HELP - 1 dead, 3 with pasty butts, 1with swollen vent WHAT'S WRONG

[malagabara]

One of my 4 two-year-old Barnevelders died suddenly yesterday. She had not exhibit any sign of sickness, her behavior and coat was fine. That prompr me to examine the rest of the flock today and even though they are all looking and acting normal they seem to all have some mild diarrhea or a sort of discharge that has a bad smell, they have pasty butts, and one of them actually has a swollen vent. I have posted a picture. Searching the forum I've seen similar problems around this time of year for other people, @rebrascora, I saw your thorough response to another user about something similar around this time last year, perhaps you can help me? The fact that all of the hens have it makes me think its some sort of virus, what could I do to help them at this point? They have plenty of room and a free-range often, I'm posting some pictures of their home. I have neosrpirin antibiotic cream and some penicillin I bought last year after a hawk attacked one of my hens ( I never used it) I also have vetericyn. They are laying, and pooping fine, they seem to be eating fine as well, I will portion the food better tomorrow so I can tell. I also think its worth mentioning that a week ago I started feeding them kitchen scraps onlyo because their feed ran out, they ate like that forr about 10 days, and are back to naturecrest non gmo layer pellet.

 

[DellaMyDarling]

I don't know much, sorry.

What comes to mind is toxic plants (or food scraps.)
Have you assessed your yard and provided scraps for anything that could be toxic?
Treat your yard, outdoor space, etc with anything at all?

Term I've heard around is "vent gleet." Does Google seem to make that description work?

 

[Wezdin]

that vent does not look healthy, i would treat the flock with a dewormer like corid or aqua-sol. Pasty butt is not good in full grown hens and usually signifies a problem.

 

[Wezdin]

Have you checked for lice or mites on the hens?

 

[rebrascora]

Hi
Are you saying that their diet consisted of almost exclusively kitchen scraps for the 10 days until you restocked with chicken feed? That would certainly account for diarrhoea.... a radical change of diet like that will certainly affect the gut bacterial balance. What did the scraps mostly consist of? Have you supplied them with a source of calcium ie crushed oyster shell or crushed egg shells?
In the photos of the chicken, I see red tissue which looks to be a prolapse. This may be due to a lack of calcium in the diet or carrying too much fat. Swollen vents can also be due to infections like vent gleet or salpingitis which is more likely to kill than vent gleet. It is unusual for multiple birds to suffer from salpingitis at the same time unless you have drakes in the pen with the chickens attempting to mate them and spreading the infection.

For the hen with the red tissue exposed, she will need bathing in warm Epsom Salts solution and haemorrhoid cream or honey applied and the pink tissue gently pushed back inside with a gloved finger and held until she stops trying to push it back out. It may still come back out and you will need to bath it again and apply cream on a daily basis, perhaps twice daily and push and hold it in again. It may take several attempts over a period of days before it remains inside her and keeping it clean and moist will be extremely important. At this time of year fly strike can very rapidly set in when hens have soiled butts and maggots will eat them alive and if they break through the skin into the abdominal cavity, the prospects are not good.
Now that they are back on a formulated feed, do not give them any scraps or treats until this episode is resolved and even after that, they need to be severely rationed. The formulated feed you buy is balanced to provide all the nutrients they need to be healthy and lay eggs and any extras you give them will upset that balance, Chickens have been selectively bred to be way more productive than nature ever intended and they need a diet to support that in the same way as a top athlete needs a particular ratio of nutrients (carbsrotein:fat as well as micro nutrients, vitamins and trace elements, calcium being of particular importance with hens because their egg shells require a significant amount on a daily basis.

 

[malagabara]

Hi
Are you saying that their diet consisted of almost exclusively kitchen scraps for the 10 days until you restocked with chicken feed? That would certainly account for diarrhoea.... a radical change of diet like that will certainly affect the gut bacterial balance. What did the scraps mostly consist of? Have you supplied them with a source of calcium ie crushed oyster shell or crushed egg shells?
In the photos of the chicken, I see red tissue which looks to be a prolapse. This may be due to a lack of calcium in the diet or carrying too much fat. Swollen vents can also be due to infections like vent gleet or salpingitis which is more likely to kill than vent gleet. It is unusual for multiple birds to suffer from salpingitis at the same time unless you have drakes in the pen with the chickens attempting to mate them and spreading the infection.

For the hen with the red tissue exposed, she will need bathing in warm Epsom Salts solution and haemorrhoid cream or honey applied and the pink tissue gently pushed back inside with a gloved finger and held until she stops trying to push it back out. It may still come back out and you will need to bath it again and apply cream on a daily basis, perhaps twice daily and push and hold it in again. It may take several attempts over a period of days before it remains inside her and keeping it clean and moist will be extremely important. At this time of year fly strike can very rapidly set in when hens have soiled butts and maggots will eat them alive and if they break through the skin into the abdominal cavity, the prospects are not good.
Now that they are back on a formulated feed, do not give them any scraps or treats until this episode is resolved and even after that, they need to be severely rationed. The formulated feed you buy is balanced to provide all the nutrients they need to be healthy and lay eggs and any extras you give them will upset that balance, Chickens have been selectively bred to be way more productive than nature ever intended and they need a diet to support that in the same way as a top athlete needs a particular ratio of nutrients (carbsrotein:fat as well as micro nutrients, vitamins and trace elements, calcium being of particular importance with hens because their egg shells require a significant amount on a daily basis.

Thank you SO much!

For those ten days I prepared different "lunches" for them, and I realize now this is a fatal mistake, even though I tried to prepare them good food (I would mix lightly cooked quinoa, lentils, peas, and mix with flax, chia, oatmeal, plus give them fruit and other kitchen scraps) They do have crushed shells available always.

I will follow your advice for the one hen and about the diet for the coming weeks. Should I also bathe the other hens to clean them? Should I try to remove feathers around the area? Should I administer supplements? Any reason to isolate them or try to prevent egglaying?

 

[malagabara]

Have you checked for lice or mites on the hens?

Yes, they seem to be free of parasites

 

[malagabara]

I would like to add their poop seems normal, no diarrhea but they must be discharging something to have pasty butts.