Siyabonga Mama
Chirping
I've spent the past couple days googling chicken ailments nonstop, and I'm completely overwhelmed. I don't know whether I have several different things going on at once, or what. I've been keeping chickens for a few years - they're not exactly pets, but I'm fond of them and want to do right by them.
1) Gold Sex Link hen, about 5 months old, haven't weighed her but she seems about normal.
2) Friday afternoon I noticed her huddled in a corner of the pen, away from the rest of the flock. When I went to check on her I realized she wasn't walking properly - sort of staggery, and sitting down a lot. Her vent seemed a bit swollen, and when I palpated it clear liquid came out, and then a bit of blood. She smelled pretty bad. I put her in a crate and took her to a friend who knows about chickens, who said she might have an egg stuck inside but too high up to feel. We gave her water and some grain; she was thirsty and also ate some. She was sitting up and looking perky. When I got home I gave her some fried rice to eat, which she seemed to enjoy. I gave her water with ACV and she really liked that.
Saturday morning I checked her and there appeared to be a huge egg just inside her vent. I couldn't see any shell, and wasn't sure how to probe inside without hurting her. Also on the outside of the vent area there's looks like a sort of tear in the tissue - not a wound so much as an exaggerated stretch mark that's become a patch of dry (dead?) skin. I soaked her in warm water with Dawn soap for about 15-20 minutes (deep enough to cover her vent completely) - she was very relaxed and almost floating. Her vent was very dirty so I washed it. I noticed she was pecking at something in the water; there were maggots floating in there! Not a huge number, but enough for a snack I guess - ICK. I massaged her belly and around the swelling. Then I towel dried her, massaged veg oil around the vent, and put her back in the crate with a fresh thick blanket. I examined her all over but couldn't see where the maggots were from.
Saturday afternoon the lump I'd assumed was an egg was way smaller, as though it had moved back up inside her a bit. She still seemed quite perky. Still no sign of maggots. Still can't stand. Comb still red but drooping. By this time I'd learned a bit more about treatments so gave her 1 cc of Poultry Nutri-Drench, which she enjoyed. Later I scrambled an egg for her, and mixed in a crushed calcium tablet, about 600 ml. She ate about half the tablet, maybe 1/3 of the egg.
Now around 3AM Sunday, I've checked her again. She was panting, beak wide open. The lump, which I assume is her egg, is enormous. Her vent is swollen, and she's red all around that area. No maggots, but she reeks. Hard to say whether she's lethargic ... it's 3AM, after all; she thinks I'm insane, waking her up to look at her butt. She was covered with diarrhea; I upended her and cleaned it off with paper towel dipped in warm water and ACV, then doused the area with Vitamin E oil. (When I cleaned her the paper was bloody.)
4) I have 20 hens and a roo, and she appears to be the only sick one, so far - although I treated everyone for leg mites about 6 weeks ago, and it looks as though I didn't quite beat the little devils so more treatments will be happening in the near future.
7) I recently started a compost heap in a large fenced off section of the chicken run. It contains lots of leaves, veggie garden and kitchen scraps, weeds and straw. The chickens love it and spend a lot of time scratching around in it. Most of them seem to be thriving on it. They also get free fed layer pellets, cracked corn, and oyster shell. They're in a large run that contains several fruit trees, so at the moment they're eating as many apricots and nectarines as they want, and they're just starting on pears. Their house is about 6X6 feet, wood with polystyrene to insulate the metal roof. The bedding is currently mainly wood shavings and bedding pellets (the same as I use for horses), on top of vinyl. Their nesting boxes are currently a bit poopy and need to be cleaned - will do all that as part of the leg mite treatment process.
10 ) I'd like to treat this myself as far as possible. Our budget doesn't really run to a vet for chickens. On the other hand, this is looking complicated enough that it might be worth going to a vet just to learn - and also to verify that there isn't something going on that's contagious. Also, she's a young hen ... I can handle euthanizing an older bird who is suffering and appears to be on her way out anyway, but although this girl has to be uncomfortable, she's also still alert.
1) Gold Sex Link hen, about 5 months old, haven't weighed her but she seems about normal.
