Recovering hen will not eat layer pellets.

One of my girls appeared to have vent gleet. I isolated her in a dog crate in the shed for a week, keeping it dark but so she could see enough to eat. I fed her scrambled egg, bio yoghurt a little cheese in an effort to give her protein. After a week I put the dog crate in the run so she has company. She is still having the food mentioned but also has water and pellets in the run. At one time she seemed to be eating a few and drinking a little but now she does not eat the pellets even when I mix them with water to make mash. I have given her a small amount of porridge made with water and try to mix in some crushed pellets and grit with that. She is not
laying at the moment, although she did lay an egg the second day of her isolation, and a shell-less egg a couple of days later. I am not concerned about her not laying yet, and the gleet condition is now a lot better, but I am concerned about her not eating her pellets as she will not be getting all the nutrients she needs. Any advice would be very welcome. Thank you.

You could try putting the pellets in yogurt.

terrysgirls322 said:

One of my girls appeared to have vent gleet. I isolated her in a dog crate in the shed for a week, keeping it dark but so she could see enough to eat. I fed her scrambled egg, bio yoghurt a little cheese in an effort to give her protein. After a week I put the dog crate in the run so she has company. She is still having the food mentioned but also has water and pellets in the run. At one time she seemed to be eating a few and drinking a little but now she does not eat the pellets even when I mix them with water to make mash. I have given her a small amount of porridge made with water and try to mix in some crushed pellets and grit with that. She is not
laying at the moment, although she did lay an egg the second day of her isolation, and a shell-less egg a couple of days later. I am not concerned about her not laying yet, and the gleet condition is now a lot better, but I am concerned about her not eating her pellets as she will not be getting all the nutrients she needs. Any advice would be very welcome. Thank you.

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Hi Welcome To BYC

Is her crop emptying overnight?
How did you treat the gleet?

You can try giving her some chick starter or a flock raiser formula as well. Offer her some poultry vitamins in her water or direct dose her with something like Poultry Nutri-Drench (1cc per 3lbs).

Chopped egg, tuna, mackerel or meat are also good to give when they are not feeling well.

Since she is laying shell-less eggs try upping her calcium intake, you can offer liquid calcium (usual dosage is 1cc per day or whatever the bottle recommends) or give her 1/2tab of Caltrate until she starts laying normally. Offer oyster shell free choice and don't mix poultry grit (crushed granite) with the feed - offer it free choice as well.

Since she is having trouble with vent gleet and laying eggs, she may be developing an internal laying/reproductive disorder like Egg Yolk Peritonitis, Salpingitis, Ascites, cancer or tumors.

Do the best you can, if you have a vet that can test a fresh poop sample for Cocci, worms and bacterial infection that would be a good idea as well.

Keep us posted.

Thank you very much for your help. I have tried mixing whole pellets and crushed ones with yoghurt and she does eat it but it is not really enough. There is very little in her crop at night although I do give her mixed corn in the evening, which she eats. I've tried mixing the pellets with warm water, which she hardly touches, and today I mixed a little bit of grated cheese with the mash and she tried a bit of it but not much.
She will eat strawberries, cucumber, tomatoes and greens, and also bio yoghurt and cheese. I'm wondering if she won't eat pellets because she now has a taste for only treats. I will try your other suggestions though. She doesn't seem to be drinking either, but she is alert and looks like she really wants to be out of the crate. I think the others, one in particular, may bully her if I let her out into the run even for a short time while I sit in with them.

Treating the gleet - I was washing her with mild soap and very warm water, drying her and then applying anti-fungal cream like canestan. The white substance she is losing seems to be less than it was, but is still happening, and she is trying to clean herself. I have not washed her for a couple of days, partly because I have to do it in my bathroom and I have two toy poodles who make a lot of noise when I bring her in and I am afraid it may be stressing her.

terrysgirls322 said:

Thank you very much for your help. I have tried mixing whole pellets and crushed ones with yoghurt and she does eat it but it is not really enough. There is very little in her crop at night although I do give her mixed corn in the evening, which she eats. I've tried mixing the pellets with warm water, which she hardly touches, and today I mixed a little bit of grated cheese with the mash and she tried a bit of it but not much.
She will eat strawberries, cucumber, tomatoes and greens, and also bio yoghurt and cheese. I'm wondering if she won't eat pellets because she now has a taste for only treats. I will try your other suggestions though. She doesn't seem to be drinking either, but she is alert and looks like she really wants to be out of the crate. I think the others, one in particular, may bully her if I let her out into the run even for a short time while I sit in with them.

Treating the gleet - I was washing her with mild soap and very warm water, drying her and then applying anti-fungal cream like canestan. The white substance she is losing seems to be less than it was, but is still happening, and she is trying to clean herself. I have not washed her for a couple of days, partly because I have to do it in my bathroom and I have two toy poodles who make a lot of noise when I bring her in and I am afraid it may be stressing her.

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It's possible that she is holding out for tastier treats than pellets they learn quickly.

