One is egg bound and bloody and the other is bruised

[AshG]

Please help!!! My hens are 1.5 years old. I came home today to find one hen egg bound and bloody and another seemed to be very bruised. We have no rooster and impossible for an attack to have happened as their coop is very secure and they are locked in every night. I have my eggbound girl Agatha soaking in epson salts but i’m perplexed as to what is going in with Ronnie. My chickens are checked on multiple times daily. I will attach photos if both girls. TIA

 

[SmiYa0126]

@Wyorp Rock @azygous @Eggcessive please help!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Please help!!! My hens are 1.5 years old. I came home today to find one hen egg bound and bloody and another seemed to be very bruised. We have no rooster and impossible for an attack to have happened as their coop is very secure and they are locked in every night. I have my eggbound girl Agatha soaking in epson salts but i’m perplexed as to what is going in with Ronnie. My chickens are checked on multiple times daily. I will attach photos if both girls. TIA

So you have 2 that are injured?

The one with the prolapse, does she have an egg inside or has she been able to expel it?

Looks like the prolapse has been picked at and the tissue is damaged. Clean it up and see if you can push it back in, it may not stay in even if she's laid an egg by now. It's swollen and inflamed. If the tissue will not go back in, keep ointment, oil or honey on the exposed tissue so it doesn't dry out.

Give her 1 Calcium +D3 tablet now and then once daily for 5-7 days. It's crucial that you get Extra Calcium into her, this will help with retention and contractions and if she's got an egg stuck, it will hopefully help her expel the egg.
If you don't have Calcium Citrate, give her a TUMS once daily.

The other one. Looks like injury from picking if there's no way a predator could have gotten a hold of her. Clean the area with saline or chlorhexidine, trim feathers from around the wound so you can see it better. Apply triple antibiotic ointment to the wound. Tend to it daily.

Keep both somewhere where flies cannot get onto the wounds/tissue and lay eggs, you surely don't want to deal with maggots.



Fwiw - you mention you don't have a rooster. A rooster has no appendage, mating is done by touching vents, it's called a Cloacal Kiss, so even if you had a rooster, he would not have been able to do any damage like that while mating, there's no penetration. Picking/attacking, yes, but not during mating.
If you have a male Duck that's a different story...yes, they can damage and kill a chicken hen.

 

[AshG]

So you have 2 that are injured?

The one with the prolapse, does she have an egg inside or has she been able to expel it?

Looks like the prolapse has been picked at and the tissue is damaged. Clean it up and see if you can push it back in, it may not stay in even if she's laid an egg by now. It's swollen and inflamed. If the tissue will not go back in, keep ointment, oil or honey on the exposed tissue so it doesn't dry out.

Give her 1 Calcium +D3 tablet now and then once daily for 5-7 days. It's crucial that you get Extra Calcium into her, this will help with retention and contractions and if she's got an egg stuck, it will hopefully help her expel the egg.
If you don't have Calcium Citrate, give her a TUMS once daily.

The other one. Looks like injury from picking if there's no way a predator could have gotten a hold of her. Clean the area with saline or chlorhexidine, trim feathers from around the wound so you can see it better. Apply triple antibiotic ointment to the wound. Tend to it daily.

Keep both somewhere where flies cannot get onto the wounds/tissue and lay eggs, you surely don't want to deal with maggots.



Fwiw - you mention you don't have a rooster. A rooster has no appendage, mating is done by touching vents, it's called a Cloacal Kiss, so even if you had a rooster, he would not have been able to do any damage like that while mating, there's no penetration. Picking/attacking, yes, but not during mating.
If you have a male Duck that's a different story...yes, they can damage and kill a chicken hen.

 

[AshG]

Thank you very much for your help! My lady that was egg bound has laid her egg. I was able to help her and manuallt extract it. She is much perkier today. I’m not sure if she is actually prolapsed though or if her vent is just swollen and bruised from yesterday’s fiasco. She is indoors and crated. I gave her a tums yesterday and will repeat today. She is eating and drinking. I have been applying polysporing ointment to her vent and applied honey yesterday as well.

