[andreadon]

Felicity's got a pooey petticoat.

She's not normally a fluffy chicken, and she hasn't had her usual moult.
So I decided to clean it.
It looks like she's got a bit clagged up and the skin is red, and while I was cleaning it, I noticed there's a hole in the skin, below the cloaca.
Weirdly, the hole doesn't look red or sore or like it's anything other than a hole.
But hens only have one hole, so I'm concerned it's a sore.
We have to wait until Monday to ring the vet because they're closed on Saturday.

I've never seen this kind of thing before, and it's so confusing that it doesn't look sore.
I'm hoping it's just a gap in the feathers, making it look like a hole

[New shoot]

It could be an abscess which has burst and drained itself.  That might have been was some of the mess was on her rear end 

[grinling]

Are the other hens pestering her? If so isolate her if you haven't got purple spray.
There has been lots of flies, so a dirty bottom attracts them.
Warm salty water might help to clean the area

[andreadon]

Thanks for your replies.

We took her over to the vet today, and he didn't mention it, so I think it must have been a gap in the feather clump.
Very odd.

But she had definitely taken a turn for the worse yesterday.  Today we got her an appointment for 4:30 and by the time that came round it looks like she'd hardly eaten all day, when she sat on the vet's table she wouldn't support her own weight (making a claw).
He said he could feel a lump which could be a tumour or could be a stuck egg.
So we've had her put down.
he said he could give antibiotics but it probably wouldn't work, and that she seemed in pain.
And apparently they're not allowed to give baytril anymore!

It wasn't fun explaining the process to littledon - we told her they'd put her to sleep and then she'll die when she's asleep.

The lady at the desk gave her a little butterfly on a card, that had seeds in it, so she sowed that this evening.

[New shoot]

It is never great, but you did the best thing for her and that is what counts. 

They mask illness, so a hen in the state you describe is really not doing well at all    The vet probably took one look and thought that a swift painless end was by far the kindest thing to do. 

[andreadon]

Yeah.
That's the thing I hate most about hens.
If they'd just tell us they're poorly we'd be able to do something about it!

[andreadon]

I did feel sorry for the vet though.
he and I had to have unspoken conversation basically through eye contact because dd was in there too.