Scab or poop on vent? Hard and crusty.....YIKES!! warning gross photo!!

[Minky]

I have a hen who is always looking a bit off.... She is 34 weeks and never laid an egg. I have noticed her butt area is a bit brown (and she is grey) and i was going to give her a butt bath, so I turned her upside down and took a look to see how gross it was.... and i discovered a scab or crust on the top of her vent. I am attaching a gross picture. I gently poked at it with a clean piece of straw, and it seemed to be firmly stuck there.
Ideas anyone????
I am planning on a nice warm butt soak, and then dry her...but i'm not sure if I should try and pick it off? The skin doesnt seem red or inflamed around it. I have polysporin and vagasil, but no chicken related cream.
This is a super close up and super yucky sorry....

 

[rebrascora]

That looks like a scab to me and her vent is open which is odd. She also looks like she may be swollen below her vent.
I'm wondering if she has had a prolapse. which has gone back but the scab remains and perhaps some of her tissue had become necrotic and died leaving the lips of her vent open as a result. If so, you are incredibly lucky not to have lost her before now.
I would bath her in a warm Epsom Salts bath and get her cleaned up and see if the scab is ready to lift off but I wouldn't force it and then give her a good blow dry and apply antibiotic cream or whatever you have and give it another bath perhaps tomorrow and try to lift the scab again.

 

[bruceha2000]

I would not suggest pulling scabs off skin, let it come off naturally using the bath as @rebrascora suggested.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

That looks like a scab to me and her vent is open which is odd. She also looks like she may be swollen below her vent.
I'm wondering if she has had a prolapse. which has gone back but the scab remains and perhaps some of her tissue had become necrotic and died leaving the lips of her vent open as a result. If so, you are incredibly lucky not to have lost her before now.
I would bath her in a warm Epsom Salts bath and get her cleaned up and see if the scab is ready to lift off but I wouldn't force it and then give her a good blow dry and apply antibiotic cream or whatever you have and give it another bath perhaps tomorrow and try to lift the scab again.

Agreed!

 

[Minky]

thanks for the advice. she has never laid an egg, so not sure if it could be prolapse? will bathe her and dry her and put on polysporin. I will re-visit her butt in a couple of days, and repeat if needed.

 

[Minky]

Ok so heres an update...
I brought her in this morning and let her soak 20 min in warm tub with epsom salts, wrapped her turned her over and had a good look.
It's all poop. rock hard and cement like, and was stuck firmly to her skin, all inside the vent. She didnt struggle at all- and I was massaging it with my gloved fingers and trying to poke at it with these little dental saws i have that have a serrated edge. I even sacrificed my favorite tweezers and was picking and pinching away at the poop- it is just like wood or slowly melting concrete. Unbelievably hard.
She did so well not a peep or a flap of the wing at all.So...

I drained tub and started over with slightly hotter water, soaked for 40 minutes second time, wrapped her up, turned her on her back and started again. I think I got about 40% of it, but the rest is still there. I dried her and have her in a room, in a large box with some paper down. She pooped and it is completely clear liquid with a few pellets (still in pellet form, she is not digesting them obviously) I have given her some rolled oats - her favourite, and some molasses in her water. She has Vasaline gobbed all over her vent to try and keep it soft. I will make her some scrambled eggs now, and have crushed up some of the organic pellets into a crush. I am planning on another soak later today.

Anything else I can try? there is still a hole for her to poop from, albeit it is a small opening. The crust of poop is on the top part of the vent, about the size of a quarter, and takes up a lot of room (thickness is about 1/3 to 1/2 inch).

Any other suggestions?? And does anyone know why this would have happened in the first place???
thanks

 

[Minky]

I asked at my local farm store if they have probiotics or vitamins for chickens. Nope.
I would like to give her a boost, without upsetting her stomach......

 

[Minky]

She's eaten 1 tablespoon of natural yogurt and maybe the same of rolled oats. Yogurt is by far what she is choosing. Maybe because it will slide out better? she does make a "bawk bawk" only when she poops. Other than that- she stood almost in one spot all day.
All poop looked like water with a few food pellets (undigested) and in some poos, there is the white slime stuff. All very small poos, maybe a teaspoon?

I will soak her for an hour in the morning and try picking away at it again....

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

Thanks for the updates. I haven't really got anything to add at this stage other than that you are doing a great job. I cannot explain why poop would build up there unless there is some sort of fissure which poop is getting stuck in and building up. Her vent just looks misshapen like it has been exposed to some trauma at some point in the past. Have you tried giving her some scrambled eggs? If you soak a few pellets in warm water until they soften and then mix some yoghurt into them and perhaps a little scrambled egg, that will provide more nutrients than just the yoghurt and hopefully still tempt her to eat. I would also direct dose her with some vitamin supplement like Nutri Drench.... just a few drops into her beak twice a day.
Good luck removing the rest of that debris.

 

[Minky]

Thanks. boy is it gross and tedious.
Today her vent looked much better, all of the poop scab was tucked inside her vent(but this made it much more difficult to access).
I soaked her for 40 minutes today, and then tried picking away at it with tweezers. After a little bit, she squirmed and I figured I had picked all I could. I slathered with polysporin, and blow dried her again.. That was about 2 hours of my life again... LOL
She wont even come near the scrambled egg. I will try soaking the pellet. I have crushed them, and will try to add to yogurt too. Nutri Drench. I tried to get some at my fam supply store but they hadnt heard of it. I will see about getting some online.
thanks