significance of cakey yellow stuff around vent?

[Puck-Puck]

I have half a dozen "second-hand" black sex link layers that I got about three weeks ago. I noticed that one of them had something yellow (the colour of cooked egg yolk) caked around her vent, but she acted normally, and laid regularly, or has seemed to. I decided that as long as she was happy, I wouldn't worry too much. This yellowish material has persisted.

Today when I checked on the hens, I noticed she was "walking drunk", squat-walking with her bum stuck out and her weight much further ahead of her feet than normal, putting off her balance and her "steering". Because she still hasn't grown her belly feathers back from ?molt? ?feather pecking at the previous owner's?, I can see something roughly egg-shaped between her legs, below her vent, under her skin. Is this an egg? Is it stuck? Is the yellow stuff evidence of previous laying problems? (chicken newbie here).

(I had thought this lump normal, because before the girls started growing their feathers back, I would look some mornings to see who had this "egg lump" and guess how many eggs would be laid that day. I've usually been right, and the same birds would no longer have the "egg lump".)

Information requested as per the sticky thread:
1. Black Sex Link in her second year, smaller than her peers; exact weight unknown
2. walking head forward, bum out, weaving and staggering (probably due to the posture) as if she were constipated (she's not)
3. no external injuries etc. visible
4. unaware of any specific event precipitating this
5. eating and drinking with good appetite: layer mash and water
6. normal poop
7. no treatment, as unsure what the problem is, or if this is just a passing thing
8. would have to be home treatment; no vet near; these birds are not pets but I want to give them appropriate care
9. will stick picture below
10. this flock is on pine chip bedding.

Thank you for looking at this, and if you can advise me whether this is even really a problem, my thanks.

Sorry the image is blurry, she was modest about having her backside photographed. The pale stuff around her vent is actually yellow in real life. This picture also shows her posture a little as she walks, with her weight thrown forward of her feet.

 

[teach1rusl]

Sorry your little girl is having issues

I will be no help. If you don't hear from someone soon who knows their stuff, then you should repost...maybe with "Help!! Is she eggbound???" or something like that... Good luck!

 

[PunkinPeep]

I've been wracking my brain. The picture doesn't tell me much, but i just thought that maybe you're seeing the stuff mites make? Or i don't know if they make it exactly, but sometimes there will be build-up around the base of the feathers that is a sign of mites.

Could that be it?

 

[sammi]

describe her droppings in detail..color and consistency.

is the yellow pale? or more mustard color? or tan/yellow?
is it foamy?
has she been wormed? if so, when? and what was used?
checked and treated for mites?

I'd clean all that mess off..

if you suspect she is eggbound..
some people set the hen on a heating type pad or heated towel..in a place that is warm, safe, quiet and dim..
others set the hen in sink of warm water..

is she still eating and drinking?
make sure she is hydrated, if she isn't drinking..give water by drops on beak..

what color is the comb? is it pale? drooped? does it feel hot or cold?
any sneezing, head shaking, mucus from eyes or nostrils, or wheezing?

have you done a good check of the crop?

 

[Puck-Puck]

Hi, Sammi and PunkinPeeps.

To answer Sammi's questions: I just checked on her again this morning. She'd elected to stay the night in the nest box, and I let her. No egg, just poop. Normal poop like her buddies--green extrusions with white; not runny, not foamy.

The cakey stuff bears no resemblance to her droppings; it looks more like cooked egg yolk. Like a smear of scrambled egg without the egg white. It is not foamy.

If she was ever wormed it wasn't by me. The previous owner didn't mention it. She did mention that there had been a mite problem with her flock LAST year, which she treated with diatomaceous earth, and it didn't seem to recur this year.

I was planning to give her a plain warm water sitz bath today, and olive oil lube, in case she is eggbound; reasoning that even if she isn't, the procedure will do her no harm.

I saw her drink water when I refreshed it this morning.

Her comb is erect and red; her wattles are red; although there is a pale line down the front of the wattles that I hadn't noticed before. But then, I hadn't been looking. Might always have been there. I couldn't both hold her and check the temperature of the comb. (She's not the cuddly kind. After I let her go, she went and pecked her buddies, maybe to show she was still tough.) No sneezing, no mucus, haven't noticed any wheezing. But yesterday she was doing an odd thing with her head yesterday, sort of stretching and twisting her head and neck.

She still walks like a duck. Squawking function is unimpaired.

I thank you for looking at this, and hope the further information is of some use in narrowing down what might be going on.

