Smelly Hen

[reneeeWA]

I have a RIR hen that was the runt of the group I got last March. She is laying now and doing well but lately I've noticed that her butt is crusty with a small amount of wet droppings. So I brought her in and trimmed the little bit off with some scissors and made sure her vent was all clear, etc.. That was all fine- until I smelled her mouth. It smelled horrible but not necessarily "sour" so I'm not sure if this fits the bill of sour crop? Also, her crop was firm, not squishy at all. None of my other hens smell this way and I think this is a recent thing with her. Any ideas? Could it still be sour crop? Or an intestinal thing. What would be the best way to home treat? Tested for worms about a month ago, all good. Hadn't fed anything out of norm of scratch/feed to the flock either lately. They get cottage cheese/yoghurt regularly & vitamin/electrolyte water. Thanks

 

[aoxa]

Sounds to me like your hen may have vent gleet. Google image that. Be prepared.

As for her breath... not sure.. Never smelled chicken breath before

Could be sour crop. Is her crop squishy like a water balloon?

 

[dawg53]

I have a RIR hen that was the runt of the group I got last March. She is laying now and doing well but lately I've noticed that her butt is crusty with a small amount of wet droppings. So I brought her in and trimmed the little bit off with some scissors and made sure her vent was all clear, etc.. That was all fine- until I smelled her mouth. It smelled horrible but not necessarily "sour" so I'm not sure if this fits the bill of sour crop? Also, her crop was firm, not squishy at all. None of my other hens smell this way and I think this is a recent thing with her. Any ideas? Could it still be sour crop? Or an intestinal thing. What would be the best way to home treat? Tested for worms about a month ago, all good. Hadn't fed anything out of norm of scratch/feed to the flock either lately. They get cottage cheese/yoghurt regularly & vitamin/electrolyte water. Thanks

Any other symptoms such as bubbly eyes, facial swelling, runny nostrils, wheezing, gurgling? If so, it could be coryza. If not, it may very well be sour crop.

 

[reneeeWA]

no other symptoms, just the smell. Felt her crop today and it was either empty (ish) or watery I couldn't tell it was flat. But she still had the bad breath... weird.

 

[CluckyCharms]

Sounds to me like your hen may have vent gleet. Google image that. Be prepared.

As for her breath... not sure.. Never smelled chicken breath before

Could be sour crop. Is her crop squishy like a water balloon?

x2 on vent gleet.

 

[reneeeWA]

I looked up vent gleet (yick by the way) and she doesn't have anything that looks like that. She's completely clean she just had a small amount of poo on her butt fluff feathers.

 

[CluckyCharms]

I looked up vent gleet (yick by the way) and she doesn't have anything that looks like that. She's completely clean she just had a small amount of poo on her butt fluff feathers.

That's usually how it starts, however...is a small amount of whitish poo near the vent and bad breath. Google does a great job of providing pictures and explanations, but usually the pictures and explanations you find in google are of advanced cases. It could be sour crop, but judging from your explanation of her crop - it doesn't sound like it to me.

Whatever this mystery issue is - I hope it clears up soon and she is well! :]