I don't know where you are keeping the crate, but you may want to place it in the run so the flock can become familiar with her again. This sometimes helps with integrating a sick chicken back into the flock. More than likely she will be bullied a bit once you start integration - that's just the natural order of things, but hen's can really be snotty at times. There are quite a few articles here on BYC about integration, you may want to take a look at those for some tips and ideas that may fit your situation.

Gleet can take a while to overcome, it sounds like you are treating it well. You may want to add some Apple Cider Vinegar (with the Mother) to her water to see if that helps as well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock

Thank you very much for your reply. It helps being able to talk to others about these problems. I put the crate in the run with the other hens a week ago, after being in the shed for a week. I have been adding apple cider vinegar to her water, although, as I say, I'm not sure she is drinking much as the level doesn't seem different to when I put the daily fresh water in (what is the Mother?). I gave her some sardines this morning, which she tried, and some yoghurt and some corn. I will try to get some poultry vitamins as suggested. I have looked at articles regarding re-integration and they have been useful. I will keep looking for any new ones. Thanks again .

terrysgirls322 said:

Thank you very much for your reply. It helps being able to talk to others about these problems. I put the crate in the run with the other hens a week ago, after being in the shed for a week. I have been adding apple cider vinegar to her water, although, as I say, I'm not sure she is drinking much as the level doesn't seem different to when I put the daily fresh water in (what is the Mother?). I gave her some sardines this morning, which she tried, and some yoghurt and some corn. I will try to get some poultry vitamins as suggested. I have looked at articles regarding re-integration and they have been useful. I will keep looking for any new ones. Thanks again .

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I'm glad she is trying her food

Apple Cider Vinegar with "the Mother" is raw, unpasteurized vinegar that contains beneficial yeast and bacteria.

Here's what one brand looks like:
http://bragg.com/products/bragg-organic-apple-cider-vinegar.html

If interested you can make your own, but the article also details some of the benefits of ACV:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/07/make-raw-apple-cider-vinegar-acv-with.html

Thank you so much for your interest and help. My AVC with garlic is from Global Herbs and is not quite the same as the one you suggest. I will need some more very soon so will get some of the Braggs. Dot, my sick hen - she is a speckled maran, hence the name - seems to be improving. I gave her a sardine at 6am when I opened the coop for the others and when I checked later she had
eaten it. I'm now giving her poultry spice and have ordered some nutri drops which will hopefully arrive in a few days. She drank half her small pot of water with acv yesterday. She also laid an egg. It was a little blood smeared and had some of the white stuff on it (urates?) but I'm guessing that shows everything is working properly. I wonder if it is ok to eat although it doesn't look very appetising! I don't know if it is good for her to lay just now but I don't know how to discourage her other than keeping her in the dark, which I don't want to do unless it is really necessary. She is alert now and enjoying her treats, and also eating some chick crumb - still not interested in her pellets. It's been a long two weeks, but I think there is a way to go yet. However, if she gets well it will be worth it. Thanks again.

terrysgirls322 said:

Thank you so much for your interest and help. My AVC with garlic is from Global Herbs and is not quite the same as the one you suggest. I will need some more very soon so will get some of the Braggs. Dot, my sick hen - she is a speckled maran, hence the name - seems to be improving. I gave her a sardine at 6am when I opened the coop for the others and when I checked later she had
eaten it. I'm now giving her poultry spice and have ordered some nutri drops which will hopefully arrive in a few days. She drank half her small pot of water with acv yesterday. She also laid an egg. It was a little blood smeared and had some of the white stuff on it (urates?) but I'm guessing that shows everything is working properly. I wonder if it is ok to eat although it doesn't look very appetising! I don't know if it is good for her to lay just now but I don't know how to discourage her other than keeping her in the dark, which I don't want to do unless it is really necessary. She is alert now and enjoying her treats, and also eating some chick crumb - still not interested in her pellets. It's been a long two weeks, but I think there is a way to go yet. However, if she gets well it will be worth it. Thanks again.

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I'm glad to hear she is improving and eating some. The sardine and chick crumb sound great

If she hasn't laid in a while, having a small amount of blood on the egg can be normal, from the stretching of the vent. Offer her oyster shell free choice for extra calcium. I would think the egg is fine to eat, if it's just too unappetizing for you to swallow cook it up and feed it to back to her.

Staying hydrated is important, so drinking is very good as well.

I hope she continues to get well.

Hi - just a quick update. Dot seems a lot better and wanting to leave the crate. I bathed her again yesterday and removed some white discharge from her rear end which had hardened a bit so was a bit tricky to remove but managed in the end. I tried her with some layers mash but she was not really interested. She does eat some chick crumb and is drinking a lot more now. I think she may be almost over the vent gleet - hope so - as there does not seem to be much on her rear end now . However yesterday and today she laid a shell-less egg. She does have access to bird grit and a separate pot of oyster shell but I suspect she needs some extra calcium and that vit D in the supplement will help absorb the calcium. I'm looking on Amazon to see what might be best. The nutri drops seem to have boosted her and after five days of those I'm now giving her poultry spice again. I will now read again some of the articles about re-integration with the other hens but I suspect a lot of patience will be needed :-(.