Poorly chicken

[LadyPeckington]

Hi all,

I'm new to the site and to chicken keeping - I adopted 4 ex battery hens in September 2017.

One of my chickens seems to have become very ill over the past 24 hours (she's called Blossom). She appeared fine when I left for work yesterday morning and was out free ranging in the garden under the supervision of my partner during the day. When I got home (after dark so they had put themselves in their coop) he told me he thought one of the chickens was sick and was bleeding.

I brought her into the house and she was bleeding from her vent, not gushing, just a few drips but enough to be quite alarming. She is also expelling a gunky white substance, I think it looks like the white part of their poo rather than eqq white. She is also quite hunched up, and moving very little and seems to be straining and her vent is contracting all the time.

I did numerous internet searches and decided she may be egg bound, although I'm actually fairly sure she had laid that day due to the number of eggs in the coop but not certain.

I gave her a warm bath and that seemed to perk her up a bit, she actually flew out of it twice and got back in the box I had made up for her. I then tried to feel for a stuck egg both internally and eternally but I can't feel anything out of the ordinary. I used some olive oil around and in the entrance to her vent to lubricate it but I'll be honest I do not know much about the anatomy of the interior of the vent so I was only able to insert a finger abut a cm, I don't know if I should be able to reach further?

I left her indoors in a cardboard box with some straw in, with food, water and a bit of grit overnight, hoping she would be better in the morning. Throughout this ordeal I have been able to get her to drink water of her own accord, but she didn't touch the food last night.

This morning she doesn't seem to have improved, in fact her comb has gone from bright to a much paler colour. She has been nibbling at the food and it does look like she might have done an actual brown poo in the box which I was quite happy about as hopefully that means she is not fully 'blocked' down there.

Does anyone have any idea what may be wrong and anything I can do to help her? I'm distraught at the thought she might be in pain and suffering. There are no vets open today in my local area, the nearest would be over an hours drive and I feel the long drive would just stress her out more and the vet is not used to dealing with chickens so may not be of much help.

I have just remembered as well that about 3 days ago I did find an egg smeared with a bit of blood in the nest box, but after checking all the chickens that day I could find no evidence of which chicken it came from as all seemed fied and no blood on them so I didn't do anything further. Feeling awful now as I bet that was poor Blossom and the start of her troubles?

Apologies for such a lengthy post, and thank you in advance if anyone is able to offer any suggestions.

 

[LJoWilly]

Oh no...bumping this up, hopefully someone with more experience will chime in. . Prayers that she pulls through.

 

[Eggcessive]

It is possible that she is egg bound or has something else blocking her vent. That could be a lash egg or a mass which could be cancer. Lash eggs are egg masses composed of cooked egg material and pus, and are seen in salpingitis. Internal laying, salpingitis, and egg yolk peritonitis are all inter-related reproductive disorders. Cancer is also common in heavy layers.

When you look at her vent, is there any visible damage to her vent, that might be present if she was vent pecked by the others? That can be common in hens who have been cramped together as former battery hens.

I would continue to lubricate her vent and try to insert a finger. It should normally feel soft and you should be able to insert a finger in 1-2inches. You may try soaking her bottom in a warm bath and massaging her belly to help pass the mass or egg. Do not attempt this if she seems very weak, since it could kill her. An alternative would be to place her in a humid bathroom on a heating pad on low. Give her a Tums or human calcium tablet in the back of her crop and give her water.

 

[LadyPeckington]

Thank you for your responses and advice, much appreciated.

My chicken is still alive and has perked up a bit over the past day. She has still not laid an egg and is only doing small, soft poos but she has a better appetite and is drinking a lot and is more mobile than she was.

I've bathed her everyday, today she was happy to stay in the bath for 40 minutes, the past times we have only managed 15 minutes! I took her out and blow dried her and wanted to try and feel in her vent again. However, today it is really crusty on the bottom 'lip' and the inside feels hard and crusty as well. It looks like her white diarrhea has started clogging up her vent, it is fused to her skin around the edge and inside the vent. I think the blood the other day was from her being vent pecked by the other chickens, we've had no more blood since bringing her inside, but I can't see any scabs or anything like that.

I can't seem to loosen the hard crust, as I say she soaked in Epsom salt water for 40 minutes, and then I massaged her with baby oil and yet the crust and lumps inside are just not loosening. I've been googling and this sounds a bit like pasty butt in young chicks but apparently it is rare in older hens (she's about 20 months) so I'm not 100% sure. Does anyone have any advice as to how to loosen this crust and unblock her? It is not completely sealed up but I'm worried that's the ways it's going to go? I cannot get my finger in her vent more than a centimetre as it seems too 'tight' and hard.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you post a picture? Could she have had a prolapsed vent? I would lubricate the crust, and each day when you do the warm soak, take a cloth and try to rub a little of the crusty area off. Use dishwashing soap in the warm water. Then dry her off and reapply the oil to the vent.