As for my other girl with the « bruises » under her wings… today I noticed I have 2 girls with the exact same brown/black marks under both wings. The reason I had mentioned not having a rooster was because I wanted to note there would be not back injuries from overmating.

Do you know if its possible if they could have a fungal infection of some sort on their skin? It’s been very rainy here for a few days. I just find it odd that now 2 of them have it. I will rinse them both with saline and keep away from flies.

I do also have antibiotics that I can put in their water that I have purchased from before when one of my ladies laid a lash egg.

Thanks again!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My lady that was egg bound has laid her egg. I was able to help her and manuallt extract it. She is much perkier today. I’m not sure if she is actually prolapsed though or if her vent is just swollen and bruised from yesterday’s fiasco. She is indoors and crated. I gave her a tums yesterday and will repeat today. She is eating and drinking. I have been applying polysporing ointment to her vent and applied honey yesterday as well.

Oh, I'm glad she was able to lay an egg!

If any tissue is still swollen and protruding, then it would be "prolapse". Sometimes it can be severe, other times, not quite as bad. It's good to keep the tissue covered with your ointment and continue the calcium.
If she's not lethargic, soaking in a warm(ish) epsom salts bath can often help reduce inflammation and swelling too. I say warmish because if you are in the U.S. it's likely HOT. I've found that when it's hot weather, giving a warm(ish) to cool soak is often well tolerated.

O.K. I should have asked where that wound was located on the body!
So it's under the wing on both sides?
When you can, take some additional photos in context so we can see the location better and if you have 2 other hens with similar injuries, some photos of those too.

Even though you don't have a rooster, do you have a hen that is mounting the other hens? Does she have spurs or sharp nails?
Sometimes another hen can mount others and it's not uncommon for a hen to have spurs.

ANY Chance you do have an incognito rooster?
ANY chance something could have grab them, fox, dog? It is strange to have 2 with similar injuries I agree.

To me in the photo it looks like injury.
You are right to worry about flies, boy oh boy, flies and wounds are bad news.

Under a wing is a moist environment. I'd swab daily with Chlorhexidine if you have it, trim feathers away from the wounds to help keep things a bit tidier and easier to clean.

I would also consider getting some Swat and apply that around the wounds to help deter the flies. It's going to be a challenge since you have several hens to care for.

What antibiotic do you have? IF they are recovering o.k. and the wounds are healing up nicely, the medication may not be needed. If you note any bad odors, infection, etc., then you may need to treat.

As for my other girl with the « bruises » under her wings… today I noticed I have 2 girls with the exact same brown/black marks under both wings. The reason I had mentioned not having a rooster was because I wanted to note there would be not back injuries from overmating.

Do you know if its possible if they could have a fungal infection of some sort on their skin? It’s been very rainy here for a few days. I just find it odd that now 2 of them have it. I will rinse them both with saline and keep away from flies.

I do also have antibiotics that I can put in their water that I have purchased from before when one of my ladies laid a lash egg.

 

[AshG]

Oh, I'm glad she was able to lay an egg!

If any tissue is still swollen and protruding, then it would be "prolapse". Sometimes it can be severe, other times, not quite as bad. It's good to keep the tissue covered with your ointment and continue the calcium.
If she's not lethargic, soaking in a warm(ish) epsom salts bath can often help reduce inflammation and swelling too. I say warmish because if you are in the U.S. it's likely HOT. I've found that when it's hot weather, giving a warm(ish) to cool soak is often well tolerated.

O.K. I should have asked where that wound was located on the body!
So it's under the wing on both sides?
When you can, take some additional photos in context so we can see the location better and if you have 2 other hens with similar injuries, some photos of those too.

Even though you don't have a rooster, do you have a hen that is mounting the other hens? Does she have spurs or sharp nails?
Sometimes another hen can mount others and it's not uncommon for a hen to have spurs.

ANY Chance you do have an incognito rooster?
ANY chance something could have grab them, fox, dog? It is strange to have 2 with similar injuries I agree.

To me in the photo it looks like injury.
You are right to worry about flies, boy oh boy, flies and wounds are bad news.