 

[sammi]

do you have other kinds of poultry? turkeys? etc..?

use a flashlight and check her mouth and throat..check for any whitish or yellowish sores, or plaque coating..check for sour smell, or red gapeworm in the throat.
best to try this after she's gone to roost and is asleep or sleepy..wrap her in a towel to keep her from flapping..
post back if you see anything...


check for wheezing.

if none of the above is found after good check..

I think I would worm using Wazine 17..
see if the droppings get better...

what meds do you have on hand?

will wait for your reply...

 

[Eggs4Sale]

PM Threehorses directly. Her latest post can be found at https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=262329

Good luck with your girl.

 

[Puck-Puck]

Hi, Sammi.

I had already turned in for the night when you posted--just got this now, after checking on the birds and doing other morning duties.

Your questions:
-no other kinds of poultry; just (1) an attached coop with the brahma and ameraucana that they'd been bullying, in sight but out of beak range, and (2) another, separate coop of red sex links in their first year, who are as healthy and happy as can be
-no wheezing noticed at all, and I spend an awful lot of time at that coop, observing (should be doing other things, of course) :roll:
-I do not understand: what do you feel is wrong with her droppings? Do you think that cakey yellow stuff around her vent may be poop, not encrusted dried egg? Her poop that I've seen her pass, and that which I've inferred was hers because it was under where she was sleeping, are textbook normal, as per Aunt Sally's Poo Page. Everyone's is. How much better than normal can they be?
-I have no poultry-specific medication on hand, as I have had no problems to deal with worse than feather-picking, for which I gave them a supplement of high-protein dog kibble; problem solved before the Blu-Kote I ordered arrived at the feed store.
-I will go tonight with flashlight and towel, and give her a rude surprise. (Then a treat to follow the trick.)

My observation of her this morning: healthy appetite, active, just this low-body awkward walk, sometimes sideways, quite different from her peers who walk erect and with confidence. She goes up the ramp slowly, perhaps unsure whether her steps will carry her up or over the edge. Reminds me of an unfortunate I saw in Downtown Eastside who had apparently ingested a nerve-affecting substance for recreation: abnormal and exaggerated movements. Her crop does seem fairly pronounced, but that may because the feathers haven't grown back, and as I say, she has a healthy appetite.


Eggs4Sale, I will read your link and see how it may relate. Thank you for it!

 

[sammi]

ok...so this yellow stuff is NOT her droppings?

try cleaning it all off..

feel the belly and vent area for any heat or swelling..
is she a regular layer?
has she ever laid a soft shelled egg?


possibilities:
she sat on a broken egg..
she could have had a broken egg inside..could be from a soft shell/no shell egg..
could have an infection from that..Pen-G might be helpful.

could be EYP...(Egg Yolk Peritonitis)..

http://fowlfacts.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=afflictiondiseaseff&action=display&thread=1199

 

[coope1999]

Hi, Sammi.

I had already turned in for the night when you posted--just got this now, after checking on the birds and doing other morning duties.

Your questions:
-no other kinds of poultry; just (1) an attached coop with the brahma and ameraucana that they'd been bullying, in sight but out of beak range, and (2) another, separate coop of red sex links in their first year, who are as healthy and happy as can be
-no wheezing noticed at all, and I spend an awful lot of time at that coop, observing (should be doing other things, of course) :roll:
-I do not understand: what do you feel is wrong with her droppings? Do you think that cakey yellow stuff around her vent may be poop, not encrusted dried egg? Her poop that I've seen her pass, and that which I've inferred was hers because it was under where she was sleeping, are textbook normal, as per Aunt Sally's Poo Page. Everyone's is. How much better than normal can they be?
-I have no poultry-specific medication on hand, as I have had no problems to deal with worse than feather-picking, for which I gave them a supplement of high-protein dog kibble; problem solved before the Blu-Kote I ordered arrived at the feed store.
-I will go tonight with flashlight and towel, and give her a rude surprise. (Then a treat to follow the trick.)

My observation of her this morning: healthy appetite, active, just this low-body awkward walk, sometimes sideways, quite different from her peers who walk erect and with confidence. She goes up the ramp slowly, perhaps unsure whether her steps will carry her up or over the edge. Reminds me of an unfortunate I saw in Downtown Eastside who had apparently ingested a nerve-affecting substance for recreation: abnormal and exaggerated movements. Her crop does seem fairly pronounced, but that may because the feathers haven't grown back, and as I say, she has a healthy appetite.


Eggs4Sale, I will read your link and see how it may relate. Thank you for it!

Did you ever find the cause? I have the exact same issues with one of mine now.