[kristy]

Hi All,

A month ago one of my chickens prolapsed and i washed her bottom, put honey on it and pushed the prolapse back in. She stopped laying for a while then managed a few eggs but now she has stopped again and her comb and wattles have become pale and a little smaller than usual. Her rear now seems to be leaking a pale cream/grey watery paste/substance continually which is making her bottom feathers dripping wet every day. She is still eating (layer pellets, some regular greens and corn as a treat) but she seems a little quiet and not as energetic as usual. She has been recently wormed with Verm-X. Her droppings look normal. I've putting poultry spice in her food and poultry tonic in her water.

Does anyone know what this could be or how i could make her better?

Kristy

[kristy]

Oh, i should add that this hen has a habit of regularly eating the feathers off the other birds. Not sure if that could be something to do with it? Since she has been unwell she has stopped doing this though.

[Tania B]

Sounds to me like she's got an infection which could have been caused by an egg rupturing inside her.

It might be worth trying to flush her vent out with warm olive oil to try and remove whatever has been left behind. It will probably mean she needs a course of antibiotics too but if she's going downhill fairly quickly (and it sounds like she is now), it may be too late bearing in mind she's had a prolapse before. I hope I'm wrong though.

If you have a poultry friendly vet nearby, it may be worth taking her as soon as you can.

[kristy]

Update.. my hen is now off her food, not completely but she is only snacking now and then. Also her droppings have changed, they are mostly a clear and watery substance with small white liquid blobs and small yellow liquid blobs in.

I tried some warm olive oil on her vent but havn't seen any improvement and didn't see any broken bits of shell. I'm reluctant to take her to the vet as we live in an urban area, our vet doesn't specialise in farm animals and it could be a very expensive visit! I'll give a few more home remedies a go if anyone can suggest some?

[gamefowlman]

I would say she is also calcium deficient. Sounds like egg peritonitis.

[Tania B]

I agree with GFM. Peritonitis.

There aren't any home remedies for this I'm afraid. http://www.poultrychat.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif

[chickenmum]

Egg peritonitis I'm afraid. Nothing can be done for her except put her out of her misery before it gets too bad. Sorry, not the news you needed I know. xx

[kristy]

Oh dear... no, thats not what i wanted to hear.

Strangely her comb and wattles are much redder now than they were but she still has a leaking vent and is eating a little but not much. Still no eggs either.

I'm keeping a close eye on her and if she starts going down hill again i'll have to step in but today she is looking a little brighter than she was.

Thanks for your help everyone.