Hen suddenly very sick. Chalky white/yellow discharge, bad smelling vent. Other details provided, please help

[TropicalChickies]

Hello BYC

My 1.5 year old hen Rusty suddenly became extremely ill. I keep a close eye on my flock -- she has no symptoms before today.

She ate breakfast this morning with the flock. Then I went out for a few hours. Came home and fed them lunch. She wasn't at lunch, but she's been acting like she is going broody, so I figured she was sitting on an egg. I went to the coop and she was sitting there, pecked my hand when I approached. Figured she was going broody and left her. I went back at 5pm to lift her off so she would poop and eat. Instead of an egg, I found her very sick.

She has been laying regularly. All strong, well formed eggs, no soft shells.

Her symptoms:

Chalky white and yellowish gunk around her vent.

Terrible smell coming from vent. Like really sour milk.

Some edema and purplish tinge to vent. Vent area feels like there is water in it and feels hot. Abdomen is not swollen between the legs.

Comb and wattles a hectic bright red color. Not cherry red or purplish. Just very bright red.

Eyes closing. Watery bubbles in one eye.

She can stand and walk, but is weak.

Crop is not balloonish or impacted.

She does not appear to be straining to lay an egg.

I don't know if this is bacterial, fungal, or if she is egg bound or an egg broke inside her. Or if she ate something poison. Her beak/head does not smell and her crop is ok. The only thing I can rule out is sour crop.

She laid a perfect egg yesterday late morning. She has been eating, active, and normal. This all just happened today.

I have the following medicines on hand:

Cephalaxin
Tri-Sulfa
Acidified copper sulfate

I just gave her clean water via syringe. She was able to stand and swallow and it seemed to revive her a bit.

What do you recommend? Please help. Thank you.

@Wyorp Rock @azygous @coach723 @TwoCrows @Eggcessive

 

[azygous]

Great job of listing all her symptoms. It really helps. I would guess she has a reproductive infection, maybe a stuck second egg that has no shell because it came down the oviduct too soon after the other egg.

Give her a calcium supplement of at least 600mg. Start her on the Ceph. Offer her tepid water with sugar and a pinch of salt and baking soda in it for possible shock. Place her in a quiet place and keep checking her occasionally.

Hopefully the calcium will expedite passing any material stuck in the oviduct. The antibiotic should make her feel better within twenty four hours. If she improves, you will know we're on the right track, and keep up the treatment.

 

[TwoCrows]

I agree with @azygous this sounds like a reproductive/oviduct issue. As in maybe there was a glitch in her laying system or possibly an infection and she passed a shell-less egg and its stuck to her vent area. I'd definitely start her on the Cephalaxin and see how she does.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Thank you @azygous and @TwoCrows. I gave her calcium and a dose of ceph as soon as I read your messages. Its 10pm here, I'll give her another dose at 4am in 6hrs. She's in a private area to rest. Hope she makes it through the night.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Chalky white and yellowish gunk around her vent.

Terrible smell coming from vent. Like really sour milk.

Some edema and purplish tinge to vent. Vent area feels like there is water in it and feels hot. Abdomen is not swollen between the legs.

Eyes closing. Watery bubbles in one eye.

I agree I'd go with the Calcium and antibiotic.

Take note if the gunk around the vent seems to be a constant "leakage" or just appears when she poops.
Vent Gleet comes to mind with the smell being like sour milk, but it very well could be infection from the reproductive system.

The watery bubble in the eye...do you have MG in your flock or IB? I'd just clean the eye with saline and see if the bubbles return or if she presents with other symptoms. Could just be a matter of getting something in the eye or a poke/peck to the eye.

Keep us posted.

 

[azygous]

The awful smelly white discharge is also something I've noticed is associated with a blockage in the oviduct. In hens that I've treated for prolapse associated with this sort of blockage, this acrid discharge is an unpleasant component. Once the blockage resolves, so does this smelly discharge. As if by magic.

 

[TropicalChickies]

The awful smelly white discharge is also something I've noticed is associated with a blockage in the oviduct. In hens that I've treated for prolapse associated with this sort of blockage, this acrid discharge is an unpleasant component. Once the blockage resolves, so does this smelly discharge. As if by magic.

Rusty made it through the night and appears slightly better. Her eyes are open and she's standing up and moving around (she's in a 3x4 wire pen). She ate a bit of mash and is drinking water. But she's not out of the woods. She hates being confined in any way, but she's not trying to escape the pen, so I can tell she's still quite weak.

"Acrid" is exactly the word I was looking for to describe her smell. thank you. This gunk didn't have the fermenting or yeasty smell I would associate with vent gleet -- this smell is much sharper and ranker.

The smell is not as strong this morning, but still noticeable.

Take note if the gunk around the vent seems to be a constant "leakage" or just appears when she poops.

The gunk is more when she poops. This morning it was less chalky and more liquidy/slimy/viscous, pale yellow and whitish in color. She passed quite a bit of it last night. There was also some more normal looking dropping, but dark greenish (as if from bile). But I was glad to see some solid poop -- at least her digestive system is functioning.

The watery bubble in the eye...do you have MG in your flock or IB? I'd just clean the eye with saline and see if the bubbles return or if she presents with other symptoms. Could just be a matter of getting something in the eye or a poke/peck to the eye.

There's no symptoms of mycoplasma or IB in my flock presently. No coughing, raspiness, bubbly eyes, or lethargy. All the hens are laying strong shelled normal eggs. I did have hens 5 years ago with respiratory disease, but they have all since died and Rusty arrived well after they had passed. The old coop was burned and the chickens I have now live in a different spot. I was just counting my blessings the other day how healthy this group is...

I did flush the eye last night and I don't see bubbles in either of Rusty's eyes this morning. When I took her out of the coop area yesterday, she did have a few peck marks on her comb, so a peck to the face is very likely from her rivals.

Rusty did also have some clear mucous-y stuff in her beak and her breathing was wet/gurgling for a few hours that concerned me last night, but that seems to have cleared now that she's standing up and moving around.

I haven't brought in any new chickens in 9 months. Actually, Rusty and her sister Dusty were the last chickens to arrive from outside this farm.

No one else in the flock seems sick in the slightest (1 rooster, 1 junior roo, 5 adult hens, 2 pullets, 4 young juveniles and one chick). I checked droppings in and around the coop first thing thus morning -- all normal.

I'm really hoping this isn't something contagious like MG. Her illness came on so suddenly, it seems to be more a reproductive infection from a stuck egg. I'm keeping her away from the others, however, until these symptoms hopefully resolve.

I'd definitely start her on the Cephalaxin and see how she does.

I gave her 60mg at 10 last night to start her off and flood her system. At her weight, I think her dose should be 40mg every six hours. I gave her another 40mg at 4am and will continue that every 6 hours, if that sounds right to you all.

 

[TropicalChickies]

One other note on Rusty's health ...it looks like she's finishing up a molt. As I checked her over last night, I saw she had new feathers "opening" on her back from tail to just below her neck. I saw new feathers coming in on her tail end a few weeks ago. She has been laying eggs throughout this entire feathering process -- and that makes me think she could have been weakened and more likely to get an infection...

 

[coach723]

Plumbs Veterinary Drug Handbook gives the dose for cephalexin as 35-50 mg/kg of body weight every 6 hours. That is the dose I've used most commonly.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Plumbs Veterinary Drug Handbook gives the dose for cephalexin as 35-50 mg/kg of body weight every 6 hours. That is the dose I've used most commonly.

Thank you for confirming. Will do