My eco solution to rat problems

[xChicken04x]

Hi all, I just went to give the girls some tea and I noticed Gemma wasn't very interested in eating. I picked her up to give her a cuddle and checked her over, then I saw that her vent was dripping with blood .

It looks Ok other than the blood, there is no prolapse or cuts etc, it just looks a bit bruised. I have no idea what has caused this, the last few eggs she's laid has had a bit of blood on, but not an alarming amount. I don't think the girls are picking on her, she is very much the top chook and has been since we've had her (August 07.)

I have cleaned it with warm water and a tiny bit of dettol (the anti septic hand wash, not the surface cleaner.) It keeps bleeding though. I made her some porridge and put her in a cage lined with newspaper in our bathroom, so the other girls don't peck it. She has eaten most of her porridge and had some water with poultry tonic and olive oil.

She also keeps straining as if she needs to lay an egg, but all that comes out is blood .

I'm going to keep her in the cage tonight and probably tomorrow. She has a dark throw draped over to settle her.

 

Is there anything else I can do? Anyone know what's wrong with her?

 

xx

[chelsea]

oh dear, she doesnt sound too good does she, poor thing.

 

You have done the right thing by seperating her from the others as they would be attracted by the blood and she would be badly pecked.

 

I dont really know what is wrong with her im afraid, maybe she has an egg stuck and she is straining and bursting blood vessels? (a guess) or is this the starting of a prolapse?

 

If it were me I would call a vet in the morning. Keep her settled and comfy for now.

 

fingers crossed she is ok.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Oh dear, that doesn't sound great . Perhaps she's just straining to pass something . I hope she's OK tomorrow morning - if not, I would get her to the vet.

 

Keep us posted.

[JamesH]

Sounds like she might have an egg stuck, perhaps a soft one.

 

You've done the right thing bringing her into the warmth.

 

You could try sitting her in a bath of warm water, very warm. Hold her there in it a good 15 minutes, keeping it warm.

 

You could also try putting on a surgical or plastic glove if you have one and use your finger to put some vaseline/petroleum jelly/olive oil into her vent also. Don't try and use anything but your finger to do this. Be gentle and don't break any egg if you happen to feel one.

 

someone might have another suggestion, hope you can sort her out, i would go to the vets if she is no better in the morning.

[Egluntyne]

Sounds as if you are doing the right thing.

 

The vaseline tip is a good one.

[Lesley]

Yes, so is the warm water thing, particularly after the vaseline.

 

Definitely keep her away from the others and see if she needs to visit the Vet this morning.

[xChicken04x]

Hi all, thank you for your advice. I didn't get to thank you last night as I was busy with Gemma.

She seems Ok this morning, not as much blood. Her little botty is red and bruised though . She is still eating and taken full advantage of having a whole bowl of porridge to her self. She drank some of the tonic I made her which was sugar mixed with tonic, olive oil and plenty of water.

I have given her vent a full inspection, she had a piece of soft shell egg in there, so I held her over some hot water to steam it and it immediately popped out. I think that's what the problem was, but I worry about all the blood .

I put the cage in the girl's run so she could see her friends, Mischief (her best mate) never left her side. She started getting stressed out so I taken her out and she hopped staight up the ladder into the nesting box, I stayed with her for an hour and she came out but she didn't lay . I needed to go back in so I taken her back in with me. She can potter around quite happily and she's eating and drinking. So far she is Ok, the bleeding has stopped now, I'll take her to the vet if she starts bleeding again.

I forgot to mention, she has been a bit off with her laying recently. Last week she laid a softie, then she laid in the run (very unlike her, if she needs to lay then she will happily boot anyone out of the nesting box to make room for her self) and the last few eggs have had blood streaks on.

As I said, if she doesn't improve by this evening then I will take her to the vets, I couldn't go this morning as they where "packed with apointments"

 

xx

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Well, it's good news that something popped out. Fingers crossed that she'll recover quickly . Sounds like you're being a very good chicken mummy to me .

[JamesH]

Oh wow well done getting that egg out! She might be ok now. Keep the poultry tonic in the water for the iron to build her up.

[chelsea]

phew, i am so pleased to have logged on today and she's better now (It sounded quite worrying last night)

 

You are doing everything right, keep an eye on her and the longer you can keep her in with you (even if there is the teeniest amount of blood) she will be better seperate.

[xChicken04x]

Awwww, thank you all, the support is fantastic.

Gemma is still Ok, she is a bit subdued though, her vent is looking better. Now the blood has gone and I've managed to have a better look, it just looks normal apart from a bit of bruising. I think it started bleeding about an hour before I noticed it, no longer as I was out with the girls before that. The others may have given her a peck (which do look slightly suspicious) and caused the bruising.

Don't worry, Gemma will be staying in the house for as long as she needs too. I only put her in the run today to see her friends and she spent most of the time in the nesting box . As soon as I needed to go in, she came with me. As much as she is top chook, I wouldn't trust the others to not gang up on her.

I have put her in her basket to roost now, she had her tea (pasta with sweet corn and peas) and a good drink of tonic and water. I have draped a dark throw over the basket to keep it dark for her and filled the basket with shredded paper.

 

Thank you again for all your support everyone, very much appreciated.

 

xxx

[Fur 'n' Feathers]

Just logged on after 3 weeks off to find this post (having kitchen gutted & rebuilt).

 

Glad that all's okay. We're assuming that there is a full recovery now?

 

We had a similar problem with Krasi's vent at the beginning of our leave 3 weeks ago and were glad we were at home to deal with it. It wasn't a soft shell but we think it was a little haemorhage. We'we have been feeding limestone flour to reduce the risk of softies as she had been prone to this. The bleed came a week into laying full-time and with increased egg weight. We guess her muscles have had to buck up a bit.

 

No problems now, but it did involve a wash & blow dry (Feathers now has "Chicken Vent Stylist" added to her CV! ).

 

We were concerned at the time as to what we would do if there was anything else and reading this has been very helpful.

 

By the way, aren't they funny when you use the hair-drier. Krasi was quite relaxed & enjoying it and helped with the occasional preen. She's been very easy to handle since this, almost as if she knows we can do her good.