Vent crusted over w/what looks like old egg....ugggg....advice please!

wendyrun

In the Brooder
9 Years
May 25, 2010
52
2
39
Gainesville, FL
hi Folks,

I have 2 BR hens that are about 1 1/2 yrs old, got from a friend. One's been laying right away, the other has had only a few soft shell eggs. We've had them just over 2 months.

I thought I been smelling ... an odor... from Ginny, who is the every - third week soft egg layer. there is oyster shell available, and they are free ranging in the yard, I don't know how to get her to get the nutrients she needs....but the immediate problem...

Last night she went into the hen house quite early. I thought that she might be laying a real egg. But she never came out. Yesterday I was certain I saw a trail of flies around her rump. This morning - no egg, no soft egg, nothing. Normal stools in house. However, when they came out, I noticed a distinct smell that smells like something rotten or dead. I checked Ginny's vent, and it was nearly entirely crusted over. Yellowy-back crud, ugggg, smell is horrible. I did notice some loose watery stools I assumed were hers.

I got a little bin, filled up with warm water and spent about 10-15 minutes trying to massage the crud off. I think I got a bit too vigorous and there was a little redness, a little tiny bit of blood, so instead of trying to pull off chunks, I just rubbed.The water started getting too cool to seem like it was working. I got a lot off but not all. After I dried her as much as I could manage, I rubbed a big glob of neosporin all over the vent and the cruddy stuff.

NOW WHAT?
It smells better but not great. she is working it around and I saw more stools that look .... egggy - like the white, gelatinous. but with poop in it. Do I need to try to go into the vent?? She's never had a hard shelled egg since we have had her, so I was thinking for some reason the stuff just got stuck there, and dried, but hoping there is nothing else. I'm new to chickens, I tried to feel around while I was washing her but I haven't got a clue what I'm feeling for.

she seems to be eating and moving around fine. In fact, I expected her to run like crazy to get away when I let her go and she was pretty casual about it. The other chicken came over and picked at some of her wet feathers a bit, and she started grooming herself.

I was thinking of giving her some gatorade. Also they both ate sunflower seeds from my husband's hand this morning but I don't think she was as vigorous as usual.

Do I watch and wait? Do I need to feel around in the vent? Or can I try another warm bath on her rump this afternoon???
 
I am a newbie too and just had one of mine have fluidy stuff coming out of her vent. I gave her a good warm water soak and dried her and put her back to roost and by morning she had expelled the broken leathery egg shell. So far no more problems but I have been offering lots more yogurt and ground egg shells to see if she needs more calcium. I intended the next morning to soak her again and see if I could massage her pusihing toward her vent. I don't know what to tell you to do but maybe this can bump it up for someone more experienced.
sharon
 
Hi Sharon,

ahh yogurt!! good idea.

Ginny explained to me that she now feels violated. I told her that I too, feel quite the same. I figured I had better see what was going on in there if I could.

I did leave her alone for a few hours first while she dried off outside. Then I read on here she should be kept inside. Oops. It's sunny and about 80ish give or take, so I figure that is probably ok. Not interested in gatorade. I tried yogurt and eggshell, but I had to put seeds on top to get her to try it. then I remembered I had salmon skin that I saved them from dinner last night. I chopped it up - the other girl ate more than she did but she got some.

Just now I have tried yogurt with some canned salmon with bones in it, she took that that better.

Then we did vent check.
sickbyc.gif

I checked her and rubbed mineral oil all around the area. It's still a little .. crusty... But the smell seems gone. I didn't feel anything internally either but there was some stool. Gross, but I hope that means things are working. I am hoping that the egg was something she passed several days ago and that she had maybe done that at night and just sat in it. Not sure. I have seen the leftovers in the hen house in the morning a few times.

I also rubbed her belly and didn't feel anything - and so I locked her in the coop with the gatorade, yogurt mix, and some bonus dried meal worms that I bought for the wild birds. She seems to like those and hopefully will forgive me after a while and make a nice recovery.

I don't know how to tell when she might need antibiotics or further treatment. She has been pretty perky and normal the last few days - we thought she was stinky but sometimes, hard to pin down where the smell was from so then I thought I had imagined it. I thought her rump looked funky before about 2 weeks ago, but turns out she was starting a molt - has been losing feathers here and there, and there was nothing serious going on - but again, I think it was soft egg stuck on her vent - nothing like this though.

I won't wait again if I suspect something is wrong. Poor Ginny is going to run like hell every time she sees me come near her now.

Wendy
 
Last edited:

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom