RIR Hen Swollen, Red Bottom with Mass on X-Ray

[vanmos]

I have a pet chicken, a 1+ year old Rhode Island Red, that has a rashy chest and has grown a red, soft mass on her featherless bottom. I feel this has happened in the last couple of weeks as I can't imagine not noticing the red bottom before. I inspected inside her vent for a bound egg, but could not feel one and she has been laying an egg daily.

When I got this hen as a pullet, she presented with chest feathers missing and they never grew back -- she was crammed in a cage with several other chickens and I figured she was just the lowest on the pecking order. She now lives in a large coop with one other Rhode Island Red; their "bedding" is scraps of Bermuda and alfalfa hay and dirt. Her coop-mate does not exhibit the issues exhibits. Both girls are allowed several hours of roam time around the property with supervision.

Over the last several weeks, the hairless red bottom seems more pronounced. (Incidentally, it will sometimes be bright red and the next normal skin color). I read a lot of the messages on this board and other boards with people having similar symptoms of a red, swollen, featherless bottom. Some of the thoughts were a bound egg, mites and prolapse. Outside of my own hen's bottom and rashy chest, she is alert, runs around, eats, drinks, lays eggs daily (bless her heart).

So I took my hen to the vet yesterday and they took a side x-ray and skin scrapings from her chest, vent area and bottom area. The skin samples showed nothing (e.g. no bacteria, no parasites). The x-ray on the other hand showed a mass around the vent area and the doctor thinks this mass is pressing on her small intenstines which are the soft, bulge she is presenting on her bottom. He is not an avian specialist, so is referring me to one, as he admits this goes beyond his area of experience.

I wanted to share a photo of the x-ray with you for your input. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts. This is a pet and I just want to be proactive on what this "mass" is and what options do we have (if any). Again, her respiration presents fine, she's alert, runs around the yards scratching the dirt and all, is laying eggs every day, has clear eyes, has hearty appetitie, drinks water and poops fine.

Photo of chicken: http://www.flickr.com/photos/84817860@N00/4628658931/
Photo of x-ray: http://www.flickr.com/photos/84817860@N00/4628658993/

Thank you.

 

[CoopCrazy]

Im sorry i cant help but I want to get this up where others can see it .. I know that someone on here will be able to help..

 

[momofspoiledchicks]

Hi! I wish I could help too! My bantie hen, Snowball has almost the same problem (the swollen red featherless bottom). I found it one day because she had blood on her & there was blood in the coop. Upon closer examination, I found the swollen bottom & found that the other hens had pecked a huge hole in it. I removed her from the coop & kept her in my bathroom for about a week, applying Neoproin to the sore daily & keeping it as clean as possible (which was hard considering it is right under her vent). She is now in a coop with younger chicks & is doing well. The sore has mostly healed, but the swollen red (actually light red) featherless bump is still there. Snowball also seems alert, she eats well, chases the baby chicks around & lays an egg about every other day (ouch!). I can't seem to figure this one out either! I will be keeping an eye on your post to see if anyone out there can provide any help! I wish your chicken the best of luck & hope she gets better soon!

 

[vanmos]

Thank you guys. I am hoping someone out there will have some insight, too. I appreciate your help in bringing attention to my post. I came across so many other Web posts with people having a similar issue, but no one really had a definitive answer -- egg binding and mites always came up, but that seems to be ruled out in my case. PLUS, in most cases there was no follow-up from the poster on if their chicken recovered and most folks never had an x-ray taken of the bird in this state (which I think makes a big difference).

The amazing thing is her spirit. Despite this "growth" she is otherwise business as usual. In contrast, some of the other people posting about a similar issue would have the hen also not being her usual self. My girl continues to be perky, eager to scratch the dirt, has a strong appetite, drinks water, runs around, and true to being a RIR is giving an egg daily (since she started laying this girl hasn't really missed one day, poor thing).

I have an e-mail out to an avian specialist that I was refered to by the vet I took her to. I will post that doctor's reply if I receive anything. If nothing else, it would offer the forum some further insight into this condition.

Will keep you posted and I do sure hope someone on this forum can also give some thoughts. Thank you!

 

[snaphu]

I have the same problem with my hen, she is active, social, eats, runs.... but she has this large squishy ugly red growth! I've crated her, and I'm giving her antibiotics and epsom salts baths/soaks... very weird and frustrating!

 

[binky]

I'm pretty sure this is what my Barred Rock has too. She's had it for about six months now. She has not been pecked--she shares a barn with 22 other hens, 48 pullets, and two cockerels. No one else has gotten it. She seems to have no trouble eating, but her vent is smallish and dry. I don't think she's been laying (she's only about 16 months old). And, yeah, she's mostly bald back there. I've tried bathing her, soaking her, dusting her, smearing it with vaseline... it looks painful, but she doesn't show any signs of suffering. One other odd difference is that she has none of the little feathers or hairs on her face, so it looks more red than that of the others.

 

[vanmos]

As an update, it has been more than one year since my original post about my RIR's mass and she continues to thrive (knock on wood). When winter set in (well there really isn't winter in Phoenix) she grew all her hair back in (she seems to go through a serious moult-looking thing when the weather gets hotter) and even hair grew over the bald mass on her rear. It's summer again and she's got the bare bottom again, but she continues to lay eggs and is essentially the security hen of the yard. So very odd, but I'll take it if she can live for many years to come.

 

[snaphu]

Quote:
WOW!! thanks for the update vanmos! glad to hear she is doing fine!!!

 

[Rocky Top Chick]

This is not unusual. I have one 3 years old and her name is "naked butt" cause she never has feathers on her rear end. As long as my girls act normal I don't worry. You will absolutely know when you have a sick one, just like knowing when your children or house pets are sick.

 

[heatherkh]

Glad your hen is thriving! We have a couple bare-bottomed hens with whom nothing appears to be wrong. We got them from our neighbor, and I assume it was caused by crowded conditions/pecking. Some appear to be growing feathers back, some don't. As they are all energetic, healthy (eat, drink, good poo) and laying regularly - I'm not too worried about it.