Fully resolving vent gleet??

[pigcoon]

Hi Pepparaaraa, thanks for posting here. I don't mind you joining this thread since we seem to have the same problem. Yes, I'm in the U.S. in New England. I haven't been able to find anything yet to treat my hen. I have one more vet I can try calling on Monday to see if he will prescribe anything. She's perky as can be but this daily drizzle just won't let up!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

topically treating her vent with canesten (suggested on BHWT website) but I’m going to try an oral thrush cream next too... I’ve spent £150 at the vet so far and suggested it was fungal but they treated her for worms/lice and antibiotics for Salpingitis and never addressed her butt issues. She has had 2 soft shelled eggs since the antibiotics and clear fluid dripping out like egg white. That’s stopped and now

Thanks but I just spent £150 and brought her there because of the discharge coming out of her vent and they didn’t deal with it!!
She is a newly rescued Ex-Batt so her health isn’t great. I queried an anti fungal and instead they wormed her and started a lice treatment ...
Yet she still has the discharge and that wasn’t addressed at all. Their avian vet only works one day a week and is constantly booked up.

Can you get some photos of her, her vent and of her poop?
Is her crop empty first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks?

The vet treated for Salpingitis - had she been laying lash eggs?
Just trying to get a clearer idea of what's going on - it's interesting they treated for infection (inflammation of the oviduct), internal and external parasites, but didn't seem concerned about discharge.

With laying hens sometimes they have reproductive disorders and/or infection and there can be a discharge. But that discharge is not necessarily Vent Gleet.

 

[audy5000g]

Ugh. So sorry. We had this with 3 hens a few years ago. We did everything. I mean everything and nothing would help. Finally, thank God. 2 died. We let the other go in the woods as we just could not cure it after a whole summer of treatment. It was horrible.
I hope you have better luck.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@pigcoon I know this is your thread - I did not read all the details of the 3 pages of the other thread but I don't recall you mentioning whether this hen is still laying eggs. Is she?
It looks like at some point she may have had a prolapse and her lower abdomen is distended. What does her abdomen feel like? The leaking to me looks more like urates instead of Vent Gleet. I would have to wonder if your hen is suffering from reproductive disorder and that is why you are having difficulty resolving the problem.
If her skin is getting irritated/burned from the discharge, then I would put on a protective barrier like Nu Stock Cream or I have also use Hen Healer which is a lanolin based product found at the feed store. It's bright blue LOL But did do a good job.

 

[pigcoon]

Thank you Wyorp Rock. She is doing much better than in this picture. The swelling is almost fully resolved. The leakiness persists, though EVER SO SLOWLY is getting slightly more firm and gaining more resemblance to typical chicken poop each day. Her belly does not look that way anymore and she is quite active and feisty. I just would not be able to stop doing a 'daily clean up' with her or she would get irritated again. I will try a protective barrier before her daily spray of BluKote. I'll try to grab an updated picture this morning.

Yesterday there was an egg that had a tinge of blue on it, which I suspect was hers. I think for the most part she is NOT laying, but since she rejoined the flock it is hard to know.

 

[pigcoon]

And yes @Wyorp Rock , she did start with a prolapse for sure. That part took about a week to resolve.

 

[pepparaaraa]

Hi Pepparaaraa, thanks for posting here. I don't mind you joining this thread since we seem to have the same problem. Yes, I'm in the U.S. in New England. I haven't been able to find anything yet to treat my hen. I have one more vet I can try calling on Monday to see if he will prescribe anything. She's perky as can be but this daily drizzle just won't let up!

Today my problem lady’s feathers look a bit fluffy again and the only thing I have done differently is put some probiotics in their drinking water for a few days. Have you tried that?
I still need to wash her as under that fluff is dried yuk but I’m taking it as a positive sign that she looks better or that for one day there is no fresh discharge.
If it comes back I will book another vet appointment and share any suggestions here. Good luck!

 

[pigcoon]

Good to hear!! Yes @pepparaaraa I have been doing probiotics with all of them pretty intensively for a few weeks now. My main girl I give a little 'bolus' of probiotics every morning, then I feed the group (I have 7) high quality yogurt with probiotics mixed in.

 

[pepparaaraa]

Can you get some photos of her, her vent and of her poop?
Is her crop empty first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks?

The vet treated for Salpingitis - had she been laying lash eggs?
Just trying to get a clearer idea of what's going on - it's interesting they treated for infection (inflammation of the oviduct), internal and external parasites, but didn't seem concerned about discharge.

With laying hens sometimes they have reproductive disorders and/or infection and there can be a discharge. But that discharge is not necessarily Vent Gleet.

Thanks for the reply, no lash eggs and she had been laying sporadically and the eggs were perfect shape just slightly thin shelled.

I must admit I’m not down early enough to see her before she gets out to eat. Maybe I should shut the coop door one night and get down early to let them out... but they like to get out about 4.30am at the mo!!

I just commented above that her feathers seem less bogged down with discharge today so I’m hopeful it’s passing... whatever ‘it’ is. The only new changes I’ve made are changing from oyster shell to gastric grit which they seem to love whereas they ignore the oyster shell. I’ve also added probiotics to their water.

I’m interested to know why it doesn’t sound like vent gleet, I’ve struggled to find any other description for what she’s been dealing with?

The day I took her to the vet and they diagnosed Salpingitis, she was bleeding from her vent with a slight prolapse after laying, she had blood streaked eggs for a few days prior to that. The discharge was there on the trip before that and after the antibiotics it had persisted as if untreated.

I have kept chickens before but not ex batts so I have never dealt with these health issues before. I did ask about an implant as well but they didn’t seem keen.

I bought her for £2 and she has already cost me £150! Trust me. I just want her well though.

She is better in herself now but like pigcoon’s hen, up until today the symptoms persisted and her discharge was similar to pigcoon’s picture. Although for a couple of days it was clear like egg white and she’d had a broken soft shell egg. Her poop was sometimes runny but not always. If it flares again and it hasn’t really cleared up then I will take picture. Thanks!

 

[pigcoon]

Here is an update on her healing. Swelling is way down as compared to before. Now just working on that darn trickle......