I recently noticed that my elderly (not sure exact age) Barred Rock hen has some issue in the vent area.
Our dog got into the chicken coop earlier, but my mom said that everyone looked fine. Later, I was adding a new layer of shavings to the coop when I noticed blood. Terry, the Barred Rock in question, was standing right in front of me. I had recently been noticing that she seemed more docile, or maybe just more tired. I picked her up to see if she was bleeding and discovered a huge mess on her rear end. Thinking she might have vent gleet, I gave her a nice, soaking bath. And found maggots.
Reading up on maggots on chickens, I found that they can occur when an open wound is left untreated. A treatment for this is washing the area with diluted peroxide, which we did. To be honest though, I really don't know what's wrong with her. Her vent area is swollen and still a mess, even after the bath. Is the mess an infected wound? Blockage? Vent gleet? I've given her some yogurt and other vent-gleet diet foods, as well as some scratch during the bath so she would calm down.
I'm hoping that she'll be able to heal on her own, as a vet isn't really an option. She's currently in a large open dog crate outside, with shavings on the floor of it (as well as a dish of water and one of food). Advise and ideas as to what her condition is would be greatly appreciated!
Our dog got into the chicken coop earlier, but my mom said that everyone looked fine. Later, I was adding a new layer of shavings to the coop when I noticed blood. Terry, the Barred Rock in question, was standing right in front of me. I had recently been noticing that she seemed more docile, or maybe just more tired. I picked her up to see if she was bleeding and discovered a huge mess on her rear end. Thinking she might have vent gleet, I gave her a nice, soaking bath. And found maggots.
Reading up on maggots on chickens, I found that they can occur when an open wound is left untreated. A treatment for this is washing the area with diluted peroxide, which we did. To be honest though, I really don't know what's wrong with her. Her vent area is swollen and still a mess, even after the bath. Is the mess an infected wound? Blockage? Vent gleet? I've given her some yogurt and other vent-gleet diet foods, as well as some scratch during the bath so she would calm down.
I'm hoping that she'll be able to heal on her own, as a vet isn't really an option. She's currently in a large open dog crate outside, with shavings on the floor of it (as well as a dish of water and one of food). Advise and ideas as to what her condition is would be greatly appreciated!
