Vent pecking and possibly egg bound, PLEASE help! Warning - photos

[JulesRSA]

Hi everyone! I’d appreciate any help and advice you can give me.

My olive egger hen Bella has been isolated (in a wire crate on my sheltered porch) for a day now as I noticed two other hens bullying her and pecking at her vent. She’s just over a year old, and normal weight.

I heard the squawking, saw blood and pulled her from the run. Her whole vent area is plucked, but the wound itself seems like a superficial injury just above her vent. Disinfected it and stopped the bleeding.

I figured I’d keep her isolated for the day to heal up and rest, then add her back to the run but sectioned off from the others with wire until fully healed. The whole day she was her usual self, eating and drinking, running around when I let her out for some exercise. Her poops have been normal to runny. She also laid an egg yesterday, which was a bit smaller than usual, but otherwise normal. Looked like there was some clear fluid/discharge either from her vent or the wound, but I cleaned her up and she seemed fine otherwise.

Got her out this morning to check her and move her back in the run, and I noticed some feathers had gotten stuck down onto the vent wound so I decided to give her a warm bath to see if I could unglue them. When I took her out of the bath, she pooped what looks like egg white - no yolk or shell that I could see!

I’ve dried her off and popped her back into the crate, and she’s looking okay, she’s had some water but hasn’t eaten (pecks at food, doesn’t eat it). She also passed the poop in the photo after the “egg white poop”.

None of the other girls are having any issues laying, etc. We do have an issue with feather plucking (the dominant hen is plucking the other 3 when she can get away with it) but I’m upping their protein intake and I’ve added more toys to the run to see if that helps at all. Not sure if the two issues are related.

I can probably get Bella to a vet in the next couple days, but I’d appreciate any help or advice in the meantime. I love these girls dearly and am really worried

 

[thecatumbrella]

I'm far from the most knowledgable person here, but I can say I've had the egg white poops occur either from stress or an excess of watery treats (apples are a bit culprit). Poor Bella has a lot going on right now, and maybe the bath was just one thing too many (not that I blame you for trying to clean her up!)

Hopefully someone else can chime in.

 

[JulesRSA]

T

I'm far from the most knowledgable person here, but I can say I've had the egg white poops occur either from stress or an excess of watery treats (apples are a bit culprit). Poor Bella has a lot going on right now, and maybe the bath was just one thing too many (not that I blame you for trying to clean her up!)

Hopefully someone else can chime in.

thanks so much! That would be a big relief, if it’s just stress. She’s a sensitive girl, and as you say, a lot going on at the moment.

She’s had a restful day, been drinking water and has eaten some oats and blueberries (favourite treats) and some pellets and crushed oyster shell, so fingers crossed it isn’t some kind of internal issue

 

[thecatumbrella]

T

thanks so much! That would be a big relief, if it’s just stress. She’s a sensitive girl, and as you say, a lot going on at the moment.

She’s had a restful day, been drinking water and has eaten some oats and blueberries (favourite treats) and some pellets and crushed oyster shell, so fingers crossed it isn’t some kind of internal issue

If she's still having issues, you can always dial it back to just pellets and water. Or you could try making a mash with the pellets by adding a little hot water. Mine think it's the best "treat" ever! It's a nice trick when they're having poop issues but still demand something fun.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I heard the squawking, saw blood and pulled her from the run. Her whole vent area is plucked, but the wound itself seems like a superficial injury just above her vent.

Looked like there was some clear fluid/discharge either from her vent or the wound, but I cleaned her up and she seemed fine otherwise.

When I took her out of the bath, she pooped what looks like egg white - no yolk or shell that I could see!

Photos of her vent?

I'd work on getting extra calcium into her for 3-5days. 600mg Calcium Citrate would be good if you have it.

The poop is not normal, see if it starts to look normal or if you find more material like that.

 

[JulesRSA]

Photos of her vent?

I'd work on getting extra calcium into her for 3-5days. 600mg Calcium Citrate would be good if you have it.

The poop is not normal, see if it starts to look normal or if you find more material like that.

@Wyorp Rock and @thecatumbrella bad news I’m afraid

Bella bounced back and was eating, drinking and pooping normally. I reintroduced her to the run (fenced off so the other girls couldn’t peck at her still-healing wound) and she was pretty much herself, no sign of any issues, although she wasn’t laying - I hoped that was just stress related.

I gave her calcium citrate + vitamin D tablets and noticed she was also eating more oyster shell than normal (finally managed to find a supplier who had stock!) so I also didn’t feed anything other than layer pellets and a few mealworms.

Then on Saturday morning, when I came to let everyone out of the coop, I saw she had a really bad prolapse and an egg stuck. She’s always laid really huge eggs and I’ve worried about something like this happening. Got her into a warm bath and made an appointment at the bird vet, hoping they could remove the egg and administer antibiotics but unfortunately there was a pretty bad tear in the prolapsed tissue the vet said that even if we removed the egg and got the prolapse sorted, he couldn’t suture the tissue and she would most likely keep getting infections and having to go on antibiotics and be isolated from the rest of the flock… in other words, I’d be keeping her alive for my own selfish reasons. So she was humanely PTS

I didn’t opt for an necropsy because the other girls, who are eating the same feed / in the same environment are healthy and happy and laying perfectly normal eggs with thick shells and no blemishes. Although they’re definitely a bit stressed by the disappearance of their flock mate this weekend been giving them extra love and attention.

Thanks very much for the help and advice. Bella was one of my favourites and I’ll miss her, but I think I did the right thing

 

[thecatumbrella]

I’m so sorry

She was very loved and you tried your best at the end. I’m glad you had a vet nearby to end her suffering.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@Wyorp Rock and @thecatumbrella bad news I’m afraid



I gave her calcium citrate + vitamin D tablets and noticed she was also eating more oyster shell than normal (finally managed to find a supplier who had stock!) so I also didn’t feed anything other than layer pellets and a few mealworms.

Then on Saturday morning, when I came to let everyone out of the coop, I saw she had a really bad prolapse and an egg stuck. She’s always laid really huge eggs and I’ve worried about something like this happening. Got her into a warm bath and made an appointment at the bird vet, hoping they could remove the egg and administer antibiotics but unfortunately there was a pretty bad tear in the prolapsed tissue the vet said that even if we removed the egg and got the prolapse sorted, he couldn’t suture the tissue and she would most likely keep getting infections and having to go on antibiotics and be isolated from the rest of the flock… in other words, I’d be keeping her alive for my own selfish reasons. So she was humanely PTS

I didn’t opt for an necropsy because the other girls, who are eating the same feed / in the same environment are healthy and happy and laying perfectly normal eggs with thick shells and no blemishes. Although they’re definitely a bit stressed by the disappearance of their flock mate this weekend been giving them extra love and attention.

Thanks very much for the help and advice. Bella was one of my favourites and I’ll miss her, but I think I did the right thing

I'm very sorry to hear about Bella

 

[Bonnieboo]

So sorry you lost your beloved Bella. I know how heartbreaking it is as do all chicken lovers. Rest assured, she is now asleep and knows nothing and has no pain.
Love and hugs xxx