2) Friday afternoon I noticed her huddled in a corner of the pen, away from the rest of the flock. When I went to check on her I realized she wasn't walking properly - sort of staggery, and sitting down a lot. Her vent seemed a bit swollen, and when I palpated it clear liquid came out, and then a bit of blood. She smelled pretty bad. I put her in a crate and took her to a friend who knows about chickens, who said she might have an egg stuck inside but too high up to feel. We gave her water and some grain; she was thirsty and also ate some. She was sitting up and looking perky. When I got home I gave her some fried rice to eat, which she seemed to enjoy. I gave her water with ACV and she really liked that.
Saturday morning I checked her and there appeared to be a huge egg just inside her vent. I couldn't see any shell, and wasn't sure how to probe inside without hurting her. Also on the outside of the vent area there's looks like a sort of tear in the tissue - not a wound so much as an exaggerated stretch mark that's become a patch of dry (dead?) skin. I soaked her in warm water with Dawn soap for about 15-20 minutes (deep enough to cover her vent completely) - she was very relaxed and almost floating. Her vent was very dirty so I washed it. I noticed she was pecking at something in the water; there were maggots floating in there! Not a huge number, but enough for a snack I guess - ICK. I massaged her belly and around the swelling. Then I towel dried her, massaged veg oil around the vent, and put her back in the crate with a fresh thick blanket. I examined her all over but couldn't see where the maggots were from.
Saturday afternoon the lump I'd assumed was an egg was way smaller, as though it had moved back up inside her a bit. She still seemed quite perky. Still no sign of maggots. Still can't stand. Comb still red but drooping. By this time I'd learned a bit more about treatments so gave her 1 cc of Poultry Nutri-Drench, which she enjoyed. Later I scrambled an egg for her, and mixed in a crushed calcium tablet, about 600 ml. She ate about half the tablet, maybe 1/3 of the egg.
Now around 3AM Sunday, I've checked her again. She was panting, beak wide open. The lump, which I assume is her egg, is enormous. Her vent is swollen, and she's red all around that area. No maggots, but she reeks. Hard to say whether she's lethargic ... it's 3AM, after all; she thinks I'm insane, waking her up to look at her butt. She was covered with diarrhea; I upended her and cleaned it off with paper towel dipped in warm water and ACV, then doused the area with Vitamin E oil. (When I cleaned her the paper was bloody.)
4) I have 20 hens and a roo, and she appears to be the only sick one, so far - although I treated everyone for leg mites about 6 weeks ago, and it looks as though I didn't quite beat the little devils so more treatments will be happening in the near future.
7) I recently started a compost heap in a large fenced off section of the chicken run. It contains lots of leaves, veggie garden and kitchen scraps, weeds and straw. The chickens love it and spend a lot of time scratching around in it. Most of them seem to be thriving on it. They also get free fed layer pellets, cracked corn, and oyster shell. They're in a large run that contains several fruit trees, so at the moment they're eating as many apricots and nectarines as they want, and they're just starting on pears. Their house is about 6X6 feet, wood with polystyrene to insulate the metal roof. The bedding is currently mainly wood shavings and bedding pellets (the same as I use for horses), on top of vinyl. Their nesting boxes are currently a bit poopy and need to be cleaned - will do all that as part of the leg mite treatment process.
10 ) I'd like to treat this myself as far as possible. Our budget doesn't really run to a vet for chickens. On the other hand, this is looking complicated enough that it might be worth going to a vet just to learn - and also to verify that there isn't something going on that's contagious. Also, she's a young hen ... I can handle euthanizing an older bird who is suffering and appears to be on her way out anyway, but although this girl has to be uncomfortable, she's also still alert.
If there were maggots before, you can almost guarantee there are more. If you've checked her thoroughly and can't find an external source, they are inside her, in which case, she's being eaten from the inside out.
I still need to put antibiotic ointment around her vent; need to get some.+
You're obviously not throwing in the towel. Nobody wants to, or looks forward to, calling the saving effort quits and ending a life. A designated kill for freezer/food is one thing as it's a planned thing. Euthanasia is a whole nuther subject. 
In many cases, they're already "done for" by the time we even recognize there's something wrong.
I pray that she pulls through! Bear hugs! 
