Auddenly dead chicken and uncurable "vent gleet"

[hoeftam]

Hello,

I walked out to the coop and found our bantam cochin dead. She was previously healthy with no signs of illness. She was fine earlier today and acting normally. I inspected her and noticed possible "egg sacs" in and around her vent. I attached photos for reference. Is this fly strike? Do I need to do anything for the remaining 6 chickens?

I also have a chicken who has had "vent gleet" for years. We have tried treating with Epsom salt soaks, probiotics, and antifungal on her vent. It never clears up. Now another chicken appears to be having the same thing happen. (Dirty tail feathers, bare butt, dirty/weeping vent). What can I do? Is this related?

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
●Bantam cochin normal size and weight
●Lavender orpington smaller than other lavender orpington
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
●both had/have normal behavior
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
●NO symptoms for now dead cochin bantam, she just died
●symptoms in lavender orpington for years
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
●no others have egg sacs or maggots, 2 others have dirty butts/weeping vents
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
●no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
●for both birds nothing happened and nothing is/was different
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
●Normal feed (country flock), oyster shells, grit, occasional fruits/veggies/meal worms, water
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
●as fas as I can tell, the dead cochin had normal poop, the lavender orpington appears to have loose stool and always has
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
●For the dead bantam, nothing because she died unexpectedly
●for the mavender orpington, epsom salt soaks, anti-fungal cream, probiotics
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
●treat myself (I am a nurse)
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
●woof shavings and sand in the coop, mulch, dirt, and grass clippings in the run. We have a shade sail and a large dogwood tree for shade.

Images included are of dead chicken. I have another thread for the orpington with the vent issue with her photos.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Yep, that's fly eggs. It will always happen this time of year very quickly as soon as a bird dies, for whatever reason. It's nature's way of taking out the trash.
If it were me, I would refrigerate the bird and send it for an avian necropsy that will tell the cause of death.
You have two choices. I would use the university. Call them and they may send you a FedEx label for the shipment unless you are close enough to hand carry. You can go to the lab website and likely find instructions on packing. Don't freeze. But keep it cool. Freezer packs in the box will help tremendously during the trip.
They likely have someone on call 24/7.
There are lots of things that can cause sudden death, so a complete examination is warranted.

Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
University of Wisconsin-Madison
445 Easterday Lane
Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1253
Phone: 608-262-5432 ext. 2227

USGS National Wildlife Health Center
6006 Schroeder Road
Madison, Wisconsin 53711-2531
Phone: 608-270-2400

What kind of probiotic did you use for the vent gleet bird?

 

[hoeftam]

Yep, that's fly eggs. It will always happen this time of year very quickly as soon as a bird dies, for whatever reason. It's nature's way of taking out the trash.
If it were me, I would refrigerate the bird and send it for an avian necropsy that will tell the cause of death.
You have two choices. I would use the university. Call them and they may send you a FedEx label for the shipment unless you are close enough to hand carry. You can go to the lab website and likely find instructions on packing. Don't freeze. But keep it cool. Freezer packs in the box will help tremendously during the trip.
They likely have someone on call 24/7.
There are lots of things that can cause sudden death, so a complete examination is warranted.

Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
University of Wisconsin-Madison
445 Easterday Lane
Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1253
Phone: 608-262-5432 ext. 2227

USGS National Wildlife Health Center
6006 Schroeder Road
Madison, Wisconsin 53711-2531
Phone: 608-270-2400

What kind of probiotic did you use for the vent gleet bird?

I cannot remember what we used, it was over a year ago. We treated with a few rounds of lotrimin with no improvement. It appears that 3/6 of my birds have a dirty backside and the 1 has pretty significant vent gleet for 2 years that will not heal. She is still laying. I don't know how to help her.

 

[hoeftam]

Here's a photo of the lavender orpington from last year. She looks pretty similar to this photo but has less feathers now.