Hens rear skin split open ! Need answers!*Graphic image*

[Masaia_124]

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone here can help me understand what happened to one of my older hens.

Yesterday, I noticed she had a very poopy bottom, and this morning a small amount of blood where she had been sleeping. I decided to give her a bath to clean her up, and during that process I found that the skin under her vent (below her butt) had split open—fully exposed, like her skin had cracked or torn. It was quite graphic and shocking.

Earlier in the day, my partner had seen a white, string-like thing hanging from her vent. We're not sure if it was tissue, her oviduct, a parasite, or something else.

Due to her condition and the severity of the wound, we made the difficult decision to put her down.

I’m trying to understand what could have caused this. For context:


- I have (had) 3 older hens, though I don’t know their exact ages.

- One died about a month ago while I was away, so I wasn’t able to observe symptoms.

- Now this second one has passed due to this injury/illness.

- The remaining hen has been lethargic for a few days, has a droopy tail, purple-tinged comb, a messy vent area (I cleaned her two days ago).

I’m very concerned there may be an underlying illness affecting all of them. If anyone has insight, I would be really grateful.

Thank you so much for your help

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I'm not seeing the image, but are you sure it was her bottom that was torn, and not just hanging out? Something white hanging out could have been a broken shell-less egg that she accidentally pushed her insides out trying to lay. (I had this happen to one of my girls recently.)

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Hi Lacy,

For some reason it's not letting me add the pictures to my post so here they are.

I'm still not seeing any pictures. I think it's because you're a new member and this website has something to protect against scammers. Perhaps post around on some other threads to get your post count up and try again?

See this post here on the issue concerning images:
Thread 'Warnings against posting links' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/warnings-against-posting-links.1611461/

 

[Masaia_124]

I'm still not seeing any pictures. I think it's because you're a new member and this website has something to protect against scammers. Perhaps post around on some other threads to get your post count up and try again?

See this post here on the issue concerning images:
Thread 'Warnings against posting links' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/warnings-against-posting-links.1611461/

Alright it let me upload only the one photo but maybe you can see? No it wasn't something coming out. It looked more like a flesh balloon..

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Alright it let me upload only the one photo but maybe you can see? No it wasn't something coming out. It looked more like a flesh balloon..

Ok, I see the picture now. It's hard to tell from the picture, but to me, it almost looks like something I had on an Isa Brown a few years ago that I had to put down. Thank you for the picture.

Tagging @Eggcessive

 

[Eggcessive]

You did the best thing for her to put her down. She must have been in a lot of discomfort. It sounds like an empty shell membrane was hanging from her vent earlier. Chicken can sometimes pick at eggs hanging from the vent, and sometimes they may have a prolapse or just a temporary prolapse when trying to lay and egg. If the others see any red they will pick at the prolapse. It could be that the flock attacked her and degloved her skin. Did you see any intestines or prolapse hanging out? Was she inside a locked up coop or could a predator have gotten to her. Have you ever seen any vent pecking of any other hens before? I would watch for any of that by spending some time observing them on the roost and while they are outside. Sorry for your loss.,

 

[Masaia_124]

You did the best thing for her to put her down. She must have been in a lot of discomfort. It sounds like an empty shell membrane was hanging from her vent earlier. Chicken can sometimes pick at eggs hanging from the vent, and sometimes they may have a prolapse or just a temporary prolapse when trying to lay and egg. If the others see any red they will pick at the prolapse. It could be that the flock attacked her and degloved her skin. Did you see any intestines or prolapse hanging out? Was she inside a locked up coop or could a predator have gotten to her. Have you ever seen any vent pecking of any other hens before? I would watch for any of that by spending some time observing them on the roost and while they are outside. Sorry for your loss.,

Hi, thanks for taking the time.

No I couldn't see anything hanging out which I find even weirder. Just this white thing that my partner saw earlier. Also my chicken don't usually peck at each either. Maybe this time was different because of the blood .
Could of this happen for a worm, a virus or a disease ? I'm concerned for the rest of my flock.

 

[Masaia_124]

Ok, I see the picture now. It's hard to tell from the picture, but to me, it almost looks like something I had on an Isa Brown a few years ago that I had to put down. Thank you for the picture.

Tagging @Eggcessive

Hi, do you have a name on what happened to you isa brown ?