PLEASE HELP! Disease or injury in anal area. Looks significant. See pics

[janicetroyer]

Hoping someone here can help. My husband brought this to my attention. One of 4 chickens (they have tons of room and are not crowded, has swelling and build up in her anal or vent area. Hard to tell. She wouldn't let me close on my own. Hubby will help tonight. Meanwhile here are some pics I was able to get.
The 4 chickens look identical so its hard to say if this was the one. But one had diarrhea.

Thoughts?

 

[Tonyroo]

Take the chicken to the bathroom, clean the butt with soapy water and examine the condition of the anus while it's damp. Take photos while your examining. Then report back here.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

Looks rough, poor girl! miss chicken needs a bath before we can truly see what's up

 

[Tonyroo]

If the skin looks swollen apply antiseptic, pat to dry, then apply neosporin.

 

[Eggcessive]

Try to tell if that is just poop hanging from a prolapsed vent or if it is intestine. Prolapsed vents can occur after straining to poop or lay an egg. A shallow warm soak to her bottom can get her cleaned up.

 

[Eggcessive]

Does any of that appear to be a broken egg? Hopefully it is just poop that will wash off. A simple vent prolapse can be treated with getting the area cleaned up, and keeping the red tissue moist with oil or honey, so the tissue does not dry out. When possible the prolapse should be pushed back in. Other chickens will peck at prolapses and injure the vent. They also may put out the intestines, which will result in death. Let us know what you find, and maybe post a newer picture.

 

[janicetroyer]

After cleaning her up, my husband had a hard time getting a pic. See attached. His gloved finger is in the close up.

The first 2 pics are after she was cleaned up. The 2nd two are the original ones.

The best way to describe it is it looks like a hemorrhoid. It had feces hanging all around it. The feathers were missing too. The chickens are 2 or 3 yrs old and have never molted. But I've seen pics of molding and I would have thought it was just that except she is swollen, and has this inflamed protrusion. I believe she laid yesterday, despite it. And she's walking funny. Her feathers are black because they dust bathe in the flower bed dirt and it got stuck in the messy feathers.

UPDATE: Based on comments, I checked online and it may be a prolapsed vent. Since she laid, I didn't consider it. From what I see, it might be her intestine partially out. It's been a couple of days. The online prognosis isn't good. I won't be able to get assistance to even try to help her until 3:00 in the afternoon. Is this truly treatable?

 

[artbykarenehaley]

It doesn't look majorly severe, though it's a little hard to tell from photos. Don't give up just yet! I had a hen look like this and it resolved after applying Vaseline and gently reinserting it.

You don't want it to dry out or it could scab and crust over and be very painful.

I hope she is separated from the others at this point, the others can pick on the area and essentially pull her intestines out the back end.

 

[janicetroyer]

The others weren't bothering her in the day so my husband didn't think of separating her. After reading about it, I went out and checked on her. It was extended. And the chicken next to her was pecking at her.
Unfortunately, someone said neosporin, so I used that. We brought her in, washed it up again and I used neosporin on the outside and pushed it in. It acted as though it didn't want to stay, so I held it for awhile, hoping to help it set. There may be an egg in there. I don't know what to do about that.
. We put her in a section by herself. Unfortunately, I can't keep her in the dark until I let the others out in the morning.
Any thoughts on keeping her from laying until it heals?

 

[artbykarenehaley]

Neosporin is essentially just Vaseline with some antibiotics, I don't think it'll do any harm.
The egg producing process can't really be stopped for an egg that's already in the oviduct, but their bodies do respond to less light so I would try keeping her in the dark as much as possible.
After she lays the next egg, I would doctor her vent again.
It may take a few days of care for her to either improve or not. Be aware of how she's acting otherwise, and let us know any changes. I am glad you're here for advice, I can tell you care about her!