Sick Chicken? In need of help!

[joeynumber1]

My BR hen has been acting sluggish, her butt is poopy, and one of her toes looks swollen. Is there a reason that her poop is sticking to her butt? Is it because she is sick? Is the toe that is swollen making her not move as much, resulting her looking sluggish? Let me know.
Thanx

 

[Renee]

How old is she?
What do you feed her?
Can you post a photo of her swollen foot?
What does her poop look like? Is it runny, yellow, etc.?

 

[sammi]

describe the droppings..color and consistency..

clean the vent and feathers

check the toe for injury or sore..
if the toe is broken it can be splinted.
check bottom of foot

check crop.

any other symptoms? (wet eyes, wheezing, etc)

keep her in a confined safe place with soft clean bedding ..food and water..
try giving some plain active culture yogurt mixed with a little cooked egg yolk.

need to know what all you feed?

 

[threehorses]

I'd agree with what the others have said. Clean the droppings gently away from her vent and dry it. Check for any sores there and dress with antibiotic ointment. You'll want to remove droppings clinging to her vent daily or you might end up with maggots there. Seriously. Flies love that nasty stuff.

Second, we need to help you determine WHY she has "pasty vent". Like the others asked, what exactly is she eating. (If a combination of pellets, grains, what percentage of each?) Does she only have access to waterer water at your place, or any ponds, puddles, etc? Is she free ranged, penned, etc? What exactly do her droppings look like? Solid with white urates on top with only a few pudding like droppings? Mosty pudding like? Green and runny, green and frothy or any bubbles, any yellow? Rusty or reddish? Any mucus?

Also, oddly, sometimes pasty vent comes from parasites. Check her very carefully - flashlights help this - against her skin for the nearly microscopic parasites and their eggs - particularly around the vent area. Parasites love the heat and moisture. Let us know if you see any.

Third, she'll need probiotics regardless. At this point, you could give yogurt with some crumbles. A wonderful recipe is 1 teaspoon of yogurt, a little applesauce, a little water, a little bit of egg yolk (save the rest in the fridge or freezer for later), and crumbles - mix together til it's not wet but wetter than usual. Feed her a little of that. instead of yogurt, you could use Probios of Fastrack from the feedstore. Or acidophilus capsules' contents purchased at the health food store, grocer, or pharmacy. In addition to the probiotic in the food, you *could* add organic apple cider vinegar in the water. I think this would be a good and cheap idea.

It'll help balance the pH in her total digestive tract, adds enzymes that help digest food, makes a good environment for good bacteria and unfriendly for bad bacteria, and will help any yeast inbalances in case she has that going on.

 

[joeynumber1]

Here is the update: my BR is 4 years old, eats a mix of Layer Pellets and Game Bird Crumble, she is free range so she sometimes drinks from puddles, poo is now green, and she is wheezing. We are keeping her separated from everybody else in a 12X12 stall. Just noticed while cleaning her she has a large swollen lump the size of a softball in between her legs! What is this?!?!?! Also, we checked the foot and cannot see any other signs of anthing except the swelling on the inside toe above the joint. How can we tell if it is broken or not? For the food, we have two separate trays so the chickens choose what one they want. I'm not sure which one Clemintine, my BR, eats regularly. And since she is free range she eats grasses and bugs and worms, obviously. We are now calling the vet to see if they know anything about the swelling in between her legs. PLEASE tell me if you know ANYTHING about this. Im getting worried!

Thanx

 

[Renee]

Sounds like she is eggbound, or an internal layer. Has she been laying eggs?

 

[sammi]

check the swollen area for any sign of a sore..

wondering if the swelling on foot and other swelling are related..
insect bites? some sort of injury and/or infection?

possible each thing is separate.

check her crop..see if it's empty or full..any lump or grainy feeling.

check for broken toe the same way you would on yourself..
is the joint loose? is it hot? can you see a sore, cut or scrape?

if you can take her to a vet..might be the best..

as Renee asked..when did she last lay and egg?

 

[joeynumber1]

sorry for not letting you guys know any sooner, but my mom took her to the vet and she ahd to be put down.

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

Sorry for your loss.

Was she eggbound?

 

[joeynumber1]

No. She was an internal layer.