Poorly Ex-Batt.. Any idea?

[Sandrine]

Hi all,
One of my friends has recently re-homed some ex-batts chickens and one of them is a little poorly. She's asked me if I had any ideas based on the photo attached, but I don't really as I have not had ex-batts before nor poorly chickens as such ... I asked her if there was anything else odd with the chicken and she said that her head goes down. They thought it was a prolapsed maybe? Again never heard of that... Have you got any ideas yourself? Would you isolate her for a few days to keep a better eye on her, see if she eats and drinks ok, etc,...?

 

[bigyetiman]

The only prolapses I have seen are pretty bloody, that looks like a large faecal mass, unless their is a prolapse lurking under the muck. Best thing would be to try and clean the area gently and see what lurks beneath. I haven't seen anything like this, I am sure someone else may have. Sorry I can't be more help

 

[Marigold]

Unlikely to be infectious, I would think, so it might be best not to isolate her as she will be having enough problems fitting in to such a different environment and a new flock - unless the other hens are pecking at the sore spot, in which case, isolate immediately. Definitely clean up her back end with warm water and cut off all the dirty matted feathers, then it should be possible to see if she has a prolapse or is tending that way. I would then treat the area with purple disinfectant spray, especially If there is an open sore or any inner membranes are protruding. If it’s a full prolapse I think the kindest thing is to have her PTS as she is very unlikely to recover.
What does she look like from the front? Eyes? Nostrils? Is she feeding and drinking? Does she want to sit down in a corner or is she active? We really need more details and pics if we are going to be able to help.

 

[Sandrine]

Thank you both very much I have passed the info on to my friend. I will keep you posted... or maybe come bac k with a few more questions,...! Thank you again

 

[Sandrine]

additional info from my friend:
The back one is the poorly hen, we haven’t seen her sit down but they are busy walking around in the day and at night she is in the coop with the others and they all snuggle up. She doesn't wander around as much as the others and stays near the coop

 

[Marigold]

Sounds as If she’s hanging on in there for the time being. Would your friend like to send more pics once she has cleaned her up and removed the mess, and tell us what she has found?
(Or she’s welcome to register on here and speak for herself of course!)

 

[Marigold]

Forgot to ask, what’s her pooing like?

 

[chrismahon]

Looking at the photograph it's possible she is just bunged up with a solid plug of poo, probably stuck to feathers. Needs to be washed/ soaked away and her rear cleaned up immediately. Could be poo is rotting inside her and she is egg bound.

It's not a prolapse and as said it's best not to isolate her as it isn't infectious and re-introducing her will be problematic.

 

[Sandrine]

Sounds as If she’s hanging on in there for the time being. Would your friend like to send more pics once she has cleaned her up and removed the mess, and tell us what she has found?
(Or she’s welcome to register on here and speak for herself of course!)

Thank you Marigold I have sent her the link so she'll probably register at some point I have mentioned that you are all a very friendly and helpful bunch in this forum ;-)

 

[Sandrine]

Forgot to ask, what’s her pooing like?

I am told that it is very runny

 

[Marigold]

So if the lump of poo does come away when washed and shows no vent abnormality underneath, then it’s caused by an accumulation of runny poo dried on into a lump stuck to her feathers. Which would suggest some kind of digestive infection or upset.

How long ago did your friend get these exbatts? I just wonder whether they have arrived in the last few days, so the mess might have been developing for some time, or whether it has been gradually accumulating over the past week or so in her new home?
If she was clean on arrival, it might be reaction to the trauma of change of environment upsetting her immune system, resulting in an infection getting hold because her resistance was low. Is she being fed on layers mash? Or could she have eaten anything to upset her digestion?

 

[Sandrine]

I am not entirely sure when they got them, but I would have thought either yesterday or within this week at least, for them to realise there was something not quite right with this one in comparison to the others.
I will pass on your comments again. Hopefully they'll be joining us soon in the forum and can add any further information themselves ;-)

 

[Sandrine]

Message from my friend:
"Will join the group later but outside doing stuff, she been with us a week and she came like this. We going to have a go shortly at sorting her. We feeding them on fresh stuff and sweet corn anything they not used to having. Other 3 are doing really well and one already has her feathers coming back"

 

[Marigold]

I’m glad the others are doing well. I would lay off the variety of food ATM and just feed what they’ve been used to having, and if they’re allowed out in the garden just whatever they find for themselves. As they will only ever have had layers mash previously, a variety of totally new foods may be upsetting the poorly one, so maybe it would be good to introduce new foods more gradually?

And worm them all with Flubenvet? It’s more than likely they’ve never been wormed, just left to lay as many eggs as possible before becoming uneconomic in the farmer’s terms. A worm burden could be contributing to her problems and they will certainly be coming from a crowded environment where worms are likely to be present in large numbers.
See https://poultrykeeper.com/general-chickens/worming-chickens/

And this page may be helpful too:
https://poultrykeeper.com/digestive-system-problems/diarrhoea-backyard-chickens/

 

[Sandrine]

They're still sorting the garden out so not yet registered, so still playing messenger lol but I don't mind,...
They've cleaned her up and the photos attached shows the "after"... Poor thing,.... I am not too squeamish normally but I have to say that it pains me to look at the photos. It looks quite sore to me,...

 

[Marigold]

Are you sure it's totally clean? I know its a difficult job with a struggling hen but from the pics it looks as if there's still some bits of poo on there. If not poo what are the grey patches? When it's definitely perfectly clean, she could try treating it with Sudocreme (soothing, for nappy rash) if it looks sore but the skin isn't broken. If no sudocreme available, maybe use a simple unperfumed moisture cream, eg aqueous cream, to soothe the skin and make it easier to do any further cleanup jobs if needed. The skin looks redder than in the earlier pic but this may be just because its been bathed and scrubbed and now has extra blood flow.

If the dark red patch at the bottom is an open sore area then it will need purple spray. As well as being antiseptic, it will help camouflage it so the other birds are less likely to peck at it.
What do other people think - from these pics, is this a prolapse? It does appear to be a large red lump protruding from her vent, especially in the second photo in profile. Does your friend know if she has laid at all since she arrived?

 

[Sandrine]

I thought that as well... I don't think they quite got it fully. Or I thought could it be the skin that is affected, I mean you know like humans have eczema or other skin conditions that make skin go very dry and scaly ???
It'll be much easier to discuss once they manage to register and join us here

 

[Marigold]

Very much better, anyway. Let’s hope a second soak tomorrow will get it completely clean and disinfected, then it will be possible to see what is actually under there, and also what amount and kind of poo she’s doing.
Poor girl. They must have been kept in shocking conditions at the farm. I expect she had been troubled by this problem for some time. Have your friends had chickens before, and is this their first lot of exbatts? I feel that people adopting exbatts as their first hens do sometimes find they’ve accidentally signed up to a crash course in advanced chicken keeping!

 

[Sandrine]

Same hen today... Looking much better already and her head up by the looks of it...

 

[bigyetiman]

That looks much better, from the previous pictures it did look like a prolapse. Let's hope she continues to improve. She must feel a lot better for being cleaned up and being able to poop normally
Just tell your friends to keep a close eye on her in case anything "pops" out and have the purple spray to hand.
Talk about in at the deep end for them.