Under a wing is a moist environment. I'd swab daily with Chlorhexidine if you have it, trim feathers away from the wounds to help keep things a bit tidier and easier to clean.

I would also consider getting some Swat and apply that around the wounds to help deter the flies. It's going to be a challenge since you have several hens to care for.

What antibiotic do you have? IF they are recovering o.k. and the wounds are healing up nicely, the medication may not be needed. If you note any bad odors, infection, etc., then you may need to treat.


View attachment 3873371

Oh, I'm glad she was able to lay an egg!

If any tissue is still swollen and protruding, then it would be "prolapse". Sometimes it can be severe, other times, not quite as bad. It's good to keep the tissue covered with your ointment and continue the calcium.
If she's not lethargic, soaking in a warm(ish) epsom salts bath can often help reduce inflammation and swelling too. I say warmish because if you are in the U.S. it's likely HOT. I've found that when it's hot weather, giving a warm(ish) to cool soak is often well tolerated.

O.K. I should have asked where that wound was located on the body!
So it's under the wing on both sides?
When you can, take some additional photos in context so we can see the location better and if you have 2 other hens with similar injuries, some photos of those too.

Even though you don't have a rooster, do you have a hen that is mounting the other hens? Does she have spurs or sharp nails?
Sometimes another hen can mount others and it's not uncommon for a hen to have spurs.

ANY Chance you do have an incognito rooster?
ANY chance something could have grab them, fox, dog? It is strange to have 2 with similar injuries I agree.

To me in the photo it looks like injury.
You are right to worry about flies, boy oh boy, flies and wounds are bad news.

Under a wing is a moist environment. I'd swab daily with Chlorhexidine if you have it, trim feathers away from the wounds to help keep things a bit tidier and easier to clean.

I would also consider getting some Swat and apply that around the wounds to help deter the flies. It's going to be a challenge since you have several hens to care for.

What antibiotic do you have? IF they are recovering o.k. and the wounds are healing up nicely, the medication may not be needed. If you note any bad odors, infection, etc., then you may need to treat.


View attachment 3873371

My lady with the prolapse has gotten worse. She is alert and about but there is more tissue protruding and it is not healthy looking tissue. I unfortunately think we may need to cull her this evening to end her suffering.

As for my other 2 ladies, their wounds do not appear to be infected at all. They appear to still have a brownish scab over their wounds. I am unable to get chlorhexidine where I am (it doesnt seem to be readily available in Canada or at least not near me) I have been using a NaCl spray and antibiotic ointment once a day.

No chance of an incognito rooster as I got the same amount of eggs as their are chickens mostly everyday. I have never see any hen mount or attempt to mount the others nor do any appear to have spurs and actually one of the injured girls is top of the pecking order and won’t even squat like the rest of them when I pick her up.

The only chance of a predator possibility would be in the evening between 7:30 and 9:30 (sunset)

I have set up a game cam to keep watch for the others. My two wounded girls are indoors without flies but I will definitely look into the swat product as the indoor situation will need to be short lived. I’ve never dealt with anything like this on my girls before but so their wounds typically heal rather quickly? I also tried to take better photos but netheir cooperated today but will try again tomorrow.

The antibiotics I have on hand are water soluble and its neo-chlor.

Thank you so much again for your help!

 

[AshG]

Oh, I'm glad she was able to lay an egg!

If any tissue is still swollen and protruding, then it would be "prolapse". Sometimes it can be severe, other times, not quite as bad. It's good to keep the tissue covered with your ointment and continue the calcium.
If she's not lethargic, soaking in a warm(ish) epsom salts bath can often help reduce inflammation and swelling too. I say warmish because if you are in the U.S. it's likely HOT. I've found that when it's hot weather, giving a warm(ish) to cool soak is often well tolerated.

O.K. I should have asked where that wound was located on the body!
So it's under the wing on both sides?
When you can, take some additional photos in context so we can see the location better and if you have 2 other hens with similar injuries, some photos of those too.

