Smelly Hen

[daisypeggy]

I have a pekin bantum hen that is on the verge of being broody. Another hen is sitting on some fertile eggs and she has decided to join. In the last few days she has developed an odour like no other...it's a fishy rotten smell. All of the eggs that are being sat on are intact and there is no poo in the nest. I have checked her over and she appears to be fine. Has anyone had this before? I even cracked an egg she laid about a week ago and it had the same fishy gross smell. She seems to be well. Please help!!!

 

[chooks4life]

Firstly,

That sounds quite bad. Are you sure the smell is coming from her vent?

If it's coming from her throat she may have sour crop, or an infected and impacted crop, or wet fowl pox, or something else like that, but if you're sure it's coming from her vent... That would be an internal infection most likely and probably a vet case. She may need antibiotics and maybe even surgery. Of course you could skip the vet and use antibiotics at home, but it's kind of the 'done' thing to suggest a vet, which is just not doable for many people unfortunately.

Did the smell come from inside the egg, or on the egg? Sounds like maybe an infection somewhere along her reproductive tract.

I would get her onto raw garlic, two cloves a day, mixed in with her food or maybe among something she finds irresistible (some people use yoghurt or scrambled, or hardboiled egg). Garlic is a potent natural antibiotic, well, a whole spectrum of over three dozen of them actually. The sulfur levels speed wound healing, any healing really, as well. Some other natural antibiotics people use include oregano oil, honey, sage, rosemary, cilantro, etc. They should all help even if you use them while using man-made antibiotics, in fact studies done on concurrent use of both garlic and artificial antibiotics showed it boosted the efficacy of the artificial antibiotics.

Best wishes.

 

[daisypeggy]

Firstly,

That sounds quite bad. Are you sure the smell is coming from her vent?

If it's coming from her throat she may have sour crop, or an infected and impacted crop, or wet fowl pox, or something else like that, but if you're sure it's coming from her vent... That would be an internal infection most likely and probably a vet case. She may need antibiotics and maybe even surgery. Of course you could skip the vet and use antibiotics at home, but it's kind of the 'done' thing to suggest a vet, which is just not doable for many people unfortunately.

Did the smell come from inside the egg, or on the egg? Sounds like maybe an infection somewhere along her reproductive tract.

I would get her onto raw garlic, two cloves a day, mixed in with her food or maybe among something she finds irresistible (some people use yoghurt or scrambled, or hardboiled egg). Garlic is a potent natural antibiotic, well, a whole spectrum of over three dozen of them actually. The sulfur levels speed wound healing, any healing really, as well. Some other natural antibiotics people use include oregano oil, honey, sage, rosemary, cilantro, etc. They should all help even if you use them while using man-made antibiotics, in fact studies done on concurrent use of both garlic and artificial antibiotics showed it boosted the efficacy of the artificial antibiotics.

Best wishes.

Thanks for your reply. The smell is definately not coming from her vent it's coming off her entire body. And the smell came from the inside of the egg. Someone suggested to me that it could be egg taint because there is soya in her feed. I think I'll take her to the vet. She is broody and not coming out much for food so I don't like my chances with the garlic. Thanks again.

 

[chooks4life]

The smell's coming off her entire body... Now that is strange.

Yeast overgrowth or an undiscovered wound maybe...? Good luck with her, if you find out what it was, please let us know.

Best wishes.

 

[daisypeggy]

The smell's coming off her entire body... Now that is strange.

Yeast overgrowth or an undiscovered wound maybe...? Good luck with her, if you find out what it was, please let us know.

Best wishes.

I did as you suggested and gave her garlic I also changed her food because someone suggested it could be egg taint from soya meal in her food. I checked her (as best as I could) for sour/impacted crop and she seemed fine. Anyway the smell has disappeared so it's a mystery to everyone I think. Thanks for all your help!

 

[chooks4life]

Hope she makes a full recovery from whatever it was! Weird happenings, aye. Thanks for the update.

Best wishes.