Before I begin, I would like to state that BYC has been a LIFELINE for me! New to chickens, I don't think I would have been able to come this far without the support of BYC members ;-) ... I haven't had an opportunity to post too much because I always manage to find an answer in the forums, and I haven't responded to posts because I'm still such a newbie. So for ALL of the members out there, THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart ;-)
Now, onto the issue. Yesterday, we "rescued" three hens, suspect they are RIR X but not sure. These hens are meat birds, and are kept separate from my ladies. They still, however, are treated like royalty, so the first order of business today was bath time. It was my first attempt at bathing a chicken, and was quite uneventful -- enjoyable really. Especially the blow dry!
However, during the bath and chance to inspect, I discovered mites or lice (unsure which, but they are white in colour - not unexpected), and am planning on applying dust to rid her of them (and the other two) once she is done with her bathing and I have an extra set of hands here to help with the application.
But, more concerning, is the vent area on the first hen. Dirty was my only suspicion, but after soaking most of the poop and dirt off, it's clear that her vent is angry, infected, prolapsed, swollen, red and featherless. There is an obvious blockage in the vent (poop) that was causing her discomfort when I touched it trying to remove it. I hadn't planned on a 20-30 min soak with her as I was alone, so I ended up drying her off and giving her a bit of a break. I plan on revisiting the bath with her, but was wondering if I should give it a day or two, or do it tonight.
She seems to be happy, and I haven't had a chance to check the other two -- so before I head out to the co-op to pick up some supplies, any advice for a newbie that has to manually remove a vent blockage and try to bring some comfort to this poor girl?
As always, any advice is GREATLY appreciated!!!
Now, onto the issue. Yesterday, we "rescued" three hens, suspect they are RIR X but not sure. These hens are meat birds, and are kept separate from my ladies. They still, however, are treated like royalty, so the first order of business today was bath time. It was my first attempt at bathing a chicken, and was quite uneventful -- enjoyable really. Especially the blow dry!
However, during the bath and chance to inspect, I discovered mites or lice (unsure which, but they are white in colour - not unexpected), and am planning on applying dust to rid her of them (and the other two) once she is done with her bathing and I have an extra set of hands here to help with the application.
But, more concerning, is the vent area on the first hen. Dirty was my only suspicion, but after soaking most of the poop and dirt off, it's clear that her vent is angry, infected, prolapsed, swollen, red and featherless. There is an obvious blockage in the vent (poop) that was causing her discomfort when I touched it trying to remove it. I hadn't planned on a 20-30 min soak with her as I was alone, so I ended up drying her off and giving her a bit of a break. I plan on revisiting the bath with her, but was wondering if I should give it a day or two, or do it tonight.
She seems to be happy, and I haven't had a chance to check the other two -- so before I head out to the co-op to pick up some supplies, any advice for a newbie that has to manually remove a vent blockage and try to bring some comfort to this poor girl?
As always, any advice is GREATLY appreciated!!!
