the see the answer to this question too. i noticed clear fluid coming out one of my hens vents earlier.....

 

[jjthink]

Oh dear. She could be eggbound. She could also have an egg broken inside, or be internally laying. All very important troubles, so this will rise to the top for more specific advice.
Any other symptoms? How is her eating, drinking, pooping, energy, comb color?
JJ

 

[miss_thenorth]

What do you do if she is egg-bound or an egg broke internally? going to do a search now.....

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Hi all - here's an update:

When I got home, she was out of the coop and walking around the barn normally - no penguin walk. Was trying to preen her feathers and actually acting really normal, except the liquid was really dripping and poopy too. My DH says he thinks she passed the egg but he wasn't sure. We brought her indoors, wrapped her in a towel, and bathed her back end over a bucket with warm water. The vent was raw, hard, cracked and slightly bleeding with alot of poop and kind of cheesy stuff built up. I cleaned her out the best I could; didn't want to over-do and hurt her because she started to bleed. Not to be too gross, but I did use a rubber glove and some vaseline just to see if I could feel anything stuck, but there was nothing. Didn't feel anything from the outside either. I used Preparation H as I read in another post to try to shrink some of the swelling, and put vaseline on too. We put her in a cage in the bathroom and she is eating and drinking. The dripping has slowed down and possibly even stopped by today, and I'll look again when I get home.

I didn't mention earlier because I totally forgot, but we have been finding eggs without shells - we call them jelly eggs - in the nesting boxes, and now we are assuming they are hers. We are adding calcium to her water so hopefully this will help too. Will keep you posted and thanks for the help.

Cindy

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Well, this is still going on and we don't know why. We've kept her isolated, which she isn't happy about, and when we let her roam, she seems perfectly fine. Eating/drinking/running/walking - all seem normal, but she's still leaking gunk. We trimmed the feathers around her vent to help keep the area clean but it's still coming out. What should we do?

 

[Matt A NC]

You may want to do a search for Vent Gleet.

Matt

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Oh - I did that - and yuck...never heard of that! All the other hens are ok though and we only have the one rooster. To me it seems more like egg white or something more along those lines because it is clear and drippy. It turns white when it's stuck to her though, but it definitely doesn't look like pus.

Thanks for the info!

 

[earthnut]

Your hen sounds very similar to my hen, though she didn't lay half-formed eggs. My hen is listless, has diarrhea that sticks to her feathers, is very thirsty, not very interested in food, and her vent is raw and has a cheesy buildup that is peeling and bleeding. She was eggbound, doesn't seem to be now. She also had lice, which I dusted with sulfur, and she perked up for a few days but now seems listless again. Several weeks ago I found some of their feed had molded, perhaps your hen got into some rotten food too?

I think my hen may have a yeast infection (aka thrush, candida), and am going to give her an epsom salt flush today, followed by boosting their water with vinegar, garlic, and yogurt. I also plan to get a mineral suppliment, and perhaps a livestock probiotic powder, for them next time I'm at the feed store. I found this great post on another forum: http://www.the-coop.org/cgi-bin/UBB/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=002754

I plan to add to their water:
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 crushed clove garlic
1 Tbsp yogurt
per gallon water

I've had candida myself because of antibiotics, and what cured me was taking garlic and acidophilous suppliments for many months, and avoiding sugar.

 

[earthnut]

oops double post