white discharge from vent.

[Chickadoos]

Hi,

I have a 2 year-old red star that I found today standing still under a bush away from the other chickens. Her eyes were closed and she was standing still. Her vent would twitch every now and then. I picked her up and there was a white opaque discharge coming out of her vent. They all seemed fine around 4 today, but when I came out at 5:30, this one was by herself.

When I put her down, she walked around a little bit, but was limping. I thought she might be egg bound so put her in a bath of warm water, where she is now. I don't feel any egg near her vent and her abdomen doesn't seem hard to me. Here's a pic of the vent with some of the discharge.

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[chicknmania]

Well, for starters you want to quarantine her from the others. If you have a pen or crate that is quiet and dim but where she can still hear the others, that is best. She might have Avian TB. Symptoms can be whitish diarhea that sticks to the vent feathers, lethargy, and lameness.
If that is what she has there is no cure. Chickens usually get it when they are around nine months old, if they're going to. It is in the soil and everywhere and is one of those things that either they develop an immunity to, or they don't. We have had a couple of chickens get it, as I remember, but it was a long time ago..years... and only one or two out of the whole flock, the rest never got sick with it at all. But we know that's what it was cause we had a necropsy done, and the State vets educated us about it. It is not an illness that kills quickly either, they slowly deteriorate. You could describe it as a type of chicken cancer.

But that might not be what it is. There are lots of things that can cause those symptoms. Isolate her, feed her well..whatever she likes, they usually eat better when their food is moistened, and you can use a little applesauce or yogurt or oatmeal, cottage cheese, tomato, lots of things..to tempt her to eat. And just watch for a couple of days and see if you can get a better Idea what you are looking at. I'm just saying that the symptoms she does have, that's what it points to, for me. Maybe others will have suggestions.

She might also have Marek's, but the one hen we had that we are sure she had Marek's..she had a little diarhea, but it wasn't white. We were able to cure her, ...by treating her with Hypericum. I wouldn't start that just yet if I were you but it is something to keep in mind if your hen develops neurological symptoms along with the lameness.

And, I should have asked...are you sure it's discharge? Or is it diarhea? Maybe she has an infection from an egg that has broken inside her...though not sure if that would cause lameness.

 

[Chickadoos]

Thanks very much for writing. She seemed to perk up in the bath. I let her dry off by walking around on a towel in the house. She was eating and drinking and seemed to be really energetic and curious about the house. She then defecated on the towel (kinda gross, but I was happy to see things moving). It looked normal. After that I just brought her to the coop and I'll check her tomorrow.

 

[chicknmania]

That's good news! Hope she will be ok then.

 

[ChickEngineer]

Chicknmania,

"diarhea? Maybe she has an infection from an egg that has broken inside her...though not sure if that would cause lameness"

I think this is what my girl has. I removed a piece of what looked like egg membrane from her vent after there was a yellow egg looking discharge under her roost. Checked inside and nothing there, gave her a vinegar & water douce. She is not very interested in eating or drinking, just stands there, she moves fine no lameness. She has been very healthy and good weight I was wondering about a possible infection and how to treat it?
Thanks for your help.

 

[chicknmania]

I'm not sure about that because i have never experienced it, but i know there are a lot of people on here who have. If you search something like "broken egg inside hen, possible infection" either on this site or just on google, you should find some answers. My guess is she needs a powerful antibiotic like ciproflaxin. Hope this bumps your inquiry up enough so that someone else sees it who has experience with this, but otherwise, just search it. Also, please keep us updated. Hope she does ok. In the meantime, really work on getting her to eat. you might have to force feed her, which is not difficult, but I don't like doing it, as it seems to be really stressful for them. You can also check with your feed store, they may have suggestions, or Peter Brown the Chicken Doctor, at www.firststatevetsupply.com

 

[chicknmania]

also, I'm sure you know, but it is urgent. I would do some serious research today, before she deteriorates further, because when they start not wanting to eat, they are difficult to bring back. You still can though. Good luck.

 

[ChickEngineer]

Thanks for getting back to me. Just had her out by herself, gave her some yogurt and sunflower seeds and she drank some water. She is out there picking at the plate after the other girls got done. Drinking some more water. She still appears to be a little sluggish. Will watch her today and feed by herself tonight.

 

[chicknmania]

I don't know what your resources are, but normally feed stores have some good suggestions. Good luck, let us know.