Sore Bum

[ryan820]

This is my silkie hen - and she’s got a sore bum. She flexes it often as if she’s trying to poop. She has been pooping but she also does this between poops. It looks like it’s sore from being wet and dirty all the time . I’ve attached a photo for your review and help. I’ve cleaned her up but unsure of what I should do next or if there is a bigger issue.

 

[azygous]

Does the photo show her with a perfectly clean vent? Or is there still stuff caked on it?

If it's a clean vent, no poop or dirt, it appears she has some yellow pus indication a skin infection and the tissue also appears swollen, indicating straining to poop or lay an egg.

How long since she laid her last egg? Have her eggs been of normal quality? Does she sit in the nest for extended periods without producing an egg?

How is her general behavior? Lethargic and standing around without moving much with her tail down? Or is she interested in scratching for bugs and eating her regular feed? Is she normally chatty or is she unnaturally silent?

 

[Eggcessive]

Also, can you tell us if other chickens may have pecked at her vent causing injury? I would try soaking her in warm Epsom salts water for 30 minutes once a day. Then apply some plain antibiotic ointment or Nustock cream twice a day.

 

[ryan820]

Does the photo show her with a perfectly clean vent? Or is there still stuff caked on it?

If it's a clean vent, no poop or dirt, it appears she has some yellow pus indication a skin infection and the tissue also appears swollen, indicating straining to poop or lay an egg.

How long since she laid her last egg? Have her eggs been of normal quality? Does she sit in the nest for extended periods without producing an egg?

How is her general behavior? Lethargic and standing around without moving much with her tail down? Or is she interested in scratching for bugs and eating her regular feed? Is she normally chatty or is she unnaturally silent?

This is her cleaned but I noticed on the lower part that the tissue is swollen and irritated and possibly scabbed? When I was washing her I was trying to remove it to clean her thoroughly but feared I’d make the skin more irritated.

I haven’t seen her lay an eggs for several days now, which I thought odd, but she also moved to a new coop - though she’s well enough liked by all that if we’re home and outside she’s also out roaming around. It’s possible she’s laid an egg during that time and we didn’t know.

Her behavior... she seems relatively okay. She likes humans a lot so when she sees us she comes walking up to us and waits to be adored... seriously. She does scratch and peck and seems to roam around and even groom herself. She is not very chatty but not silent either. I can tell she’s a bit off but I’m not sure how to describe it. She was recently separated from her peeps (they are now adult Wyandotte roosters).

 

[ryan820]

Also, can you tell us if other chickens may have pecked at her vent causing injury? I would try soaking her in warm Epsom salts water for 30 minutes once a day. Then apply some plain antibiotic ointment or Nustock cream twice a day.

That I don’t know. Perhaps but I don’t know for sure. She does groom herself a lot.

Antibiotic ointment like a triple action type?

 

[ryan820]

I just checked on her, several hours after cleaning her up and yuck... her bum is just leaking stuff... semi-clear liquid, looks like urea is in there etc.

Could this be parasites?

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, Triple Antibiotic Ointment or plain Neosporin Ointment is good to use. It could be that she is leaking urates (kidney waste) from pecking damage, or she might have vent gleet from a yeast infection. Vent gleet tends to smell bad. I tend to think it is from pecking. Daily soaks, and the antibiotic ointment may be enough. But if it is vent gleet, and not better in a few days, Nustock cream could be helpful, and using some Medistatin (nystatin) an antifungal medicine may be needed. Here is where to get that without a prescription:
https://www.jedds.com/shop/medistatin/
Nustock is found in some feed stores, and online here:
https://www.amazon.com/d/Horse-Wound-Care/Duvet-001-0530-Nu-Stock-Ointment-12-Ounce/B000HHSIYQ

 

[ryan820]

Update - been keeping her cleaned and using an ointment but she’s not gotten better. I’m going to soak her in warm water and epsom tonight. She seems to be having trouble keeping her balance. I’m concerned this is more than just a sore bottom. The Interwebs are dark and full of terrors.

Could her trouble with pooping and not laying eggs and now trouble keeping balance be Merck’s disease? Or could her sore bottom and lack of laying be the cause of her unsteadiness?