Just to let you know, we took Ginger to the vet's on Friday afternoon. He cleaned away the scabby stuff and showed me that there were some pink innards protruding underneath. He said it was a partial prolapse. He cleaned out her rear end and pushed the innards back inside. Innards sounds horrible, but I can't think of a better word! When he examined her internally, he said she has polyps there, which were rather inflamed.
He's given her some antibiotics to dissolve in her water and told me to put apple cider vinegar in as well. He also said to mix her food with olive oil, so that it will slip through the system better. I thought she wouldn't like that, but she seems quite happy with it!
He did say to separate her, as "hens will peck at anything" and even though we never saw the other hen that was with her peck at her rear end, Ginger is definitely looking a little more feathery now that she's by herself for a while!
I also changed her bedding - I've been using sawdust recently, as there was a straw shortage in the UK, due to an unusually hot dry summer. While I was trying to get her set up in quarantine, I saw her eating the fresh dry sawdust, which can't be good for a hen whose insides are supposed to be well-lubricated! So at the moment, she has an old folded sheet as bedding, which I keep changing over and washing.
She's still laying, but we're not eating the eggs because of the antibiotics. She laid a soft egg today though.
She's due back at the vet's on Wednesday. She still seems amazingly happy