 

[lilmillefleur]

I'm sorry about your girl, it's really sad how Battery Hens and the production layers get the egg-laying problems more often. I hope she gets better, the others have given you good advice.

 

[LittleCheepers]

Thank you for your responses and advice, much appreciated.

My chicken is still alive and has perked up a bit over the past day. She has still not laid an egg and is only doing small, soft poos but she has a better appetite and is drinking a lot and is more mobile than she was.

I've bathed her everyday, today she was happy to stay in the bath for 40 minutes, the past times we have only managed 15 minutes! I took her out and blow dried her and wanted to try and feel in her vent again. However, today it is really crusty on the bottom 'lip' and the inside feels hard and crusty as well. It looks like her white diarrhea has started clogging up her vent, it is fused to her skin around the edge and inside the vent. I think the blood the other day was from her being vent pecked by the other chickens, we've had no more blood since bringing her inside, but I can't see any scabs or anything like that.

I can't seem to loosen the hard crust, as I say she soaked in Epsom salt water for 40 minutes, and then I massaged her with baby oil and yet the crust and lumps inside are just not loosening. I've been googling and this sounds a bit like pasty butt in young chicks but apparently it is rare in older hens (she's about 20 months) so I'm not 100% sure. Does anyone have any advice as to how to loosen this crust and unblock her? It is not completely sealed up but I'm worried that's the ways it's going to go? I cannot get my finger in her vent more than a centimetre as it seems too 'tight' and hard.

 

[LittleCheepers]

I do not have any advice since I am a new chicken mama myself, but wanted to let you know I will be praying for little Blossom. She certainly deserves a good life after what she came from and I can tell you care for her and are doing everything you can. I know she can feel your love for her.

 

[LittleCheepers]

Thank you for your responses and advice, much appreciated.

My chicken is still alive and has perked up a bit over the past day. She has still not laid an egg and is only doing small, soft poos but she has a better appetite and is drinking a lot and is more mobile than she was.

I've bathed her everyday, today she was happy to stay in the bath for 40 minutes, the past times we have only managed 15 minutes! I took her out and blow dried her and wanted to try and feel in her vent again. However, today it is really crusty on the bottom 'lip' and the inside feels hard and crusty as well. It looks like her white diarrhea has started clogging up her vent, it is fused to her skin around the edge and inside the vent. I think the blood the other day was from her being vent pecked by the other chickens, we've had no more blood since bringing her inside, but I can't see any scabs or anything like that.

I can't seem to loosen the hard crust, as I say she soaked in Epsom salt water for 40 minutes, and then I massaged her with baby oil and yet the crust and lumps inside are just not loosening. I've been googling and this sounds a bit like pasty butt in young chicks but apparently it is rare in older hens (she's about 20 months) so I'm not 100% sure. Does anyone have any advice as to how to loosen this crust and unblock her? It is not completely sealed up but I'm worried that's the ways it's going to go? I cannot get my finger in her vent more than a centimetre as it seems too 'tight' and hard.

Just wondering how little Blossom is. I so hope she's doing better.

 

[LadyPeckington]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for your messages

Blossom is doing better, she is more active and alert and has certainly got her appetite back!

Her vent seems to no longer be crusty and I was able to insert my finger around an inch a couple of days ago and managed to dislodge a couple of hard lumps of poo that were up there. Since then she has been doing some brown poos which is encouraging although they still don't look completely normal to me, but she still has a thick white discharge which is sticking to her feathers. She also still stops moving around and just stands and strains at times so I feel she does still have some sort of blockage but overall her condition has improved quite drastically.

She has grown tired of baths though and struggles when I try now and just hops straight out so I'm just continuing to monitor her inside (my dining room is now known as the chicken hospital!) but I'm a lot more optimistic that she will be able to rejoin the flock soon. I'm letting her wander round the garden too when I'm home so she has still kept some contact with the other birds and whilst she is certainly bottom of the pecking order now they don't seem too bothered by her.

The only other thing is that she seems to have lost her voice - since bringing her inside around a week and a half ago, she hasn't clucked, bwarked or made any 'normal' chicken noises really, I occasionally hear a tiny 'squeak' from her (and a few squawks when I try and bathe her!) but compared to my other chooks she is almost mute. Not sure if this may be because she is in pain? I hope not. She does seem so much better.