Urgent help- weird gelatinous mass hanging from vent-

[chezpoulet]

Can someone please help identify this? One of my hens had a really poopy butt which I washed and found this dangling from the vent area- is this a prolapsed vent, or dried up part of an egg that she did not manage to lay completely? It is gelatinous looking, and I did not dare scrape too hard in case it is part of her anatomy and I end up injuring her. I tried pushing the whole thing back into her vent last night, but it returned again today. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Bella is going on 5 years old and has a lovely personality and still gives the occasional egg. Thanks.

 

[chooks4life]

If that is any part of her anatomy, it looks dead. Sometimes when they prolapse and it's not noticed in time whatever prolapsed rots. :/ If this is the case you'd need it surgically removed perhaps, but without knowing for sure what that is, I'm loathe to suggest anything, sorry.

Vet out of the question? If she seems well enough, and is still pooping and laying normally, it might be a tumor in her bowel or reproductive tract that's hanging out.

Best wishes.

 

[chezpoulet]

Thanks. It doesn't look necrotic, is squishy to touch, and now has a coating of what looks like whitish urate covering the mass, impossible to remove even after soaking. Bella is producing brown poop without the typical whitish urate cap that you find in regular poop. Pushed the mass back in last night and it came out again, and tried again this pm. She still eats and is active when she is not in the dark in the laundry room. Not too sure what to do next. Hate to have to cull, as she does not seem to be too affected by it yet...any further suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[hennible]

Just a though, I can't see very well (on phone) blister?

 

[chezpoulet]

It looks like a hemorrhoid, if indeed chickens can have one!. I have had no luck keeping it in- I would push it into the vent, then Bella would try to poop and squeeze the blob back out again. It is just dangling outside her vent, getting coated with the white urates, some of which is dribbling down her tail feathers, but she is passing brown poop regularly, and is still chasing around for scraps and her usual self. I will try to get a better photo tomorrow.

 

[hennible]

This may sound silly but you could always see if preparation H shrink it, you can use it on chickens for vent issues...

 

[chooks4life]

It looks like a hemorrhoid, if indeed chickens can have one!. I have had no luck keeping it in- I would push it into the vent, then Bella would try to poop and squeeze the blob back out again. It is just dangling outside her vent, getting coated with the white urates, some of which is dribbling down her tail feathers, but she is passing brown poop regularly, and is still chasing around for scraps and her usual self. I will try to get a better photo tomorrow.

You know that's what I was thinking too, initially, but I've never heard of a chook having one.

It's entirely possible though they could have a vein or capillary enlarged under stress within the laying tract which then becomes bloated with terrible blood flow, a hemorrhoid by any other name, and then prolapses.

Will be interesting to see the better pic. If it's a hemorrhoid, a vet removal may be necessary, but you could try tying a thin and fine thread tightly about it to see if it drops off. Of course, if the theoretical diagnosis is wrong, it may kill the hen.

Best wishes.