Vent Injury w/ White Discharge

[ddboersma]

Hello!
I have a 22 wk old hen who has been laying for a little over 2 weeks. I’ve noticed a couple bloody eggs from her over the last few days, but didn’t think anything of it because she is a newer layer and they were bigger/double yolk eggs.
Today I noticed a bloody butt, and flockmates chasing after/pecking at her. I immediately removed her, rinsed her vent area and sprayed with Vetericyn Plus.
From what I can tell there is no prolapse, but everything around her vent is swollen and bloody. I believe they are wounds from hens pecking her. But I did notice she has a discharge oozing out. She did lay an egg today, so I would assume not egg bound.
She has only ever been fed scratch and peck organic starter crumbles and now layer pellets. No other food or scraps. They do not free range but live in a very large/covered run.
All the other hens are her same age and came together from Meyer Hatchery (15 total).
What could have caused this and what should I do? I read epsom salt bath, but fear the salt would hurt the wounds?
Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would give her a clean up and inspect the vent really well just to be sure there is no prolapse. You may need to trim some of the feathers away from the vent just to help keep it cleaner.
Epsom salts soak can be used to help clean her up or if you wish use a mild soap/water and rinse well.

If her vent was damaged from picking, she may be leaking some urates, hopefully the damage is not too bad.
If there's no prolapsed tissue, then apply triple antibiotic ointment or vetericyn to the wounds.
IF there's a prolapse, then of course clean it all up as above, but be sure to keep exposed tissue moist with ointment, oil or honey. You can use triple antibiotic ointment if that's what you have, vaseline, anti-inflammatory cream, sugar pack - whatever just keep it moist, the tissue dries out, it will turn necrotic.

I would get extra calcium into her for 3-5 days. Calcium Citrate with D3 can be found at Walmart, CVS, etc. Just pop the tablet into her beak and let her swallow.
Keep her hydrated.

The feed, is it a crumble/pellet or a loose type feed where you see the individual ingredients? If a loose type food, sometimes a bird will pick out the things they like and leave the rest which can cause some nutritional deficiencies. Not saying this is the cause of the difficulties that she's having, just one thing to look at and see if it may be an issue.

Sometimes a pullet/hen may just be more prone to having trouble laying an egg. Having extra fat in the abdomen can be a problem. Or if she lays really large eggs, this can be too - nothing you can do about the size of an egg, it's just a "cause" of difficulties.

Hopefully she's doing o.k.

 

[ddboersma]

You’re the best, thank you for all of this helpful info!
Her bottom is looking better today. Lots of dried white discharge, so tried to clean that up some this morning and will rinse throughout the day.
Her food has always been crumbles or pellets, and she has laid a few bigger eggs.
Thanks again!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad to hear she's doing better.

That white discharge/urates can be a challenge to break up and remove from feathers and even the skin, so just work on it the best you can. The last thing you want is for flies to get on that area. In warm weather, maggots can emerge in about 24hrs and they will destroy tissue/skin, cause infection and perhaps death in a matter of days.
Not trying to scare you, you just don't want to have to deal with maggots on top of a wound, that's bad news.

 

[ddboersma]

Thank you so much! I am having a hard time getting it off her skin around her vent. It’s pretty well caked on there. She is not taking to soaking very well either, so I will keep working at it.
I noticed a fly in the house my garage where I had her so brought her in and have been monitoring.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Very likely the crop problem and the prolapse/injury/? is related.

Poor girl is swollen, injured and is leaking urates. Have you seen any real poop during this time - even loose poop?
She's not laid an egg or passed a membrane or anything like that either right?

Inflammation in the reproductive system and/or digestive system is going to cause the crop to slow, so it's not uncommon for the crop to not be emptying very well at this time.

Have you felt for an egg? Does look like she's trying to strain to poop or push an egg out?

I'd make sure she's got water during waking hours. Get the Calcium into her. I wouldn't vomit her.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You can feel inside the vent about 1" for an egg.

Yes, I'd go ahead and begin treating the crop symptom that hopefully helps get ahead of it turning sour.

Everyone does things a bit differently, I never withhold food/water during waking hours. She needs to stay hydrated for sure, but if you feel you must withhold food, then I would not go more than 24-36hrs. Offer her wet feed or bits of scrambled egg.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[ddboersma]

You can feel inside the vent about 1" for an egg.

Yes, I'd go ahead and begin treating the crop symptom that hopefully helps get ahead of it turning sour.

Everyone does things a bit differently, I never withhold food/water during waking hours. She needs to stay hydrated for sure, but if you feel you must withhold food, then I would not go more than 24-36hrs. Offer her wet feed or bits of scrambled egg.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Thank you for all of your help! It is appreciated more than you know. I’m so glad this website is here for the best advice.
Unfortunately she passed away a little earlier this evening. Her crop wasn’t changing and she was refusing to eat or drink. She became limp and seemed to be choking or aspirating, or gaping for air. She died suddenly. I feel awful for her and this whole situation. Thanks for guiding me while trying to help her.
I’ve since noticed that the hen that was chasing and pecking at her at the time I found her injured has been pulling feathers out of all the girls. She drew blood on the back of another today. I put her in a large wire dog crate with food and water inside my secure run for now and will be googling how to handle a bully next.

 

[ddboersma]

Oh no!
I'm sorry to hear that!

Could something else like a predator have attacked her?
Hens will pen at anything red, so I wonder if this other hen had a prolapse as well and was picked at?

What do you feed including treats?

I'm not sure what's happening, if the bully hen is attacking or picking at their vents when they lay eggs or if they are prolapsing/getting picked or if possible something is getting in and injuring the hen(s) and the result is picking at wounds.
Do you have cameras you can put up?

I’m not thinking a predator because I have 2 outdoor dogs that eat every animal they can catch on our property. We thankfully don’t have critters that get into our veggie garden ever for this reason (my chicken run is built with an invisible fence around it to protect the chickens from the dogs). My run is very secure as well. No bigger opening than 1/4in anywhere. But cameras wouldn’t be a bad idea to see what’s going on. Although I’m afraid to let her out again. Afraid of more damage and also what behaviors she could be teaching others. Assuming she is 100% the culprit.
While pulling the crate and feeding supplies back into the run I watched her pluck a feather out of 2 hens and attempt a 3rd, all within a minute. This is just wild. She might be meant for a full time free range flock to keep her occupied
I have been checking their vents every night because I feared one would be bloody again and get pecked. Everything has looked healthy….but yes a prolapse could have occurred during the day causing all of this.
Thanks for your insight and camera suggestion!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you get photos?

Sounds like she's got some damage, so the discharge may continue until she heals up more.

Yes, it does cake like cement, it seems to adhere to damaged skin too which can make it tricky. Apply a little mineral oil or you can use coconut oil. This sometimes helps the crusty material loosen up, but don't be surprised if it's stuck to the skin and the skin bleeds, if that happens, stop and just apply your oils, keeping the crusty cement moist too.

Depressed because she's not outside or is there more to it? I'd definitely get the calcium into her. She may have an egg on the way and is not feeling the greatest. Even if she's not prolapsed now, she may have initially prolapsed and internal tissue was damaged.
It would be a good idea to feel inside the vent for an egg.