Continuous Vent Gleet

[Chickymommy45]

Hi all!

Earlier this year we lost our Black Australorp to a very bad case of vent gleet and starvation (she stopped eating).

Since then the 3 remaining hens have all come down with vent gleet about once a month or every 6 weeks. We bathe them, treat with an athletes foot cream, clean the coop thoroughly, and hand feed the ones that won't eat.

Recently, my Rhode Island Red, the crazy one of the bunch, has taken ill and she is having a harder time recovering. She's refusing most food and I've given her electrolyte water to help. She's drinking a lot and her crop feels like it's mostly water and not food.

The thing that gets me is it keeps coming back! I'm unsure how my chickens keep getting vent gleet and what in the world could be moldy that they are eating. So a few questions:

1. Is Vent Gleet just endemic to my backyard now?
2. How do I prophetically treat for this? Apple cider vinegar? They don't like yogurt (we tried that)
3. What random things could be causing the continuous infections?
4. If they do lay during the infection, should we toss those eggs?
5. Should I be treating everyone for the infection or just the affected bird?

I work in the veterinary field, but surprisingly very little research has been done in this area. Thanks everyone for thoughts!

 

[theoldchick]

Since you work in the veterinary field, I suggest you talk to an avian vet or a zoo vet. The first thing to do would be to evaluate the conditions (lack of ventilation causing ammonia build up in the coop) and diet. The second would be to evaluate the birds. Basic medicine is basic medicine. Get a culture of the infected area to see exactly what you are dealing with. You most likely have a mixed infection of all kind of opportunists just waiting to latch on your hens. So you need know what your hens got to effectively treat it. If you are washing the birds, make sure they are completely dry, and cut back a few feathers to increase air circulation to that area. I've also heard a suggestion about a genetic component in these chronic cases. I've also heard whispers about autoimmune factors. I have a hen who is also a chronic gleet gal. Her sister was too. The sister prolapsed her vent and was culled. This one, however, has managed to tolerate antifungal spray to her nether regions (she actually likes it) and sanitary clips on a routine basis. She's six years old, now and is showing signs of age, but she's a trooper!

Good luck!

 

[Chickymommy45]

Hey a fellow equestrian chicken chick too- LOVE IT.

Thank you for the advice! I wondered about a genetic component since my RIR has had runny poo her whole life. Our lab actually used her butt swabs last time she had an infection as a trial for our culturing methods. They did grow a fungus and some other bacteria. I'll ask them if they can run a sensitivity test on it. It's nice to have an in house micro facility!

I didn't consider the air circulation to their coop. It does seem a bit stuffy in there. It's a conventional design but perhaps it needs more windows? Or we can leave the door open at night (it's in a run, which is in an enclosure) to help facilitate air flow.

Avian vets are harder to find but if anyone can do it I bet I can! Their diet has been relatively the same since peeper-hood (except now they get calcium). We put a cover on their feeder so it can't get wet when it rains and when food does drop out, we get rid of it or cover it with shavings to dry it up.

I'm doing another butt check tonight. The things we do for our birds!

 

[NicoleSmith06]

I know you posted this years ago but wondering if you had any follow up success/information/learning experience with flock vent gleet? I am going through the same situation right now. I have 3 leghorns, 3 years old with vent gleet. I have been soaking and cleaning SID, cleaning and treating with Canesten cream BID for 1 week now and no improvement with any of them. They are getting Apple cider vinegar in water, probiotic yogurt in the morning, garlic granules in their sipper bottles. I have started the worst case hen on Metronidazole but still not seeing any improvement. They are all happy, eating well, drinking, laying so I'm stumped. I'm looking for any information on what helped and what didn't. I love my ladies and want to help them the best I can. Thank you!!!