Swollen vent area. and weird black quill things?

[bernaboo111]

Hi,
I just got home from camping and one of my chickens vent area is swollen and there are these weird quill looking things coming out near the top. She is missing some of her feathers there too. Can a molt start at the vent? I thought molts started at the head. She is acting normal, eating and drinking just fine and her poo is normal. Please help!

 

[Judy]

Molts do start at the head or neck. Check for lice/mites, if you haven't, and watch them for feather picking. She could be eggbound or working on a case of vent gleet. The quills I imagine are parts of feathers.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

 

[bernaboo111]

She is laying eggs, and none of the other chickens has this so I know it doesn't have mites or lice. I think she is just molting at the butt weird chicken I guess

 

[bernaboo111]

She is getting pecked! How do I stop that?

 

[Wyandottes7]

Supposedly, chickens start molting with the head and neck. However, my birds rarely start at the head. I usually notice them losing tail feathers, and if I look around their vents, I often see new feathers coming in. It is certainly possible that your bird has started molting.

If she's getting pecked, I would isolate her. Chickens can be quite ruthless to each other, especially if they see blood. If she starts bleeding, definitely isolate her. You can also spray something called BlueKote on the pecked area.