I have a young (12-14 week) French Black Copper Marans who was injured somehow on Monday. That morning when I let the chickens out of their pen she initially just stayed in the corner. After watching her for a few minutes she did leave the pen and then I noticed how bad her tail area was. It was very bloody. I am guessing that other chickens pecked at her butt area but now I am wondering if it was something more than that.
We isolated her in a kennel in the garage. I sprayed her with Blu Kote and kept her area quiet for the first day with just water. The next day I noticed her rear looked worse but not bloody--- it is like she is seeping this thick white stuff. Kind of like poop, but it is just white. The hole where they poop from is also abnormally large and appears to be protruding. I attempted to wash her on Wednesday with some warm water and just a small amount of mild soap. It didn't really help much. This white stuff is like glue! It is sticking to her rear and just drying up into clumps and blocking her poop hole.
So I figured one more day and maybe she would be able to re-join the group. I had sprayed Blu Kote again. She did eat some food yesterday but I am limiting it because I have no idea what is causing this nasty white stuff. Also one other unusual problem is that when we were handling her if we tipped her forward just a little bit (nothing major) she would start kind of leaking out tons of water out of her beak. Not vomiting, but it was just running out of her mouth.
Today I was just getting ready to put her back with the group because she seems mostly ok. She was eating and drinking and is alert, etc. Her bloody rear seemed to be slightly better, but this white stuff just wont stop. So I was taking a few paper towels and trying to carefully wipe this stuff off her butt and it was kind of coming off, but then I saw that there are maggots in her skin where she was injured!
Im trying so hard to be a good, tough, brave chicken owner, but this is really pushing my limits! I know I need to try to handle it so please please tell me what I should do.
I am sick about the maggots thing. It has to be from a few flies that got in to the garage on Monday and I couldn't kill them all. They were clearly attracted to her injury and now I feel really guilty about this. What the heck can I do about them? Should I leave her in isolation for a while longer? She is not actively bleeding but her butt is still plugged with this white discharge that must be poop, but is not like any poop I've ever seen before.
I am also nervous about her "leaking" water when she was handled. I've handled dozens of hens before and only saw that happen with one who had either sour crop or impacted crop and she ended up dying.
Please help with any advice you have! Thank you!
We isolated her in a kennel in the garage. I sprayed her with Blu Kote and kept her area quiet for the first day with just water. The next day I noticed her rear looked worse but not bloody--- it is like she is seeping this thick white stuff. Kind of like poop, but it is just white. The hole where they poop from is also abnormally large and appears to be protruding. I attempted to wash her on Wednesday with some warm water and just a small amount of mild soap. It didn't really help much. This white stuff is like glue! It is sticking to her rear and just drying up into clumps and blocking her poop hole.
So I figured one more day and maybe she would be able to re-join the group. I had sprayed Blu Kote again. She did eat some food yesterday but I am limiting it because I have no idea what is causing this nasty white stuff. Also one other unusual problem is that when we were handling her if we tipped her forward just a little bit (nothing major) she would start kind of leaking out tons of water out of her beak. Not vomiting, but it was just running out of her mouth.
Today I was just getting ready to put her back with the group because she seems mostly ok. She was eating and drinking and is alert, etc. Her bloody rear seemed to be slightly better, but this white stuff just wont stop. So I was taking a few paper towels and trying to carefully wipe this stuff off her butt and it was kind of coming off, but then I saw that there are maggots in her skin where she was injured!
Im trying so hard to be a good, tough, brave chicken owner, but this is really pushing my limits! I know I need to try to handle it so please please tell me what I should do.
I am sick about the maggots thing. It has to be from a few flies that got in to the garage on Monday and I couldn't kill them all. They were clearly attracted to her injury and now I feel really guilty about this. What the heck can I do about them? Should I leave her in isolation for a while longer? She is not actively bleeding but her butt is still plugged with this white discharge that must be poop, but is not like any poop I've ever seen before.
I am also nervous about her "leaking" water when she was handled. I've handled dozens of hens before and only saw that happen with one who had either sour crop or impacted crop and she ended up dying.
Please help with any advice you have! Thank you!
I knew owning chickens would be tough but this is harder than I expected. I feel really bad for her.
