Are my chickens dying from "Gleet"?

[duckienae]

Yellow-ish white stuff is oozing from the chicken's vent. We have a mixed flock of laying hens, four of which are Americanas. One of those Americanas had this stuff oozing from her vent - we looked it up, deduced it must be gleet, which we understand to be a yeast infection, but didn't catch it in time - she died a few days later. Now another of our Americana's has it. We cleaned her girly parts, gently douched her with vinegar water, isolated her from the flock, put a little vinegar in her water, gave her yogurt with grubs to eat... She's lethargic, uninterested in food. What is this? What can be done? And are Americana's prone to it, or is it just a coincidence that the next to get it was also an Americana?

 

[staceyj]

Monistat vaginal yeast medicine cream.

Give 1 inch orally (they seem to like it) twice a day for 5-7 days. Also clean butts and apply in and around the vent.

Ditto for the rooster if you have one because they can spread it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yellow-ish white stuff is oozing from the chicken's vent. We have a mixed flock of laying hens, four of which are Americanas. One of those Americanas had this stuff oozing from her vent - we looked it up, deduced it must be gleet, which we understand to be a yeast infection, but didn't catch it in time - she died a few days later. Now another of our Americana's has it. We cleaned her girly parts, gently douched her with vinegar water, isolated her from the flock, put a little vinegar in her water, gave her yogurt with grubs to eat... She's lethargic, uninterested in food. What is this? What can be done? And are Americana's prone to it, or is it just a coincidence that the next to get it was also an Americana?

Welcome To BYC.
Can you please post some photos of the discharge, your hen and her poop?
When was the last time she laid an egg? Have all of her eggs been normal?
What type of food/treats do you feed?
Is the discharge yeasty smelling or does it smell like infection?

Feel her abdomen for bloat/swelling or feeling of fluid. Tell us what the crop feels like too - any sour smell, hard, soft, full, air or fluid filled, empty, etc.

 

[duckienae]

Monistat vaginal yeast medicine cream.

Give 1 inch orally (they seem to like it) twice a day for 5-7 days. Also clean butts and apply in and around the vent.

Ditto for the rooster if you have one because they can spread it.

Really? Monistat? FEED it to them? Well, okay - supposing that is really a thing, how do you propose I do that? The chicken I’ve suffering from this won’t eat or drink anything. She may well be dead by morning. And we only discovered the problem 2 days ago! Does this not seem weird for gleet?

 

[duckienae]

Welcome To BYC.
Can you please post some photos of the discharge, your hen and her poop?
When was the last time she laid an egg? Have all of her eggs been normal?
What type of food/treats do you feed?
Is the discharge yeasty smelling or does it smell like infection?

Feel her abdomen for bloat/swelling or feeling of fluid. Tell us what the crop feels like too - any sour smell, hard, soft, full, air or fluid filled, empty, etc.

Well, if she’s still alive in the morning, I’ll take pictures. Yes, it smells faintly of yeast. I have no idea when she last laid an egg - we have four that lay the same color egg and not all of them lay every day. No way to know whose egg is who’s. She feels like a chicken. As we don’t go around fondling our girls on a regular basis, I haven’t got a really solid baseline with which to compare. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!

 

[staceyj]

Good morning.
Please provide hydration to your hen. Water to the beak. Drop by drop. It’ll roll down and into her mouth. Let her swallow.
How long has it been since she’s eaten?
Scrambled eggs are often tempting to them.

I am not a doctor.
Can you take her to a vet?
A vet can exam, diagnose and treat your animal.

I can only make suggestions based on my own experiences and self education about poultry.

You have not posted any pictures.
Pictures of the bird in its current state are incredibly helpful. Her backend with the discharge. Also pictures of their poop.

What do they get to eat normally? Do you provide oyster shell? Grit?
It all tells a story.

You hen might be laying internally. She might be laying shell-less eggs. Or, she might be suffering from an overwhelming yeast infection.

Yes, if I was fairly certain my hen had gleet I would feed the monistat to her. It is an anti fungal. Probably doesn’t taste as minty as toothpaste, but probably not as fishy as anchovy paste either. If I knew it would help, I'd figure out a way to get it into her even if I had to smear it on the tip of her beak, drop by drop.

So in summary on that,
Vaginal yeast infection medicine.
By mouth.
Yup.

Next.
It’s not Fondling.
It’s called a physical examination.
Again we are trying to assist you in figuring out your birds problem because you came here asking for help.

Birds with reproductive diseases or problems with shell formation can develop very bloated bellies. It can make them walk funny.
It makes them very sick.
The outcome for these problems are not very good.

The only way for most people to assess this condition is to cup their hand under the abdomen to see if it feels “normal” such as in comparison to their other birds or rather like a water ballon about to pop.

A “vent check” or “internal exam” is also not “fondling” but it might be in your near future in order to check for a broken egg. You can probably guess what this means.

Wash your hands. Glove up. Lubricate. Gently feel 1 1/2 inches inside the birds vent for evidence of a broken or stuck egg.