Even though you don't have a rooster, do you have a hen that is mounting the other hens? Does she have spurs or sharp nails?
Sometimes another hen can mount others and it's not uncommon for a hen to have spurs.

ANY Chance you do have an incognito rooster?
ANY chance something could have grab them, fox, dog? It is strange to have 2 with similar injuries I agree.

To me in the photo it looks like injury.
You are right to worry about flies, boy oh boy, flies and wounds are bad news.

Under a wing is a moist environment. I'd swab daily with Chlorhexidine if you have it, trim feathers away from the wounds to help keep things a bit tidier and easier to clean.

I would also consider getting some Swat and apply that around the wounds to help deter the flies. It's going to be a challenge since you have several hens to care for.

What antibiotic do you have? IF they are recovering o.k. and the wounds are healing up nicely, the medication may not be needed. If you note any bad odors, infection, etc., then you may need to treat.


View attachment 3873371

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My lady with the prolapse has gotten worse. She is alert and about but there is more tissue protruding and it is not healthy looking tissue. I unfortunately think we may need to cull her this evening to end her suffering.

As for my other 2 ladies, their wounds do not appear to be infected at all. They appear to still have a brownish scab over their wounds. I am unable to get chlorhexidine where I am (it doesnt seem to be readily available in Canada or at least not near me) I have been using a NaCl spray and antibiotic ointment once a day.

No chance of an incognito rooster as I got the same amount of eggs as their are chickens mostly everyday. I have never see any hen mount or attempt to mount the others nor do any appear to have spurs and actually one of the injured girls is top of the pecking order and won’t even squat like the rest of them when I pick her up.

The only chance of a predator possibility would be in the evening between 7:30 and 9:30 (sunset)

I have set up a game cam to keep watch for the others. My two wounded girls are indoors without flies but I will definitely look into the swat product as the indoor situation will need to be short lived. I’ve never dealt with anything like this on my girls before but so their wounds typically heal rather quickly? I also tried to take better photos but netheir cooperated today but will try again tomorrow.

The antibiotics I have on hand are water soluble and its neo-chlor.

Thank you so much again for your help!

I'm sorry the prolapsed girl is not doing well. She may have another egg on the way.
She may have had the tissue damaged by picking to, since in the photo she's bleeding. Hard to know.

If you have updated photos of what the tissue looks like now that might be helpful. Sometimes there can be bruising from the swelling.
Tissue can turn necrotic and die too.
You are there to see what's going on and in what condition she's in, so I know it's a hard call to make sometimes.
I had to put one down due to too much damage when she prolapsed, that was hard.

Your care routine for the others sounds great! Yes, since you are in CA, you have different products and availability than we do here in the U.S. I'm not sure if you will find Swat there or not, but your farm store may have something comparable?

Your antibiotic may work if you need it, but if you are not detecting odors and the wounds are healing, I'd just care for them as you are. I had a hen that was cut/torn from mating, I guess a spur or nail sliced her. I just cleaned the wound a couple of times a day, left her with her flock and she healed up just fine. The wound was hidden by the wing, so I didn't worry about others picking at it but did worry about flies.

 

[AshG]

I'm sorry the prolapsed girl is not doing well. She may have another egg on the way.
She may have had the tissue damaged by picking to, since in the photo she's bleeding. Hard to know.

If you have updated photos of what the tissue looks like now that might be helpful. Sometimes there can be bruising from the swelling.
Tissue can turn necrotic and die too.
You are there to see what's going on and in what condition she's in, so I know it's a hard call to make sometimes.
I had to put one down due to too much damage when she prolapsed, that was hard.

Your care routine for the others sounds great! Yes, since you are in CA, you have different products and availability than we do here in the U.S. I'm not sure if you will find Swat there or not, but your farm store may have something comparable?

Your antibiotic may work if you need it, but if you are not detecting odors and the wounds are healing, I'd just care for them as you are. I had a hen that was cut/torn from mating, I guess a spur or nail sliced her. I just cleaned the wound a couple of times a day, left her with her flock and she healed up just fine. The wound was hidden by the wing, so I didn't worry about others picking at it but did worry about flies.

Thank you!!