Lethargic cuckoo marans with wet messy vent

[byron281]

6-7 month old cuckoo marans hen, began laying early this Nov. Seems to be in good condition so far, aside from some lethargy -- distinct today, but possibly started on Sunday. Last egg I am sure was hers was on 12/3 -- I believe she normally lays about every other day.

I noticed today while outside with the birds that she was slower and less sociable than usual, and when she turned around, the feathers below her vent were very noticeably fouled with wet dark green and white. Everyone else in the flock seems fine.

I picked her up to examine the area -- she was definitely easier to collect than usual (while friendly, she's not the cuddliest bird). The vent area was quite damp with what I'm guessing was soggy excrement. Farther away from the vent, it had dried into the feathers, clumping a rather large area together.

I rinsed the area and affected feathers with warm saltwater, cleaning off as much of the caked mess as possible to avoid it blocking her vent.

While cleaning her, I found a strange stringy thing stuck to the fouled feathers. I've attached photographs of this -- not sure what it is, although it looks organic (it dried out a bit between when I cleaned it off of her and when I photographed it. It was more pliable when it was wet). Maybe something she ate, although I'd have no idea what, or a mis-developed egg, or maybe she prolapsed something and it tore off??

I did not observe any blood, although the skin around the vent looked a little irritated. (She's a bit damp in the photos from my bathing her, but the wet area will give an idea of the extent of the mess before my efforts to clean her up -- I didn't get a picture from before; b
at first I thought she might have just sat down in someone else's mess.)

Any ideas as to what might be wrong, and what I can do about it? I'm pretty new to this, and my flock has been healthy up to this point. Thank you for your time! And sorry for the slightly gross pics

 

[Eggcessive]

That looks like a curled egg membrane. She may have had a soft shell-less egg break inside. I would offer a human calcium citrate tablet with D3 once a day for several days, to see if the shell become hard again. Do you have crushed oyster shell available, and what type of feed do they get? Get her vent feathers cleaned up.

 

[byron281]

Thank you for the experienced opinion.

She took an interest in preening after I got the worst of the mess off of her. Any advice on better ways to clean her if she can't get the rest of it off on her own?

They get layer pellets mixed with either meat bird crumbles or all flock crumbles/pellets for added protein for the turkeys and ducks, plus scratch grains and black soldier fly larvae a treats. There is shell available. None of the other chickens have been having issues.

One of the ducks occasionally lays thin eggs -- the more regular-layer of the two hen-ducks -- usually alternating with eggs that have extra calcium nodules on the outside, so not exactly sure what's up with that...

 

[Eggcessive]

I would limit any treats to 10% or less, and concentrate on getting her to eat layer feed. She may have a calcium deficiency, but she also could have a reproductive disorder that is preventing her from absorbing the calcium. Vitamin D3 is also important, and the balanced chicken feeds should have plenty. Scratch grains should be limited. A shallow butt bath with warm soap and water would be good if she is inside, and can be dried thoroughly and blown dry afterward. Sometimes trimming a little of the extra fluff can help. Probiotics such as Probios powder in the water may be helpful.

 

[byron281]

Thanks!

 

[licjic333]

6-7 month old cuckoo marans hen, began laying early this Nov. Seems to be in good condition so far, aside from some lethargy -- distinct today, but possibly started on Sunday. Last egg I am sure was hers was on 12/3 -- I believe she normally lays about every other day.

I noticed today while outside with the birds that she was slower and less sociable than usual, and when she turned around, the feathers below her vent were very noticeably fouled with wet dark green and white. Everyone else in the flock seems fine.

I picked her up to examine the area -- she was definitely easier to collect than usual (while friendly, she's not the cuddliest bird). The vent area was quite damp with what I'm guessing was soggy excrement. Farther away from the vent, it had dried into the feathers, clumping a rather large area together.

I rinsed the area and affected feathers with warm saltwater, cleaning off as much of the caked mess as possible to avoid it blocking her vent.

While cleaning her, I found a strange stringy thing stuck to the fouled feathers. I've attached photographs of this -- not sure what it is, although it looks organic (it dried out a bit between when I cleaned it off of her and when I photographed it. It was more pliable when it was wet). Maybe something she ate, although I'd have no idea what, or a mis-developed egg, or maybe she prolapsed something and it tore off??

I did not observe any blood, although the skin around the vent looked a little irritated. (She's a bit damp in the photos from my bathing her, but the wet area will give an idea of the extent of the mess before my efforts to clean her up -- I didn't get a picture from before; b
at first I thought she might have just sat down in someone else's mess.)

Any ideas as to what might be wrong, and what I can do about it? I'm pretty new to this, and my flock has been healthy up to this point. Thank you for your time! And sorry for the slightly gross pics

To me it looks like a tape worm.

 

[byron281]

To me it looks like a tape worm.

I just looked up "tapeworms in chickens" and found the image below. That is not dissimilar to what it looked like before it sort of dried out.
Would tapeworm result in the really messy vent?

 

[Eggcessive]

I don‘t think that it is tapeworm in the photo in post 1, but an egg membrane. Usually with tapeworms, you will see the tapeworm segments which look like moving pieces of rice in fresh droppings. Here is a video of tapeworm segments:

 

[licjic333]

I just looked up "tapeworms in chickens" and found the image below. That is not dissimilar to what it looked like before it sort of dried out.
Would tapeworm result in the really messy vent?

Yeah that is what they look like before or right when they come out of the host (personal experience with one of my girls that took weeks to get out of my head). Then it dries up as it dies. Mine also had a messy vent but I never saw the rice-like things in her poop. That being said, someone is suggesting that it might be something else and since I am no expert, I would look at this from all angles. If you had a microscope and the dried piece you shared, you could look at it to determine whether it is a dead tapeworm or an egg membrane ( I am a science nerd so that is what I would do). I know how scary it is when something odd happens to one of your girls and roosters. So I hope you figure this out.