Let me know your findings.
I hope today is a better day for you and your hen.

 

[duckienae]

Good morning.
Please provide hydration to your hen. Water to the beak. Drop by drop. It’ll roll down and into her mouth. Let her swallow.
How long has it been since she’s eaten?
Scrambled eggs are often tempting to them.

I am not a doctor.
Can you take her to a vet?
A vet can exam, diagnose and treat your animal.

I can only make suggestions based on my own experiences and self education about poultry.

You have not posted any pictures.
Pictures of the bird in its current state are incredibly helpful. Her backend with the discharge. Also pictures of their poop.

What do they get to eat normally? Do you provide oyster shell? Grit?
It all tells a story.

You hen might be laying internally. She might be laying shell-less eggs. Or, she might be suffering from an overwhelming yeast infection.

Yes, if I was fairly certain my hen had gleet I would feed the monistat to her. It is an anti fungal. Probably doesn’t taste as minty as toothpaste, but probably not as fishy as anchovy paste either. If I knew it would help, I'd figure out a way to get it into her even if I had to smear it on the tip of her beak, drop by drop.

So in summary on that,
Vaginal yeast infection medicine.
By mouth.
Yup.

Next.
It’s not Fondling.
It’s called a physical examination.
Again we are trying to assist you in figuring out your birds problem because you came here asking for help.

Birds with reproductive diseases or problems with shell formation can develop very bloated bellies. It can make them walk funny.
It makes them very sick.
The outcome for these problems are not very good.

The only way for most people to assess this condition is to cup their hand under the abdomen to see if it feels “normal” such as in comparison to their other birds or rather like a water ballon about to pop.

A “vent check” or “internal exam” is also not “fondling” but it might be in your near future in order to check for a broken egg. You can probably guess what this means.

Wash your hands. Glove up. Lubricate. Gently feel 1 1/2 inches inside the birds vent for evidence of a broken or stuck egg.

Let me know your findings.
I hope today is a better day for you and your hen.

Thank you - you sound very knowledgeable. As for the fondling - I was being somewhat sarcastic. What I meant was, they’re not pets. I don’t pick them up on a regular basis, so I don’t have a good baseline for what they normally feel like. But, as I said in my original post, since she got sick, I have cleaned her parts, stuck a gloved finger up inside and swept for evidence of being egg-bound, which she is not and given her a vinegar water douche. I have also made her take water with electrolytes (made for chickens, from Tractor Supply) from a dropper and rubbed yogurt with grubs on the tip of her beak in an effort to get her to swallow. Like I said - I’ll post pictures today.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Really? Monistat? FEED it to them? Well, okay - supposing that is really a thing, how do you propose I do that? The chicken I’ve suffering from this won’t eat or drink anything. She may well be dead by morning. And we only discovered the problem 2 days ago! Does this not seem weird for gleet?

Well, if she’s still alive in the morning, I’ll take pictures. Yes, it smells faintly of yeast. I have no idea when she last laid an egg - we have four that lay the same color egg and not all of them lay every day. No way to know whose egg is who’s. She feels like a chicken. As we don’t go around fondling our girls on a regular basis, I haven’t got a really solid baseline with which to compare. Sorry I can’t be more helpful!

@duckienae where are you located in the world? (state/country)
I can help you look up an avian vet or your state lab - someone that can hopefully examine your hen for you.
I'm just not sure exactly what may be going on with your hen, but seeking vet care seems to be the most practical thing for you to do.

 

[duckienae]

@duckienae where are you located in the world? (state/country)
I can help you look up an avian vet or your state lab - someone that can hopefully examine your hen for you.
I'm just not sure exactly what may be going on with your hen, but seeking vet care seems to be the most practical thing for you to do.

We’re located in Poulsbo Washington.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We’re located in Poulsbo Washington.

You can search for Avian vets through Poultry DVM (link below). The other link is to your state lab, contact them for testing if you happen to lose her.
http://www.poultrydvm.com/poultry-vets.php
https://waddl.vetmed.wsu.edu/avian

Hopefully you can get some photos together - hen (whole body and vent including discharge and her poop)

Even if your chickens are not pets, it's part of general animal husbandry to be able to give them an examination. I understand you may have been wanting to be sarcastic over the "fondling" comment, but having a good basic understanding of what if normal will help you know when something is not. You have other chickens, so compare her to 2-3 that are currently healthy - there's your baseline for comparison.

You need to try to determine if she is suffering from Vent Gleet, a crop problem or reproductive issue - sometimes all these things can go together - she may have more than one problem going on - one thing leads to another.

It's very important to get her hydrated.
I would not give her another douche, that's just flushing bacteria and/or yeast back into the oviduct.
Give her another exam - feel the abdomen - is it bloated/swollen or does it feel like it has fluid in it. Cup your hand and feel between the legs below the vent. Compare her to another couple of hens.
Is her crop empty? Is she pooping? What do you feed?