Hen with infected vent?

[nesther]

Ok. Thanks.

 

[casportpony]

About that lump... I just did a necropsy on a rooster that had one and I figured that when I cut it open I would find pus, 'cause that's sort of what it felt like. He'd had it for years and it was about the size of a golfball. Boy was I surprised when I sliced it open and found a lobe of his liver!

-Kathy

Below is a post from about a chicken with a hernia - This is not my chicken:
From: http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7991255&p=402479​

One of my chooks was diagnosed recently (last Monday) with a hernia, so I thought I'd upload some pictures in the hope that it'd be of interest to others.

This is the chook:



Over the span of a few weeks she had developed a very distended abdomen that felt soft and squashy to touch. It felt like there was something inside it, but nothing firm. The chook was otherwise her normal self - eating, dustbathing, foraging, drinking, pooping, running, perching, bossing round the others, laying perfect eggs (nearly every day) and with plenty of flesh on her. Here are a couple of pics of her rear end (her tail is down in these pics because (a) it is not the kind of tail that sticks up and (b) she was not happy about being caught and photographed).




Looks quite alarming... I assumed that it was ascites, or waterbelly, which is linked to heart and liver problems and, as a result, is ultimately fatal. We took her to our local avian vet, expecting a bad outcome. The vet flipped her over and felt around a bit and said that beyond doubt it was actually a hernia (although he had also thought it was ascites on first sight). For those who don't know, a hernia develops when a gap forms in the muscles that normally hold in all the intestines. The abdominal muscles are kind of like a hammock for all the guts, and when they separate a bit the guts come through. The red saggy part in the pics are where her intestines are hanging down (held in by her skin).

The vet said that a hernia is actually quite a good diagnosis to have, compared to any of the other things it could have been which are all fatal. The only risk is that, if the gap in the muscles is small, the intestines might become blocked or twisted, which would be fatal if not caught in time. If the hole is large (as it probably is in this case) the chances of this happening are much smaller.

The vet advised us that there is no need to do anything in our hen's case, as it is not bothering her at all. If it starts to bother her (e.g. if she pecks at it, or if it starts to drag on the ground) then she can have surgery (about $400) to put the intestines back and sew up the hole in the muscles. Sometimes the surgery doesn't work though, and the longer you leave it the greater the chance of it failing. We have decided to leave it for now and let her get on with her life.

 

[nesther]

Oh poor little guy........

 

[casportpony]

Here is a necropsy photo of the rooster.

 

[nesther]

Sorry, I can't look at your pics if they are graphic. I have a weak stomach.

 

[casportpony]

Mendozer, when was the last time you de-wormed you hens? There are a few things that you could try that may help her if she doesn't have EYP.

-Kathy

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

About that lump... I just did a necropsy on a rooster that had one and I figured that when I cut it open I would find pus, 'cause that's sort of what it felt like. He'd had it for years and it was about the size of a golfball. Boy was I surprised when I sliced it open and found a lobe of his liver!

-Kathy

Here is a post from about a chicken with a hernia:
From: http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7991255&p=402479
One of my chooks was diagnosed recently (last Monday) with a hernia, so I thought I'd upload some pictures in the hope that it'd be of interest to others.

This is the chook:



Over the span of a few weeks she had developed a very distended abdomen that felt soft and squashy to touch. It felt like there was something inside it, but nothing firm. The chook was otherwise her normal self - eating, dustbathing, foraging, drinking, pooping, running, perching, bossing round the others, laying perfect eggs (nearly every day) and with plenty of flesh on her. Here are a couple of pics of her rear end (her tail is down in these pics because (a) it is not the kind of tail that sticks up and (b) she was not happy about being caught and photographed).




Looks quite alarming... I assumed that it was ascites, or waterbelly, which is linked to heart and liver problems and, as a result, is ultimately fatal. We took her to our local avian vet, expecting a bad outcome. The vet flipped her over and felt around a bit and said that beyond doubt it was actually a hernia (although he had also thought it was ascites on first sight). For those who don't know, a hernia develops when a gap forms in the muscles that normally hold in all the intestines. The abdominal muscles are kind of like a hammock for all the guts, and when they separate a bit the guts come through. The red saggy part in the pics are where her intestines are hanging down (held in by her skin).

The vet said that a hernia is actually quite a good diagnosis to have, compared to any of the other things it could have been which are all fatal. The only risk is that, if the gap in the muscles is small, the intestines might become blocked or twisted, which would be fatal if not caught in time. If the hole is large (as it probably is in this case) the chances of this happening are much smaller.

The vet advised us that there is no need to do anything in our hen's case, as it is not bothering her at all. If it starts to bother her (e.g. if she pecks at it, or if it starts to drag on the ground) then she can have surgery (about $400) to put the intestines back and sew up the hole in the muscles. Sometimes the surgery doesn't work though, and the longer you leave it the greater the chance of it failing. We have decided to leave it for now and let her get on with her life.

You must be relieved to have a diagnosis! And a relatively positive one at that.

 

[casportpony]

You must be relieved to have a diagnosis! And a relatively positive one at that.

Sorry I wasn't very clear on that... that was a post I found while searching for chicken hernias. I posted it and the necropsy picture of the liver so others could see that not all lumps below the vent are egg related and cutting into them could be a very bad idea.

-Kathy

 

[mendozer]

I'm not saying the crop and the lump on her bum are related, remember, I said she has more than one thing going on here. I'm saying that her downhill spiral, her general condition, whatever is going on inside of her other than the lump may result in the symptom of crop stasis.


The lump can be poked, not sliced open, per se. You can do it with alcohol swabbing, then poking with sterilized exacto knife blade, then put antibiotic ointment on it, hardly any danger of infection. It's just to see if infection comes out. If you can't do it, you need to consult someone who has experience doing this stuff or just leave it alone and hope it's just fatty tissue. Sometimes it's the only way you can find out what you're dealing with. If she's laying internally, that lump is most likely NOT related. I've had about 15 hens who died with cheesy masses inside and one with a huge egg that dropped into her abdomen that ended up killing her, but none had a lump like that. I have two with minor fatty cyst-like lumps on their bums right now, both are laying and completely fine. There are too many things a lump could be to diagnose on the internet. Chickens do get cysts on occasion.

I can tell she is hatchery stock. You bought her from a propagator of hatchery stock and there is nothing wrong with that, but they are VERY prone to reproductive issues that kill them, to be blunt. She is younger than she looks, probably because she isn't feeling well, but I lost my first hen to EYP at just past two years of age, then they started dropping progressively after that point.

Is her crop emptying? Is it huge and rock hard? Doughy like playdough? Bloaty and gassy? You need to determine that before a course of action can be determined. Sour crop can cause malnutrition. Impacted crop can cause malnutrition and also result in fermented feed sitting in there, in effect, giving them both impacted and sour crop, both of which can kill if it isn't fixed.

There are many things we chicken owners must do with our birds that would fall into the realm of veterinary work, mainly because most vets won't even touch a chicken and if they do, the price is astronomical and they end up killing the bird anyway, not knowing what they're doing. Much of it is unpleasant and takes a leap of faith after doing some careful research on course of action.

Hopefully, she just isn't feeling well due to her molting condition. That takes a lot out of them. Keep providing supportive therapy and hope for the best. If she is laying internally, there is nothing you can do for her, unfortunately. It's a genetic/hormone based malfunction, no prevention, no cure other than hysterectomy, which really isn't a cure, just avoiding the issue by removing her egglaying apparatus.

I know it's frustrating and scary and I hope I don't sound blunt. Just been through all this stuff so many times and everyone PM's me as the resident BYC expert on internal laying/EYP. I've just had lots of sad experience and now won't buy hatchery stock, at least not the common egg laying breeds they sell. Had better luck with my hatchery Brahmas than any of them.

ETA: Although I didn't say the lump on her rear and the crop were related, you'd be shocked at what can be related. A soft tissue leg injury can result in an internal infection, unseen, that can travel through the body, raging over time, and end up in an abscess out the abdomen or bum. Have seen it happen in a friend's bird who died from the resulting fly strike and maggots invading the body. No way she could have guessed or seen that coming, though I knew that soft tissue injuries need antibiotics from my own experience and had advised her of such as a precaution. The problem was the infection was so great, it needed super tough antibiotics, not just penicillin, and it just didn't end well, in spite of her excellent care of the bird and a vet's intervention at the end.

I felt the crop last night and it's not hard, like of like the lump (doughy I guess to use your words). I haven't felt the other hens crops before and they're not here right now so I can't (my coops at a friends house).

Her energy level appears slightly higher today (maybe it's the yogurt and ACV kicking in). I was debating letting her roam my backyard for exercise. Also, should have mentioned this earlier, but oh well...her poop is not the normal solid blob. It's kind of like green cottage cheese with some visible seeds in it. On that popular "poop page" i guess it would fall under the broag range of normal since there are no worms or blood.

Casportpony - I've never de-wormed them. I've never given them anything medically actually. they came medicated as chicks and that was it. I didn't realize medication was necessary if they were on good feed,water, and range.

 

[mendozer]

I felt it again today and it's not hard. I turned her over and massaged it, tiny amount of liquid came out thats it. I made her a quick leash out of string and let her walk around outside. She was interested in eating lettuce and other greens.